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Opinion

On This Week’s Open Thread We’re Talkin’ About Sleep

As we do every time this week, we're turning Racket over to you, the readers.

The author, in blissful repose

|Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

What is more tranquil than a musk-rose blowing in a green island, far from all men’s knowing? More healthful than the leafiness of dales? More secret than a nest of nightingales?

Hell yeah, it's sleep all right.

I love napping. I can curl up on my couch at any point of the day and zonk out in minutes. If I'm not up and moving about between 3 and 5 in the afternoon, I can't keep my eyes open.

And yet, when it's time to call it a day, my inner seven-year-old kicks in a revolts against the imposition of bedtime. The older I get, the more of an issue this is—I cannot function even a tiny bit with less than six hours of sleep.

Sleep! There are so many (and yet not enough!) great songs about sleeping. (Illuminati Hotties' "Sleeping In" is a great new addition to the canon.) Here are two lyrics about sleep that come unbidden to me at sleepy moments:

"I am tired, I am weary, I could sleep for a thousand years"—"Venus in Furs," Velvet Underground

"I need to sleep, why won't you, why won't you let me sleep?"—"Fillmore Jive," Pavement

Anyway, what's your relationship to sleep? How has it changed over the years? Do you get enough sleep? (Of course not.) Are you one of those unfortunates who actually can't nap? (I cannot imagine.) What's your favorite song about sleep that isn't the Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" (admittedly a great one).

As always, feel free to ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your open thread, after all.

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