Until I Wake Up by Dishwalla

Album: And You Think You Know What Life's About (1998)

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Songfacts®:

This is about finally being happy and trying to keep everything calm. If you stir things up then disappointment and the realities of life come crashing in. It's about living in a dream world where you don't have to face life. We all search for that point inside of ourselves (the dream) where we are at peace. >>
Suggestion credit:
Live Freak - Beirut, Lebanon
Add Dishwalla frontman JR Richards to the list of musicians who have battled depression and want to help others with the condition get treatment. Thanks to the hit "Counting Blue Cars," the band was riding high after their 1995 debut album, Pet Your Friends. But Richards learned that success came with burdens and expectations, as his record company, manager, agents, and even his bandmates were clamoring for a follow-up. As the primary songwriter, this fell on him.

"Being stressed and going through depression at that point too, was exhausting," he said in a Songfacts interview. "I remember being in that recording studio, working on songs, just staring at the floor thinking, God, all I wanna do right now is just crawl up on that carpet and go to sleep. In the middle of this band that's blasting away and running through songs."

Writing the song proved therapeutic; it became one of Richards' favorites.
In this song, JR Richards sings:

No disappointment until I wake up
Don't want to wake up

"Falling asleep was really the only time I could relax," he told Songfacts. "At some point during the day you have to sleep, so whatever you're struggling with, at some point you have to give in to that for a moment in order to be able to sleep."
This is one of the songs the band played when they guested on the TV series Charmed in an episode where their manager makes a bad deal with a demon, delivering souls of groupies in exchange for success.

Comments: 2

Leonardo from BrazilAs Andrea pointed out, it's about JR's struggling with pressure/depression after their big hit and album. He made a post on his website (and an acoustic version clip) on the song: http://www.jrrichardsmusic.com/dont-want-to-wake-up-my-battle-with-depression/
Andrea from St.louis, MoI spoke with JR the lead singer at Six Flags St.Louis on 6/25/05. He said that this is his favorite song he wrote and to preform. He said He wrote the song about the pressures that other people put on the band after finishing his last album and it being so sucessful.

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