Sleepwalker's Letter
By orangedrink on December 27, 2020 11:59 pm
SECRET SURPRISE!
This song, like last week's tune, was also written in 2005. I have also performed this at many shows over the years, with band members, and even at a wedding, which was a strange choice because the song is probably about committing suicide. I am very proud of finishing these two songs, and I want you to know that the WB community is the reason I was able to finish them. (I'm buying myself a Street Fighter Pocket Operator as my reward for completing the year!)
The backing instruments were all done in Reason, and luckily I was able to find the original source file from ’05. There are two competing drum beats, a shuffle break beat, and a heavy beat with an insistent ride cymbal bell. The introductory synth line is in a pattern of 5, and it actually remains constant during the entire piece. Maybe it's the motif of an repetitive thought. I am really happy with the dual combination of reverb on one voice, delay on the other. I used my recorder box to record my “samples” - When I performed this live, I used to have samples from zombie movies play. The line “I’ve just been informed that we’re going off the air” is my re-reading of a line from the Dawn Of The Dead remake. The secondary, pitched down “and you can find me” was done by recording the vocals on the recorder box and playing it back! End harmonies also from the box. Love that thing!
The story is kind of a continuation from “Send Them Out Through The Night” - I never knew what to call this song, but now I understand that the previous song’s opening lyric: “No need to write a letter” is foreshadowing this. There is a zombie apocalypse, and we’ve accidentally killed a loved one (in Send Them Out) and now we’ve been infected ourselves and are leaving everyone behind, saying “Don’t bother coming after me.”
Zombie interpretation of lyrics:
“You can find me when I’m asleep” because as a zombie, I won’t be moving quickly.
but you’ll never find “me” because the real me is gone. And if I do turn into a zombie, you will become one when I bite you, and if I bite you, everyone will eventually turn.
If somehow I am cured from my perpetual sleepwalking, it will be a beautiful moment when we are rejoined and I “wake up” with enlightenment, but that’s never going to happen.
Suicide interpretation of lyrics:
You’ll find the real me, at peace and not hating everything when I’m resting. But you’ll never find that, because I never allow myself to rest. Once I kill myself, I’ll finally rest, and you’ll have to let go of our relationship. And once I’ve let go, we’re all going to have to let go.
If I find my faith and am somehow able to stop experiencing life as a prisoner and a victim - never mind that will never happen.
But if I found a reason to live, you could find a reason, and if we had a reason, all of us could have a reason - but we won’t.
LYRICS:
"We're almost out of tape. Do you have any last words?"
And you can find me,
When I'm asleep.
But you'll never find me,
'Cause I never sleep.
And if I do,
You will too.
And if I do,
We all will.
"I've just been informed that we're going off the air."
And if I wake up,
Not standing still,
And if I wake up,
But I never will.
And if I do,
You will too.
And if I do,
We all will.
See you next time. 
Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)
