Monday, June 17, 2024

Daily Jam - Five Seconds

This column was originally posted in 2018, back when my youngest son was two years old.

I’m tired.

There seems to be an almost nightly moment of dread when I hear some shifting around on the baby monitor, maybe a sigh or a whine, a meek little cry for Mama or Dada, or a loud thump as a toddler escapes the confines of his crib, a growing wail as he realizes he can’t get his door open. And then my wife and I attempt to wait each other out, to see who will get up and out of the comfort of our sheets and blankets to soothe the little one back to bed.

Sometimes I win the battle, and sometimes I don’t.

So I rock my son back to sleep, and set him back in his bed, and then I wait him out, counting to 100 in my head to make sure he’s actually sleeping and not going to dart up hollering again when I’m halfway down the stairs.

Sometimes I win the battle, and sometimes I don’t.

And then my alarm goes off at 5:30AM, and I hate everything about this world. With two sons, I’ve been doing this dance in some capacity or another for over 5 years now. I’m pretty sure that there will never be another day when I’m not tired, when I’m not exhausted, and when I’m not grumpy because of it all.

Current events and the media and technology only make it worse. I’m swimming in a sea of sleepless delirium and bad news alerts.

But hey, at least there’s pop music, right?

Twin Shadow’s 2012 romantic gem “Five Seconds” is one of those songs that can make everything subside, if even just for 4 minutes or so. This modern homage to new wave and synth pop snaps and swings with hooks and groove aplenty, feeling timeless upon first listen, a gooey, earwormy, nostalgic buzz. It’s a perfect pop song. The best kind of bubblegum. And it makes me (briefly) forget how tired I am.

Maybe the boy will sleep tonight.


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