Can't Get No Sleep!

Clouds With Legs

Clock watching,
Counting sheep;
the room is full of them!
Wool, tickling my nose
fluffy, cute sheep
But still NO sleep!

It's 6am and I've been awake since 4.45! Insomnia is something that has bugged me for years - fourteen to be exact! (I may touch on the reasons why in a future blog but for now, lets return to the point in hand.) And although the Faithless' dance classic Insomnia was written about coming down after a drug fuelled night of raving, I can relate to the sentiment and frustration in the lyrics. Insomnia is irritating, emotionally draining and bloody exhausting!

I don't suffer it constantly but it does come along like an unwelcome guest on a fairly regular basis. It stays for weeks at a time, eats and drinks me out of house and home and then promises to return in the near future. And return it does! I've tried all sorts of remedies over the years with mixed results. I took some herbal stuff once that recommended no more than 3 tablets at a time. I hate taking medicine be it herbal or conventional, so I went for a cautious 2 tablets with a nice warm drink. But to no avail - I lay awake ALL night!

So now I find that music, reading and writing are the best ways to deal with it. They don't make me sleep but they sure as hell help me relax which is, admittedly a poor second, but better than lying there stressed to the max!

Music has been a vital part of my life since I was tiny. Some of my earliest memories are of my mum singing to me, or listening to records. And I mean records, not CD's. The wonderful scratchy noise of the needle dragging the lyrics off the vinyl is something I miss in this digitally enhanced era.

Music is one of the few things I have OCD tendencies about (the other is my shoe collection!). Much to the amusement of my brother who thinks I am anal beyond belief, my collection of over 350 CD's is arranged alphabetically; starting with Abba, ending with the Zutons and a whole motley collection in the middle! And this makes selecting my 'going to sleep' music much easier.

With so much great music to choose from it's hard to nail down the ultimate 'Sleep' album but hey I've had plenty of time to ponder this during the many sleepless nights I've had. Regular bed time companions include Carole King's 'Tapestry', Missy Higgins 'Sound of White', Little Wing's 'Alchemy in the Garden', Zero 7 'Simple Things', Royksopp 'The Understanding', Jason Mraz 'We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things' and anything by Simon and Garfunkel or Neil Young. But for me, the best of the best is as follows:-

Air 'Moon Safari' - a sublime piece of musicianship whose opening track La Femme D'Argent with it's falling rain and bass, can take me to a happy, calm and chilled out place in seconds. But for me track 3 'All I Need' is a stunning song of love and one of my all time favourites. The lyrics, the melody and Beth Hirsch's vocals have created a masterpiece. From start to finish, it is the ultimate album to relax and escape to - and if I'm really lucky, even fall asleep to!