first of all, it is for sure about sleep paralysis, my boyfriend and i asked david about it when we saw them after a show. i asked him if drowning the old hag was about sleep paralysis and he said it was but that he (david) only got it a couple of times and adam is the one that gets it pretty often, he's the one that wrote the song.
since not too many people seem to know what sleep paralysis is i'll try to explain it i guess,
during REM sleep your muscles are paralyzed (called REM atonia) so that you won't physically act out your dreams but when your sleep cycle is disrupted REM atonia may occur too quickly (that's when sleep paralysis happens when you're falling asleep) or (more commonly) it may not wear off when you wake up so that you're fully conscious but can't move at all.
It's sometimes called The old Hag cause people will feel as if there is a crushing weight on their chest (or back depending on what position they're sleeping in) and it was often believed that this weight was due to a demon or ghost tormenting the sleeping person.
Other attributes of SP include hallucinations and weird sensations such as floating, spinning, or being under or in water which could explain his references to a head full of water and drowning.
first of all, it is for sure about sleep paralysis, my boyfriend and i asked david about it when we saw them after a show. i asked him if drowning the old hag was about sleep paralysis and he said it was but that he (david) only got it a couple of times and adam is the one that gets it pretty often, he's the one that wrote the song.
since not too many people seem to know what sleep paralysis is i'll try to explain it i guess, during REM sleep your muscles are paralyzed (called REM atonia) so that you won't physically act out your dreams but when your sleep cycle is disrupted REM atonia may occur too quickly (that's when sleep paralysis happens when you're falling asleep) or (more commonly) it may not wear off when you wake up so that you're fully conscious but can't move at all. It's sometimes called The old Hag cause people will feel as if there is a crushing weight on their chest (or back depending on what position they're sleeping in) and it was often believed that this weight was due to a demon or ghost tormenting the sleeping person. Other attributes of SP include hallucinations and weird sensations such as floating, spinning, or being under or in water which could explain his references to a head full of water and drowning.