Sleep Patterns
Merchant Ships Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴September 9, 2001. Gary and I were skating at a hospital on top of a huge hill overlooking a valley.
An ambulance came and took out a dead woman. Gary asked me why she wasn't moving or blinking. They hadn't closed her eyes yet. She must have died on the way. A car full of family and friends came in with the ambulance.
They were all crying and hugging each other. One woman screamed hysterically and grabbed at the woman's body asking her to wake up. I had to tell Gary that her soul went to Heaven.
I didn't believe a word of it, but I knew it'd be easier for him to understand.
Two days from now, at 9 AM, the planes will hit the World Trade Center killing over 3, 000 people.
I will tell Gary that there is no God, and all of this is meaningless.
But today, there is a God. And he has a plan for him.
He doesn't know it, but a year from now, our family will be torn apart and I will move far away and won't see or talk to him for five years. And as we sit on the hood of our car, the sun goes down and he asks me what I want out of my life. I tell him I don't know.
On and on we run away from the things we are afraid.
On and on we run away from the things we are afraid.
On and on we run away from the things we are afraid.
I don't tell him about the dream I had the night before where I'm riding in a car full of strangers and singing to some song I've never heard and smoking a cigarette and we swerve off the road and hit a tree.
I go through the windshield and hit the edge of a fence, dislocating my jaw and flipping me into a wall where my neck is broken, and my skull is fractured.
I bleed to death in excruciating pain.
I will have this dream periodically until I meet all of the strangers, one by one introducing them all to one another until we are a close group of friends. I will set these events in motion, and I will die.

But today in the warm light of the sunset, I don't see it. I just see the sunset. I smile back and shake my head. I have absolutely no idea. I am afraid.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Merchant Ships' "Sleep Patterns" describe a moment in the past where the singer and his friend, Gary, witness a dead woman being taken away by an ambulance. The singer tries to explain to Gary what happened and tells him that the woman's soul went to Heaven. The song then shifts to a future event where the singer will tell Gary that there is no God and everything is meaningless. The singer reflects that while there may not be a God at that future moment, today there is, and he believes that there is a plan for both him and his friend, though Gary is unaware of it. The two of them are sitting on the hood of their car, watching the sunset, and Gary asks the singer what he wants out of his life. The singer doesn't have an answer, and the song ends with the repetition of the phrase "On and on we run away from the things we are afraid."

At its core, "Sleep Patterns" is a meditation on the human condition, particularly on the theme of mortality. The singer witnesses the dead woman being taken away and realizes that death could happen to anyone at any time. He struggles with the idea of a God and what it means for his life, and ultimately admits that he is afraid and uncertain about what he wants out of life. The dream he has of dying in a car crash adds another layer of complexity to the song, as it suggests that maybe the singer's fear of death is manifesting in his subconscious.

One of the most compelling elements of "Sleep Patterns" is the way the song shifts between past and future events, highlighting the singer's reflections on the passage of time and how it affects his perceptions of the world around him. The lyrics also contain a lot of sensory detail, particularly in the description of the sunset, which underscores the emotional impact of the moment between the singer and Gary.

Line by Line Meaning

September 9, 2001. Gary and I were skating at a hospital on top of a huge hill overlooking a valley.
The singer and Gary were skating at a hospital on a hill that had a view of a valley.

An ambulance came and took out a dead woman. Gary asked me why she wasn't moving or blinking. They hadn't closed her eyes yet. She must have died on the way. A car full of family and friends came in with the ambulance.
They saw an ambulance carrying the body of a dead woman. Gary asked why she wasn't moving or blinking and her eyes were still open. There was a car with family and friends following the ambulance.

They were all crying and hugging each other. One woman screamed hysterically and grabbed at the woman's body asking her to wake up. I had to tell Gary that her soul went to Heaven.
Everyone in the car was crying and hugging each other. One woman screamed and begged the dead woman to wake up. The singer told Gary that the woman's soul went to Heaven to make it easier for him to understand.

I didn't believe a word of it, but I knew it'd be easier for him to understand.
The artist did not believe in Heaven but told Gary that the woman's soul went to Heaven to make it easier for him to understand.

Two days from now, at 9 AM, the planes will hit the World Trade Center killing over 3, 000 people.
In two days, at 9 AM, the World Trade Center will be attacked by planes, killing over 3,000 people.

I will tell Gary that there is no God, and all of this is meaningless.
The singer will later tell Gary that there is no God and everything is meaningless.

But today, there is a God. And he has a plan for him.
But today, the singer believes in God and thinks that he has a plan for Gary.

He doesn't know it, but a year from now, our family will be torn apart and I will move far away and won't see or talk to him for five years.
Gary doesn't know it, but the artist's family will be broken apart a year from that day, and the artist will move far away and won't talk to Gary for five years.

And as we sit on the hood of our car, the sun goes down and he asks me what I want out of my life. I tell him I don't know.
As they sit on the hood of their car, watching the sunset, Gary asks the artist what they want out of life, and the artist replies that they don't know.

On and on we run away from the things we are afraid.
The line is repeated three times to emphasize how people run away from their fears.

I don't tell him about the dream I had the night before where I'm riding in a car full of strangers and singing to some song I've never heard and smoking a cigarette and we swerve off the road and hit a tree.
The singer had a dream the night before where they were in a car with strangers, singing to an unfamiliar song, smoking a cigarette, and crashed into a tree.

I go through the windshield and hit the edge of a fence, dislocating my jaw and flipping me into a wall where my neck is broken, and my skull is fractured.
In the dream, the artist goes through the windshield, hits a fence, dislocates their jaw, flips into a wall, breaks their neck and skull, and dies bleeding to death in excruciating pain.

I will have this dream periodically until I meet all of the strangers, one by one introducing them all to one another until we are a close group of friends. I will set these events in motion, and I will die.
The singer will keep having this dream until they meet all the strangers in real life and introduce them to each other, forming a close group of friends. They will set events in motion that lead to their death.

But today in the warm light of the sunset, I don't see it. I just see the sunset. I smile back and shake my head. I have absolutely no idea. I am afraid.
Despite their dream and future, the singer sees only the sunset in front of them and smiles but admits to being afraid and uncertain about their life.

Contributed by Ethan S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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