Top Ten Songs About Sleep

My thirteen year old daughter hosted one of those sleepovers that I dread so bad. The term sleepover is really a misnomer, seeing that the girls neither sleep nor does the party ever seem to be over.

Even though I had them established in the basement with all the food, drink, cookies, popcorn and anything else to keep them occupied, they still made enough noise to keep me from sleeping all the way upstairs.

As I tossed and turned, fighting urges to tell them to shut up and go to sleep, I tried to think of some soothing songs to perhaps lead me into slumber. Instead, I made a list of song titles that mention sleep, that luxury I found myself so badly wanting. Here is the list I compiled.

10. "Need Some Sleep" by The Eels: The song appears in "Shrek 2," which is where I first heard The Eels. Within a month I had purchased three of their albums and become a huge fan of E. and his indie rock band.

9. "Talking in Your Sleep" by The Romantics: I have always considered this track superior to the group's other hit song, the ubiquitous "What I Like about You." This one has a more soothing rhythm, appropriate for a song about sleep.

8. "Asleep" by The Smiths: Morrissey's almost-whispering vocal here reinforces his lyrics about desiring sleep. It is not the best song from Louder than Bombs, but it offers a calm after a storm of songs about death and suicide.

7. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Warren Zevon: There were indications of Zevon's fascination with death early on in his career. This straightforward rocker appears on

Bad Luck Streak at Dancing School, his follow up to

Excitable Boy.

6. "Sleep of the Just" by Elvis Costello: This slow narrative from King of America reveals the sentimental side of Elvis Costello. The girl gets seduced by a soldier, and the imagery implies that Costello is familiar with the Wessex of Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy.

5. "Sleep with One Eye Open" by Hot Rize: This bluegrass band named itself after a brand of biscuits. The story is sung by a guy who suspects his girl is being adulterous.

4. "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" by Queen: Guitarist Brian May wrote and sang this ditty from News of the World. The plot has been done over and over: boy practices music, leaves home penniless looking for fame, cuts a number one song, and returns home penniless. The unique aspect of this tale is that the aspirant plays a saxophone which, ironically, is not used in the song.

3. "How Do You Sleep?" by John Lennon: This is Lennon's bitter response to Paul McCartney's selling out. Lennon felt that his long-time collaborator was wasting his talent to simply write silly love songs to please the public and make money. The most scathing line in the song is, "Those freaks was right when they said you was dead."

2. "Sleepwalker" by The Wallflowers: The opening track from

Breach welcomes you into a solid rock album of poems. Jakob Dylan's lyrics prove that no DNA test is necessary to verify his father.

1. "Sleeping with the Television On" by Billy Joel: This tuneful hit from

Glass Houses is one of Joel's most underappreciated songs. The catchy melody complements the sincere lyrics of The Piano Man, who says "I really wish I was less of a thinking man, And more a fool who's not afraid of rejection."