Near its inception, Sleeping At Last's amateur debut album, Capture, was noticed by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who helped expose the music to the major-label world. Soon after, the band signed to Interscope Records and released 2003's Ghosts , their first official full-length album. Two independently-released full-length records followed: 2006's Keep No Score and 2009's Storyboards . In between the writing and recording of albums, the band has established a reputation for a pitch-perfect live show, successfully headlining several U.S. tours and sharing the stage with such artists as Switchfoot, Yellowcard, Something Corporate, Billy Corgan's Zwan, Alanis Morrisette, Lifehouse, and Phantom Planet, just to name a few. The creative process has always been protected, as the band self-produced each record, working with respected mixers such as John Goodmanson and Alan Moulder.
After the departure of drummer Chad O'Neal in 2011, the remaining duo embarked on the ambitious Yearbook project, in which O'Neal and Perdue released three songs on the first of every month in individual EPs. After its completion, all EPs were compiled into an LP and published independently. However, upon the final release of the Yearbook series, Perdue stepped down from the duo, leaving Ryan O'Neal a solo artist under the group's pre-existing moniker.
On December 10, 2012, O'Neal announced his largest project to date: the Atlas series, a three-part project approaching the themes of the origins of the universe and human development. Similar to 2011's Yearbook compilation, each set of new songs would be released as individual EPs until each part's completion, at which time the compilation of songs would be released as an LP. Up to now, 2014's Atlas I and 2019's Atlas II remain as stellar examples of O'Neal's accomplishments as a solo independent artist. Production on Atlas III is in progress, and its first two songs, "Overture III" and "Awake" have been released as singles.
Besides the Atlas series, O'Neal has kept busy with other projects, including three albums of covers commissioned by ABC's "Grey's Anatomy", in which Sleeping At Last has appeared a whopping 77 times. Sleeping At Last also produced the scores for the documentaries Many Beautiful Things (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) and charity:water's The Spring (Original Score). Finally, O'Neal has released multiple singles surrounding significant astronomical events, published as a compilation in 2020 under the title of Astronomy, Vol. 1.
Sleeping At Last has long been a beacon shining brightly on behalf of independent artists. In the ever-changing climate of the music industry, the quest for a successful independent career seems evermore difficult to attain. From his new home in L.A., O'Neal pursues this challenge relentlessly through his commitment to musical integrity in his songwriting, and in this way nurtures a unique and personal relationship with his listeners. He has remained true to the things that brought him to music in the first place: his love of melody and the power of words. His music and lyrics emerge from a place that is honest, raw, and spiritual: Says Ryan, "Our faith is a big part of who we are, but we have always intended our music to be for anyone that cares to listen, no matter who they are or what they believe in. Everyone hears a song in a different light."
In keeping with this, Ryan's lyrics ask every important question that occurs. While he promises no fast, sure answers, he somehow always offers hope as the consistent, overarching theme.
Ghosts
Sleeping at Last Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The symphony of secrecy, love and fear.
(Search for love, but finding fear.)
Like a moth to a flame, we become helpless
To the beautiful ghosts
That true love sheds.
Set out upon the most dangerous of places.
And through it all, we were left
With a void in our chests,
We're aching to fill.
The doves come
To gather our every need,
They lift them up to Heaven
Through the mouths from which we speak.
God, will you help us understand the meaning of it all?
Will you send your Angels down to us, at our every call?
Sometimes it seems the world is passing us
Faster than my eyes can adjust.
I can't decide
If I'm living or I'm dying.
So I test your love and I test your love, I test your love.
The doves come
To gather our every need,
They lift them up to Heaven
Through us now...
The doves come
To gather our every need,
They lift them up to Heaven
Through the mouths from which we speak.
Like a moth to a flame, we become helpless
To the beautiful ghosts
That true love sheds.
In Sleeping at Last's song "Ghosts," the lyrics paint a haunting picture of the delicate balance between love and fear. The lyrics are poetic and abstract, leaving room for interpretation, but ultimately suggest that true love leaves behind traces of itself, like "ghosts," that continue to both inspire and haunt us. The song opens with the lines "If you listen just right, you can almost hear it. The symphony of secrecy, love and fear. (Search for love, but finding fear.)" These lyrics suggest that finding love can be a difficult and secretive pursuit that is often hindered by fear. The symphony metaphor adds to the sense that this is a universal experience that we can all relate to. The next few lines compare our attraction to love to being drawn to a flame, an image that reinforces the intensity of the emotion.
The lyrics then shift to a more introspective tone, as the singer describes the experience of living life as an individual in this world. He says that we are all running our own races, which is a dangerous place to be since we are all prone to making mistakes. The void in our chests is a testament to the fact that we are all searching for something that will fill us up, but we can't quite find it. The lyrics then segue back into the metaphor of the doves, suggesting that we turn to a higher power to help us make sense of it all. The repeated lines "The doves come to gather our every need, They lift them up to Heaven Through the mouths from which we speak" suggest that the singer is seeking divine guidance.
Line by Line Meaning
If you listen just right, you can almost hear it.
The hidden symphony of love and fear can be heard if one pays close attention.
Like a moth to a flame, we become helpless To the beautiful ghosts That true love sheds.
We are drawn to the captivating memories of love that remain in our hearts even after the relationships have ended.
We are all running our very own races, Set out upon the most dangerous of places. And through it all, we were left With a void in our chests, We're aching to fill.
Each of us has our own path in life, but we are all left with a sense of emptiness that we try to fill as we go along.
The doves come To gather our every need, They lift them up to Heaven Through the mouths from which we speak.
We send our prayers and desires up to the heavens, and hope that someone is listening and will answer our call.
God, will you help us understand the meaning of it all? Will you send your Angels down to us, at our every call? Sometimes it seems the world is passing us Faster than my eyes can adjust.
We often feel lost and confused, and we pray to a higher power for guidance and understanding amidst the chaos of life.
I can't decide If I'm living or I'm dying. So I test your love and I test your love, I test your love.
We struggle to find our place in the world and question if we are truly living or just merely existing, putting our faith to the test in hopes of finding meaning and fulfillment.
The doves come To gather our every need, They lift them up to Heaven Through us now... The doves come To gather our every need, They lift them up to Heaven Through the mouths from which we speak.
We hold onto the hope that our desires will be heard and our prayers will be answered, as we continue to seek the answers to life's biggest questions.
Like a moth to a flame, we become helpless To the beautiful ghosts That true love sheds.
Even though our relationships might have ended, we remain captivated by the beautiful memories of love and the ghosts of our past.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHUCK JONES, JIMMY RITCHEY, JOSHUA RYAN OWEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind