Anna-Catherine Kueng ~ Assistant Editor
Writing about music is a slight departure from my typical opinion articles, but I have grown to love Sleeping At Last over my first months of college, so I thought I would mention their impact in my life.
For those who are not familiar with Sleeping At Last, they are a musical group led by Ryan O’Neal. If one were to Google search them, they would find that their music falls under the category of Emo/hardcore and new age. If I heard those descriptions without ever hearing their music, I would not be inclined to listen to them. Though, Sleeping At Last’s music is often played during sad parts of Grey’s Anatomy, I have never considered their music to be too depressing.
I first became familiar with Sleeping At Last when I was a sophomore in high school. While I was on YouTube, I stumbled upon their songs “Son” and “Daughter”. As the names suggest, O’Neal wrote these songs for his children. “Son” addresses the vulnerability guys must be willing to feel if they want to love someone, while “Daughter” is more of an upbeat song about his daughter being ready to take on the world. My favorite lyrics from the latter is, “You’re ready. Born ready, and all you’ve gotta do is put one foot in front of you.” I played those songs on repeat at my sixteenth birthday party, so anytime I hear them, it takes me back to when I was younger.
As for my experience with Sleeping At Last in college, their cover of Patty Griffin’s, “When It Don’t Come Easy” comforted me after I had a rough week at the beginning of second semester. The message of the song is that loving someone is not always easy because it requires one to make sacrifices, but they are worth it in the long run.
I also enjoyed discovering Sleeping At Last’s Enneagram song series over Christmas break. The Enneagram test is a personality test that labels people on a scale from 1-9, with each number indicating different strengths and weaknesses. My number is a four, and according to The Enneagram Institute website, I am “the sensitive, introspective type.” Being the brilliant musicians they are, Sleeping At Last wrote nine songs based on the Enneagram types that touch on the fears and joys that each type of person has.
I loved the songs so much that I made my mom and sister take the Enneagram tests, as well as listen to the song that corresponded with their results. Before they took the test, I had already especially liked the songs, “Two” and “Seven.” I found out that those numbers are what my mom and sister got on the test, so now I feel connected to my family when I listen to those songs.
Overall, Sleeping At Last’s music is beautiful and allows me to get in touch with some of my emotions that I usually suppress. I would highly recommend giving them a chance because their creativity is unmatched to any other bands I have heard.