Are you up at night? Are you having trouble sleeping? I know my sleep schedule is a crazy mess, because my waking life is so off kilter. Despite the odd changes, I am also enjoying some of the most lucid dreams, where I can almost control the content. Lately, when I wake in the midst of a particularly vivid dream, I can fall back asleep and continue it. I haven’t been able to do that in some time.
Perhaps it is the quietness of each day, which brings about a more open and creative mind. The vivid dreams may also be a product of a need to escape from the harsh news we experience during the waking hours. Many experts claim that dreaming can be a way to process the day’s events, capture and connect memories, and/or simply act as a “background noise that is interpreted and organized”. I recognize my own stress seems to bring on these intense dreams.
I am curious what you are experiencing? Are you sleeping? Are you dreaming? are you waking up randomly during the wee hours of the morning?
Music is the first thing I listen to when I wake in the morning, and sometimes the last thing I hear at night. Perhaps it is the music which sets the tone of my dreams. How about you?
New Music-Anna Burch
When I first shared Ana Burch’s song “Tea Soaked Letter” in February 2018 (HERE), I was just learning about her as a young and up and coming Detroit singer/songwriter. This past week she released, via Polyvinyl, her second album, If You’re Dreaming. It is clear to me that Burch has spent the time between promoting her last album and the release of this one with quiet thoughtful contemplation, serious writing, and an ever expanding musical growth with a subtle pivot. Her latest album is more atmospheric, filled with softer vocals and a little less guitar scratch and jangle. Despite the quieter shift, her new music demands lyrical attentiveness and urges multiple listens. From Polyvinyl…
“With recurring themes of isolation, weariness and longing, these songs deliver that emotional arc with a delicate but uncompromising execution. Burch’s intrinsically catchy songwriting dials down the urgency of her debut a notch, taking a turn towards airy, jazz-voiced chords, floating reverb and an expansion of the sonic palate with unexpected instrumentation”.
“Can’t Sleep” is one of my favorites on the album. It provides glimpses of Burch’s past work, yet adds the newer softer dimension. Because it is the first song, it is a lovely bridge connecting her last album with her latest. In today’s world of isolation and pandemics, this tune is responsive to our current condition, and a pleasing palate of calm among worldly turmoil.
Anna Burch-Can’t Sleep
“Uptight
You can’t sleep at night
Nothing’s ever right
‘Til it’s gone
Don’t you
Ever get a clue?
Just wanting something new
It gets old
Ooh-ooh-ooh (4 times)
Your friends
Don’t think that you need them
Guess it all depends
Who’s on guard
Aren’t you
Gonna see this through?
Seems everything you do
It’s undone
Ooh-ooh-ooh (4 times)
Your friends
Don’t think that you need them
Guess it all depends
Who’s on guard
Aren’t you
Gonna see this through
Seems everything you do
It’s undone
Ooh-ooh-ooh (multiple times)
If there is someone to love
Is that what you’re dreaming of?“
So on point, my sleep patterns are really off lately! And I’m not sure I had noticed until I read this that I’ve been dreaming more (or remembering them more often) too.
Thanks for sharing! I hope you are hanging in there. 🌞
Mine, too. I also think it’s the pollen that’s been getting to us!
Because I am home more, I have tried to stay on top of the pollen on my porch. It has made a difference, or the pollen isn’t as bad this year. Wishing I had a paddle board. Have you been out much?
Carrie – back in March when we had a few balmy 80 degree days I was tempted to paddle but I’m afraid it doesn’t really fall in line with the exercising thing – I was afraid they would find it too frivolous.