And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going

And you said, it was like fire around the brim
Burning solid, burning thin the burning rim
Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were one inch from the edge of this bed
I dragged you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst
With all their lions, with all their might and all their thirst
They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
Against the walls, against your rules, against your skin
My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
Of your eyes, begonia skies like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead



Lyrics submitted by robbnthahood

Track duration: 02:55

"Sleepyhead" as written by Michael Traditional/angelakos

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Sleepyhead song meanings
Add your thoughts

163 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I looked up the lyrics to this song because it's amazing but I couldn't understand some of the words. I can see a few phrases that maybe allude to sex or a sexual relationship but the central story is a drug overdose. I think this is a story of a lover finding the other dead of a drug overdose and being in pure shock as medics, police, etc. swarm the scene.

    Everything is going to the beat
    Everything is going

    The opening line is repeated, which indicates pattern or routine. Lalala life goes on and all that. The last line is cut off mid phrase indicating a sudden break in that normalcy. I think this is when the speaker of the song discovers his lover dead from a drug overdose.

    You said it was like fire...

    They must have discussed her drug abuse before. He likely has been trying to help her get clean or maybe even thought she was.

    ..Like saltwater in my eyes

    He's comparing the sensation she described from the burning in his eyes as he cries over her dead body. He could even be angry with her or himself for not preventing what he saw as the inevitable outcome of her drug addiction.

    They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst...

    This phrase is describing the aftermath. What can anyone say to a man that found the love of his life dead, especially when it might have been prevented. There are no words to comfort him. I think there could be religious reference (lions) in here but it also sounds like medics, police etc.

    My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
    Of your eyes...

    I think he is trying to say that this emotional trauma has aged him.

    Overall I think he has been in shock the second that fourth line of the opening phrase cuts off. He found her and has been sitting in the corner, watching police and medics swarm around her body, no one can comfort him, he is lost in a trance, staring into her drugged out, dead eyes and in that moment he feels like he aged a lifetime from his grief.
    Flag joyfulgrlon April 04, 2013   Link
  • +1
    Memory:This isn't an interpretation, just something that happened to me. The first time I heard the song, I just stopped. I almost started crying. And the lyrics hadn't even started. There's something that just connects with me in this song. It's crazy.
    Flag tobeornoton March 07, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:This song makes me think of the bouts of depression that I have had to deal with in my life. There would be days that I felt so terrible, I was legitimately upset with people when they would wake me up from sleeping. Sleep was such a beautiful, perfect thing, and then someone would shake me to wake me up, smiling and laughing, saying something like, "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

    Looking back it's almost sort of funny, but back then, I was enraged that people would act so happy about taking me out of the only good part of the day and bringing me back into dark reality.
    Flag TheSamHoffmanon February 21, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:I don't really know what this song is about, but sometimes I think it's really happy, and other times I think it's really sad. Anytime I'm feeling bad, I listen to it and every time I'm feeling great, I listen to it. It helps me to cheer up and wallow in self-loathing simultaneously. It's versatile and oh God it sounds like I'm describing a jumper so I'll stop now. But seriously, I have no fucking clue what it's about, but it's fucking amazing.
    Flag daisychain26on January 26, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about Rip Van Winkle.
    Flag Emily6Strangeon December 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:So i think the alien voice at the beginning is saying "Beings in my heart", and also the higher part, "we come in peace". Just a thought.
    Flag jarofsoulson December 11, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:since this is the Littlebig planet2 theme song i believe that this song is about a kid who is having nightmares because his imagination is running too wild. when they talk about saltwater there probably talking about the kid crying and the tears burnings his eyes. then when they say you were one inch from my bed the kid probably frequently goes and sleeps at the foot of his parents bed because of his nightmares. finally when they say the sleepyhead part that might be talking about how the kid has to be bought back to his room by his mom a " sleepyhead ". the second part just reminds me of that elementary school story where the kid has nightmares and everytime he wakes up he sees like a different monster outside his window in a tree. where'd you guys get sex from im pretty sure the wouldn't make a song about sex the theme of a child's game.
    Flagged frostsnowman96on August 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:And you said, it was like fire around the brim
    Burning solid, burning thin the burning rim
    Like stars burning holes right through the dark
    -The pleasure and pain experienced during penetration (probably the girl was a virgin)

    Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
    -During sex she was sweating (saltwater) and I assume she was on top because the sweat fell in to his eyes and that hurts (fire)

    You were one inch from the edge of this bed
    I dragged you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead
    -With all the movement she was near the edge of the bed, and he pulled her in with as her eyes rolled back in climax (sleepyhead)

    They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst
    With all their lions, with all their might and all their thirst
    They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
    Against the walls, against your rules, against your skin
    -The girl was probably young and when her parents found out, it was a total conflict and they scolded her while she revealed her true persona

    My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
    Of your eyes, *but go in disguise* like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead
    -he was always there for her as time passes (geared grew) and he will always remember the climax look she had on her face the day they made love.
    Flagged xingmindson August 21, 2012   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation:I interpret that this song is about someone morning the death of someone who he (or she) loved, who was a heroin addict. After I read through the lyrics of this song, I had definite feelings of sadness, loss, and tragedy for the following reasons:
    -----
    And you said, it was like fire around the brim
    Burning solid, burning thin the burning rim
    Like stars burning holes right through the dark

    This heroin addict is describing the awesome sensation of being high to her lover, for whom I assume has never done the drug and he does not want her to do it. The fire being the sensation of the heroin flooding the body when it is first injected. Burning solid as is takes over the body, the mind; burning thin as is pulsates through the thin veins, especially at the burning rim or the spot where it was injected. The drug shocks the body; it's a new sensation that's intense and causes all other sensations to subside. In other words, all other sensations become lost like the black night sky and only the feeling of the drug can be felt like stars burning in the dark night.
    ----
    Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
    You were one inch from the edge of this bed
    I dragged you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

    He watches her take heroin and he sees the effects it's having on her. He can see the fire that is taking over her body and mind. He can see it in her eyes. She slowly becomes sleepy, loosing all conscious control of her body as she almost falls off the bed. In attempt to save her in some small way, he helps her by pulling her back onto the bed to a safer place. She is now completely taken over by the drug; she is now a sleepyhead.
    ----
    They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst
    With all their lions, with all their might and all their thirst
    They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
    Against the walls, against your rules, against your skin

    The lover could not save her from her heroin addiction and evenly she dies because of it. When some sort of authority, such as police, EMT, or forensics found her dead body, they couldn't think of something to say because it was simply a tragedy. With all their power (lions), science, and knowledge, no one could save her from her addiction. They take her body away, treating in ways that she would have never allowed, dissecting and analyzing it in attempt to understand the cause of death; all of which is taking place in her own room, against her walls.
    ------
    My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
    Of your eyes, begonia skies like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

    The man mourns over the death of his lover. He cannot function in his daily life because he was not able to save her. His beard grows to floor as he is paralyzed in his morning. He is paralyzed and haunted by the image of her dead eyes, which is all too similar to what her eyes looked like when she was high on heroin, when she was a sleepyhead.
    ------
    I could be completely wrong since I have never done heroin before, but this is my impression. Regardless of the upbeat tone of this song, it is definitely a song of a tragedy and some kind of loss. I also cannot break away from an episode of Breaking Bad, where Jesse's heroin addict girlfriend dies and he heavily mourns from her death. And the song came out around the same time....hmmm.
    Flag lahawaiianon August 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I actually really don't think it's about sex. It REALLY sounds like it, but I have a different interpretation. I think it's simply just about a guy telling a girl he loves her. All the parts with "fire around the brim" is fire around the brim of the heart. The "Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes" part is the woman crying from joy.

    But then, people make fun of her for dating the guy in my mind due to the fact they have different religions/skin color. So, she 'burst' or like I think, burst into tears/rage. The 'lions' are all the horrible people who made fun of her. "With all their might, all their thirst". "They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin". She was having second thoughts about it. They crowded her brain, she wanted to do so many things with him, but thoughts were wearing thin.

    "Against your walls, Against your rules, Against your skin" Like I said before, Against the rules of her religion and people didn't like the different skin colors together. ((I got nothin' for the walls part))

    For the whole beard part, he was waiting for her one day and it felt like such a long time, so I'm guessing that represented time. He went to her house and found that she had committed suicide and her eyes were like begonia skies as they glazed over. He called her a sleepyhead cause he just didn't want to believe she was really dead.
    Flag ghgvfon August 01, 2012   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain