Songs About Nightmares
Nightmares are one of nature’s vile ways of attacking our innocent and peaceful minds whilst we sleep. When you have constant nightmares, they may be borne out of your current situation – things that normally would disturb your train of thoughts even whilst you’re awake.
Nightmares could also be seen as nature’s unwavering way of communicating with us for impending danger. Humans too can be nightmares for others; this can be seen in cases where someone leaves a bad imprint on another’s memory; hence, their soul.
Songs can be a remedy for this. Songs about nightmares have been sung to erase nightmares and help many overcome the bad energies that come with nightmares.
It is with great care and concern that I bring you this concise list of songs about nightmares. Listen to them and I hope you find peace and overcome the horrors that torment you.
5 Songs about Nightmares:
1. “Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares” By XXXTentacion
Coming first in our list of songs about nightmares is this this powerful song by XXXTentacion. This song conveys concern over trying to sleep and other basic aspects of life, such as ladies and traffic.
This, as well as the title, relates to the reality that the artist is tortured by his own thoughts. So it appears that when he sleeps or is alone, he is most vulnerable to mental anguish, as those are the times when he completely loses himself in his thoughts.
He uses the metaphor “Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares” to describe the vulnerability of mankind using himself as a reference. This song describes how prone the human mind is to your fears and illusions when you’re asleep or alone.
In summary, the concept of “Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares” follows the same lines as many other emo raps of the time, as the vocalist portrays himself as someone who is plagued by his own thoughts, which he can not seem to escape.
2. “Nightmare” By Halsey
Halsey is the subject of the titular “nightmare.” To put it another way, the goal of this song is to show the listener that the vocalist has a dark side that she has come to accept.
We can see at the start of the first verse that there are factual factors, notably sufferings and deceptions she has endured in her life, that have shaped her into this person. Her nightmare behaviour begins inwardly, as a form of self-hatred, rather than externally.
In fact, the pre-chorus indicates that she is depressed in some way. She even admits that she has “nothing to smile about” and “no one to smile for.” However, this is due to more than just a bad mood.
It is an expression on her behalf that she will not give in to other people’s inclinations, that she will not play nice with them just because they force her to. Indeed, she begins to “recognise” the weapon in (her) “mind” in the chorus, implying that she is becoming conscious of her own strength.
She is also beginning to realise that she is “no sweet dream,” but rather “a hell of a night,” as a result of negative criticism and embracing her potential. To put it another way, Halsey recognises and accepts that she is a bad girl, not a good one.
3. “Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare’s Over)” by Simple Plan
The music video for “Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare’s Over)” and other statements made by Simple Plan in this respect create the idea that the song was written in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
This song, however, appears to have been recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic even began. It is a song about “life and love,” as Pierre Bouvier put it succinctly.
There is an inference to be made that he is singing to a romantic interest, even if this is not explicitly stated in the lyrics. Because those words seem like the thoughts of someone whose romantic connection has soured for reasons he can’t quite put his finger on.
Despite Pierre’s best efforts, the singer’s relationship is collapsing, and he is experiencing what can only be described as a “nightmare.”
It is possible, from an artistic point of view, to hypothesise that one of the reasons he is employing such a metaphor is because, well, you know how sometimes when you are having a nightmare you feel like you have no control over the situation?
In point of fact, this scenario plays out in the same way in real life, to the point when the narrator wishes he “could disappear” rather than confronting the problem head-on.
4. “Dreams and Nightmares” By Meek Mill
Meek Mill, who is just beginning his career as a rapper (at the time of release of this song, 2012), reflects on the ups and downs of his life in the song “Dreams and Nightmares”.
Because the Philadelphia Eagles decided to use this song as their unofficial anthem in January 2018 in preparation for their run at the Super Bowl championship, it saw a substantial increase in the number of sales it made and the number of streams it received.
The following day after the club was crowned champions of Super Bowl LII, “Dreams and Nightmares” amassed an incredible 1.47 million on-demand audio and video streams, as Eagles fans celebrated the team’s victory.
On September 8, 2018, Drake and Meek Mill made their public apology to one another for their feud, which had lasted for the better part of two years.
They put the past behind them when Drake invited his former rival to join him on stage to sing “Dreams and Nightmares” at his show at the TD Garden in Boston.
5. “Nightmares By The Sea” By Jeff Buckley
In a French folktale, Bluebeard is an elderly aristocrat whose six previous wives have all vanished. Because of his mysterious and concealing blue beard, the local women and girls are afraid of him.
He marries again, and warns his new wife that she must never step foot inside any of the rooms in his castle. She disobeys, and as a result, she finds the bodies of Bluebeard’s wives that have been slain.
Jeff employs the figure of Bluebeard as a metaphor to convey the idea that, despite appearances to the contrary, he may not be who or what he claims to be.
In my perspective, the mental and emotional instability that Jeff was experiencing at the time is demonstrated by this profoundly dark and conflicted song, which was written by Jeff. I have a sneaking suspicion that he was experiencing nightmares, more specifically those of a subliminal type.
This song’s title, as well as its general underlying topic and atmosphere, can be attributed to the idea that drowning, as well as water in general, represents an abundance of feelings and a sense of vulnerability. Even according to astrology, Jeff embodied the characteristics of an Ondine. Quite haunting indeed
