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".
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".