Playlist blog
L.A. Youth staff writers create playlists to practice for their future careers as DJs. Janie, 16, starts us off with songs to listen to when you can’t fall asleep.
Insomnia
By Janie Lee, 16, Troy HS
For the past few years, I’ve had trouble falling asleep. During the school year, I find myself trying to stay awake to finish all my homework. Then the moment I finish, I’m wide-awake, staring into the darkness trying to sleep. During the summer, I have days when I stay up late talking to friends or come home from a night out and have too much energy at 2 a.m. A few months ago, my friend suggested creating a mellow playlist to listen to, and it worked. I put this playlist on shuffle and I’m usually asleep by the third song. If you are having one of those nights, this playlist may help!
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Track 1: “Slow Dancing In a Burning Room,” John Mayer
Mayer’s amazing guitar skills really shine through in this song. His soothing voice and guitar playing stunned me so much the first time I heard this song that I didn’t even recognize it was about a fading relationship.
Track 2: “Make Me Whole,” Amel Larrieux
Lying in bed, I have my eyes closed and reminisce about past crushes with this sweet love song.
Track 3: “Sleeping In,” The Postal Service
The chorus of this song is fitting for insomnia … “Don’t wake me up, I plan on sleeping in.” After hearing that lyric about 20 times in this song, I can’t help but want to sleep.
Track 4: “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” Death Cab for Cutie
The vocalist, Ben Gibbard, is the same vocalist from Postal Service. This song is a little different and has an acoustic feel to it. This song relaxes me and puts me in the perfect mood to fall asleep.
Track 5: “Let it Be,” The Beatles
This song is a classic that brings back great memories I had on a road trip with my brother and cousins. I feel like I am back on the road without any worries whenever I hear the three words, “Let it be.”
Track 6: “Don’t Know Why,” Norah Jones
Jones’s voice is unique. I feel like she is singing a lullaby to me every time I hear this song.
Track 7: “Guilty Cubicles,” Broken Social Scene
An instrumental song that gets me where I really want to be: the place where I think about absolutely nothing and feel complete nirvana.
Track 8: “The Scientist,” Coldplay
The combination of the keyboard and Chris Martin’s tranquilizing voice make this song great for calming me down after a night out with my best friends.
Track 9: “Cannonball,” Damien Rice
Rice almost sounds like he is whispering throughout this song, and it makes me feel like I’m lying on clouds because it’s so soft and soothing.
Track 10: “How We Breathe,” Pinback
There is an electric feel to this song, but I love how it is somehow still mellow.
Track 11: “Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop,” Landon Pigg
I first heard this song on a television commercial and loved the short part that I heard so I bought the song, which was just as good the whole way through.
Track 12: “The Sweetest Love,” Robin Thicke
I can’t help but smile when I listen to this song. On top of my celebrity crush’s soothing voice, the lyrics about being in love with that special somebody put me in a good mood to go to sleep, or even dream about a life with Thicke.
Track 13: “Creep (acoustic),” Radiohead
Radiohead is the last band anyone would expect to be on a mellow playlist, but when my friend showed me the acoustic version of this song, I found it surprisingly calming. The acoustic version of this song is different from the original, which at times is loud and rocky.
Track 14: “Boston,” Augustana
I love listening to this song at the end of any day. It speaks to anyone going through a hard time and is a beautiful song.
Note: The Beatles’ version of “Let it Be” isn’t available on iTunes. Here we’ve included Paul McCartney’s.