In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Don't talk to strangers.
Oh, in the strangest dreams, walking by your side
It is the hole you impose upon your life
When you're out, loneliness, it crawls up in the ground
It's what you feel, but can't articulate out loud.
Oh you go to sleep on your own and you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone
It's a last resort
All you want is someone onto whom you can cling
Your mother warned of strangers and the dangers they may bring
Your dreams and memories are blurring into one
The scenes which hold the waking world slowly come undone
You'll come undone
Oh, you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
You go to sleep on your own
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone, it's a last resort
Oh
Don't talk to strangers,
And don't walk into danger.
Don't talk to strangers,
And don't walk into danger.
Oh you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
You go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
Don't talk to strangers
Oh you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
Oh, in the strangest dreams, walking by your side
It is the hole you impose upon your life
When you're out, loneliness, it crawls up in the ground
It's what you feel, but can't articulate out loud.
Oh you go to sleep on your own and you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone
It's a last resort
All you want is someone onto whom you can cling
Your mother warned of strangers and the dangers they may bring
Your dreams and memories are blurring into one
The scenes which hold the waking world slowly come undone
You'll come undone
Oh, you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
You go to sleep on your own
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone, it's a last resort
Oh
Don't talk to strangers,
And don't walk into danger.
Don't talk to strangers,
And don't walk into danger.
Oh you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
You go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
Don't talk to strangers
Oh you go to sleep on your own,
And you wake each day with your thoughts
And it scares you being alone,
It's a last resort
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For me "Dont talk to Strangers" is drilled into you at home and in school. The rest of the song is detailing how that simple sentance leads you to cut yourself off from new people and not go out and meet people or talk to strangers who are all potential friends. Its a dark angle on "Strangers". Ill talk to anyone but I can see the perspective of the song. Being narrow minded and not open to meeting new people will certainly narrow your options in life. Im not sure it would make you depressed or suicidal as some of the videos of this song seem to promote. I do love it and listen on repeat. Im sure theres a more cryptic message in there it cant be that straight cut.
I also feel theres an element of a seperation going on here. Being scared of the unknown is a very strong feeling and the anxiety that can bring on. Anyway its a great song and id love to hear your thoughts we all interpret songs to our own ends. :)<br />
I always pictured the stranger more as being personification. I thought it to be depression and the darker things that come with it. More like, don't talk to your depression or get to know it, because that is just walking right into the danger.<br /> <br /> As for the rest of the song, I agree that it is person who is feeling lonely, but often times people who have depression say that it gets worse when you are by yourself. Being trapped in your own head leads to the darker thoughts, having people around distracts from that. So pretty much, being on your own is a last resort, because, then you know that you'll "Wake each day with your thought", thoughts that are inescapable. Thoughts you bring upon yourself.
Seconded, I believe this song is about when we don't talk to strangers because we hear so much about 'stranger danger' that we're scared of what could happen. However, because we don't talk to anyone, 'the hole you impose upon your life' is the hole that a stranger is supposed to fill, somebody new, 'someone to whom you can cling'.
Thinking about it, Sleepsong could be about how we're too scared to enter a relationship because of 'the dangers they might bring', ie, heartbreak, cheating, yet our 'waking world have slowly come undone' because of how we 'go to sleep on your own' and we're terrified of 'being alone'. It's a cycle of angst, we're scared to meet any 'strangers' yet we're scared of 'being alone'.
It's a no-win scenario, basically a song telling us to have a relationship before we 'come undone' from our 'last resort' of 'being alone'.
This is just perfect. Thank you!
In my opinion I see this as a person who craves "love" because it scares them being alone so they feel tempted to to find someone by going out and "grabbing" the the first person they see which could put them into danger as there are many bad people in today's society as it says "your mother warned of strangers and the danger they can bring" and "don't talk to strangers" in my eyes is them looking back remembering advice given to them but being torn between their concience and their desperation.
This song to me is about being lonely "you go to sleep on your own" and just wanting "someone whom to you can cling" you get obsessed with throwing yourself out there to get people to like you, "talk to strangers" "walk into dangers" because of this obsession you start to "come undone".
I almost listened to this song religiously when I was having troubles with who i was and who my friends are because that's pretty much what it is talking about. A lonely person who will do anything to fit in.
To me, this song is about someone who doesn't like to be alone. Maybe s/he is separated from or not supported by family and friends and, although s/he knows it is a "frowned upon" option, would rather spend time with or even sleep with strangers than sleep alone. It can have a very powerful meaning.
To me this song is about a very lonely person who is so desperate to have someone they can cling and rely on they make an imaginary one in their mind. "Oh, in the strangest dreams, walking by your side It is the hole you impose upon your life" by strangest dreams he means daydreams the person has I believe he calls this imaginary character a "hole" because it makes the person unable to connect in their real life. Making them even lonelier. This person is so desperate to find someone like the one they created they put themselves into danger by doing so. The narrator is warning the person that they will get hurt if they talk to strangers, and they need to watch out.
A lot of the songs from this album including this one have a common theme of depression, and I think this song draws from that as well. Dan himself has said other songs from this album have been about watching a close friend suffer through depression and I think this is no different. Sleepsong is about a person going to commit suicide hence the "sleep" part in sleepsong. The lyrics talk about wanting to feel love and support, but the depression isolates them and makes everyone feel like strangers (and mother warned us to stay away from strangers), because of the loneliness this person has trapped themselves in they've decided, as a last resort, to end it all as "the seams that hold the waking world have come undone".