Lockdown! at the Disco #26: The Super Sleepy Episode

Listen to the episode!

Read the transcript of the episode!

Folks, I’m absolutely shattered…

TRACK #1: “Insomnia” – Faithless

Hello gang! And welcome to episode #26 of Comics Youth Radio presents Lockdown! at the Disco – the show that just keeps on keeping on in this sleepy, timeless span of endless desert that we call life at the moment.

I am your eternally tired host Amy Roberts, and opening the show there was classic dance track “Insomnia” by Faithless and we’re playing it for a good reason! On today’s episode I’m delivering sleepy dispatches from the elbows of my consciousness because this is The Always Tired Episode and we’re gonna be playing some tunes and having a chat about how and why we’re all so tired all the hecking time at the moment.

Please expect many verbal goofs and that I’ll be tripping over my words and band names even more so than usual this week because on top of being tired I’ve also been fighting this bottomless migraine on and off for the past week. And it’s one of them where I’m just like, is the migraine a direct cause of this tiredness? Or am I tired because the migraine has infiltrated the sleep department and put up some snooze blockades? I don’t know.

But I am tired.

Before we get into it all properly, this is our usual episode disclaimer that while every effort is made to keep Lockdown! at the Disco family friendly and free of naughty words and other such salty content, that occasionally the odd word or concept could slip in that may not be appropriate for younger listeners so parental discretion is advised!

But let’s get some more tunes lined up shall we? And maybe I’ll fix a cheeky coffee for myself in the meantime. This is Fugazi with the appropriately titled “I’m So Tired”.

TRACK #2: “I’m So Tired” – Fugazi
TRACK #3: “I Go to Sleep” – Anika

That was Anika with her cover of “I Go To Sleep” by The Kinks. And I love how far away and dreamy and sleepy that cover is. It almost sounds like a haunted lullaby, you know? If you’ve seen the phenomenal Russian Doll on Netflix – which to my mind is one of the best Netflix Original shows that’s popped up on there tbh – then you’ll likely remember that song from a really sad party sequence that adds some great depth to Natasha Lyonne’s main character.

If you’re over 16 and haven’t seen Russian Doll yet then I heartily recommend that you check it out because it’s just such a treat and it has some really poignant things to say about mental health and acknowledging unhealthy cycles and figuring out methods with which to break them.

Which kinda us brings us to an important thing to talk about when it comes to addressing how tired we all are. And that’s being to acknowledge unhealthy cycles or patterns when it comes to how we sleep and when. Particularly during lockdown. There’s been a lot of studies done in the past year concerning how this lockdown has affected people’s sleep due to the low-level constant stress that every person is currently under within this pandemic.

And sometimes, even if you’re going to bed a reasonable time and it feels like you’re sleeping through the night even, you may still wake up feeling exhausted and groggy and disoriented.

The official medical term for feeling like this is sleep inertia, and it’s used to describe when people wake feeling dazed and confused and unsteady instead of well rested. It can be caused by illness, a general lack of quality sleep, but also by stress and anxiety. It’s no surprise so few of us are getting low quality sleep when our bodies may feel constantly on high alert. Fight or flight is not a snugly sleep friend!

But there are methods to creating conditions and healthy patterns that might help for you to wake up feeling a little fresher and better rested. They’re boring as heck – so prepare yourself for that – but they’re also helpful.

first and foremost, try and swerve caffeine and anything high in sugar for at least 4 or 5 hours before bedtime – anything that could stimulate your brain or potentially agitate anything bad that might be rolling around in there.

And then it’s all about routine, baby baby – a good one! Give yourself a proper bedtime each night and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be the time you go asleep, but give yourself a time where you get into bed, put all screens to one side – anything bright and loud or that will give you access to social media and all the bad vibes that can come with it – and do things that relax you.

For me, that means getting into bed at 10pm each night. I fix myself some fresh water. I meditate for 10 mins. I write my diary entry for that day. And I read. Sometimes I’ll fall asleep while I’m reading – other times I’ll be up until midnight or 1am or later, just reading or chatting to my fella about what I’m reading.  The important thing isn’t what time I go asleep, it’s that my brain and my body and my eyes are put into a state where they feel ready to rest and capable of achieving it.

So keep that in mind. I still wake up feeling groggy and half-rested a lot of the time, I’ll be honest. But it’s an improvement! And I still feel pretty good for it.

This next song is kind of all about waking up and having that feeling of being groggy and unsteady and unsure of yourself, and it’s a total bop. This is “Pretty Pimpin’” by Kurt Vile.

TRACK #4: “Pretty Pimpin’” – Kurt Vile
TRACK #5: “Venus In Furs” – The Velvet Underground

That was “Venus in Furs” by The Velvet Underground, which to me always sounds like that state of sleep right before you drift off where everything is still vaguely lucid but also dreamy. And where sometimes when you become aware that you’re drifting off, the excitement of realising you might be falling asleep can actually wake you up.

And that’s what “Venus in Furs” sounds like, friends. And as Lou Reed states in that song, I am tired, I am weary and lemme tell ya – I could genuinely sleep for a thousand years.

In our Safe Spaces group we’ve been talking about the daftest things we’ve done recently because we’ve been tired and Rosa pointed out a thing which I think is a universal struggle that many people can relate to right now, and she was saying that she keeps trying to drink water with her face mask still on, covering the whole of her mouth of course.

And I’ve done this more times than I think I’m comfortable admitting to, if I’m being honest? I’ve to drink coffee in my face mask, I’ve tried to eat a donut in my face mask. Last month – the last time I saw my fella – we were sat watching a film together in the cinema and I tried to give his hand a little kiss – cos I’m a romantic like that, alright? I know how to woo a person – and I just ended up kind of wiping his hand on my face mask instead of smooching him because – yeah, I completely forgot.

I also remembered that the other day when I was getting into my comfy clothes for the night that a monster munch just gracefully slipped out of my bra when I took it off. And I thought, Ah Amy – you absolute scruff. This was about 8pm by the way, and I’d eaten a bag of monster munch at about 12pm, so I must have been so tired that I didn’t feel an entire monster munch in my boobs for the entire day.

And you know, they’re a crunchy crisp. Textured! It’s a whole claw. And I just didn’t notice.

Rosa also shared with us that the mask situation – wherein we’re all forgetting that we’re wearing a mask now – that that whole thing is so bad that she actually spilled half a bottle of water down herself the other day because she just didn’t notice the mask. That’s tiredness, folks! Right there.

And now we’re gonna play an absolute banger that was requested by Rosa – this is “Sleep” by Citizen.

TRACK #6: “Sleep” – Citizen
TRACK #7: “The Glow, Pt. 2” – Microphones

That was “The Glow, Pt. 2” by The Microphones and this song has had a consistent place on my playlists for the past couple of months. It’s a spectacular song about growth and re-evaluation, and it was actually written by Phil Elverum in response to his 11 minute song “The Glow” from his previous album.

It’s a song about losing your way and kind of forgetting what your former creative work was about and what it meant to you at a certain place and time. In an interview, Elverum has said of “The Glow, Pt. 2”, quote:

“I was more dramatic back then. ‘I faced death’ is kind of a ridiculous line, considering that I was talking about having my feelings hurt. The idea with the song is that sometimes it is annoying to have to admit to yourself that you are still alive when you’d rather curl up in a ball and be sad and dark. Being annoyed at your heart for still beating. Not that I [wanted to die] or anything. I totally [didn’t]. Just a regular old relationship-not-working-out. No big whoop.”

This year, Elverum released his first album in 17 years under the guise of Microphones with the album Microphones in 2020. It’s a single 44 minute track comprised of a stunning stream of consciousness wherein Everum reflects on the music he made back in the day – particularly The Glow and The Glow, Pt. 2 – while also reflecting on the chaos, struggles, and grief that can underpin so much of everyday lives. The ebbs and flows of existence. The things that are inevitable and the things that are uncertain.

It’s probably one of my favourite albums of 2020 – in fact, I’d go as far as to call it a masterpiece. And I’m talking about it today, and of the back catalogue of work that Microphones have, because they’ve Phil Elverum’s music has really helped me to get myself together and to wake up in the mornings.

I listen to a lot of Microphones albums – and his work as Mount Eerie – on my long walks into work and back, and I find myself just drifting between the chords and the beats, I navigate the lyrics like a map. I find my way back to myself and I slowly wake up.

“The Glow, PT. 2” especially resonates with me when I’m in that still waking up state because of how it fixates on how alien the body can sometimes feel – and of those wandering existential questions that can shake our little brains when we’re not quite awake enough to keep them out.

So yeah, I’m a big fan. And I recommend them.

Now, let’s carry on those sleepy, wandering vibes with Frank Ocean. This is the ultra dreamy “White Ferrari” – and it sounds like a love song performed from slumber.

TRACK #8: “White Ferrari” – Frank Ocean
TRACK #9: “Tired Of Sleeping” – Suzanne Vega

That was “Tired of Sleeping” by Suzanne Vega and it was requested by Tom! Ta for that Tom! I can officially state that I am not tired of sleeping in the slightest and good grief, I’d like to invite more sleep to enter my life. I don’t think I’ve had a decent sleep in since 2010.  

Anyways, that brings us to the end of another episode! Thanks for listening and for hanging out with this sleepy sloop of a woman.

Our next episode is going to be our Ocean episode where we’ll be chatting about how much we buzz off the water, why screaming at the sea is good for the soul, and chatting about the Spongebob movie – cos dang, folks! What a treat!

So for that we want your song requests for tunes about the ocean or the sea! And we’re also interested in knowing your favourite facts about the ocean or the sea and the creatures that live in it! Get in touch via amy@comicsyouth.co.uk and lemme know what you reckon and what you want to be hearing!

And that’s all folks! We’re done for another week. Until next time, remember: Everything is not cool, but it can be! Stay safe, stay sassy, and my goodness catch up on some sleep will ya?

This is Nirvana covering Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” – which incidentally is a question everyone has heard while suffering through the sore neck of having accidentally slept on a couch for a whole night – and this is Amy Roberts signing off…

BYEEEEEEEEE!! *snore noises, snore noises*

TRACK #10: “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” – Nirvana (MTV Unplugged)