Recall building issues

Lately ive been trying to work on recall with a dream journal, but ive had a few issues.

First, when I go to sleep, I have no focus to do autosuggestion or meditating. I hear songs as I go to sleep, every day, regardless :P. It kinda just puts me to sleep normally, but I have no focus to autosuggest.

When I wake up at night, (i guess I cant accurately say) but I seem to think "Oh, ill remember that dream when I wake up later" but fully aware right now, I know that I am wrong. I wake up in the morning, remembering very vaguely small, small portions, often too insignificant to record.

I dont know if these are answerable, but any tips on how to overcome these would be appreciated. The music one is particularly frustrating, I have a clear mind the rest of the day until I go to go to sleep. :P

Also, I dont understand the importance of a dream sign. I know that I constantly dream about my high school, but completely misshapen, and bigger (i guess what I would want from a school). It is a pretty consistent school scene (I could probably map out this school in its entirety :P) What do I do with this knowledge?

About the recall problem: I have a similar problem with the songs in my head. All you can really do is just try to think about something else, preferably something that'll help you get lucid. Try your best to focus on your breaths and get relaxed until you don't hear the song any more. It's a pretty annoying thing, especially when it happens after you're starting to autosuggest.

About dream signs: It's something to note if you're trying to DILD. Every time you see your school or something related to it, do a reality check. If you make that enough of a habit, when you see it in your dream (which, if it's your dream sign, is often), you might do a reality check there and get lucid.

About middle of the night wake ups: Just get up and do it. No simpler way to do it. However, when you're already awake, you might want to try doing some WBTB techniques.