Every now and then, I'm sure your music shuffles just right and plays a song that had "just the line" you needed to hear. If not, you obviously don't listen to music very aggressively. But, sometimes you cannot sleep so naturally you try some tunes; these tunes just happen to hurt your heart a little extra.
"Dreams" by Christine Noel
"Get out of my dreams, get out of my mind, get out of my heart." It's a command, but it also shows you how some things overwhelm us so significantly that we can do nothing except demand to be left alone. The piano draws you in, but the words keep you there. Christine Noel evokes certain suffering that everyone feels, and this song emphasizes it a little too well.
"Weathered" by James Walker
In his song, James Walker uses a very emphatic silence at the beginning of the song, and I feel like it encapsulates the loneliness that midnight can bring. It's full of imagery, but the reverb and echo of his voice add a specific quality that can only be felt when you're by yourself.
"Bad Together" by Rozzi
Toxicity is real, and we often sweep it under the rug on the principle that "what you can't see doesn't hurt." We like to stick around to bad habits or even bad people because we would much rather be bad together than do the hard thing and leave our bad things behind.
Rozzi says, "I don't want to be fine without you," and I think she hits on a good point that we want the things that are bad for us, but sometimes we simply get comfortable in bad things. If you listen closely, Rozzi actually mentions how awful it is to stick around, though. She actually wants out.
"Both Sides Now" by Years & Years
I'm partial to Ollie because he really is a king, but I think he covers this song well. His voice carries a certain pain in this song, and that pain is an experience — our greatest teacher. The imagery depicts easy learning by starting with clouds, but by the end, it's a bit more complicated by designing the lesson plan of love. Growing up sucks, but what's worse? Growing up or learning how to grow up?
"Atlas: Three" by Sleeping at Last
While this song specifically targets Enneagram Type 3s, Sleeping at Last hits on a feeling that almost everyone has gone through. A lot of us feel like maybe we're not good enough, or someone else did it better. Maybe you struggle with feeling genuinely loved by those around you. If so, this song will have you in tears as it covers every single facet of inadequacy. Perhaps my favorite line is "a mess of a story I'm ashamed to tell" because we all have skeletons in our closets that we may never be ready to share. Sometimes they're forced out anyway, though.
If you get emotional after midnight, then maybe it's better for you to just pop some melatonin and doze. For those of you that it doesn't quite work like that, at least you have the start of a playlist to feel a specific sadness rather than the broad range of emotions that hit the witching hour. These songs will get you a little teary-eyed, but hopefully, you can just shut your phone and brain off.
