Ryan O’Neal, the force behind the band Sleeping At Last, is one extremely talented singer/songwriter. I cannot say enough positive things about the music I have heard to date which  includes the album Storyboards and selections from Yearbook. I discovered Sleeping At Last when just this past year O’Neal gave away Storyboards for free on NoiseTrade.com. I have been hooked ever since.

Sleeping at Last crafts spiritually meaningful lyrics with rich, beautiful melodies. Content is supreme with O’Neal—his message is overall spiritually charged though not overbearing or overly religious. This is right up the alley of the Christian who enjoys music that entertains the sometimes deeper spiritual subjects of life while avoiding the overdone.

Though Christian, you will not hear O’Neal overuse staple Christian buzz words such as mercy and grace; instead, he will tell you about them, along with love, forgiveness, humility and hope, weaving their concepts into significance. His use of imagery and metaphor is at times astounding.

Take for example the song “Birdcage Religion” from Storyboards:

so slowly i’m losing
who i’ve sworn to be.
a promise in pencil
that years have made so hard to read.
i’ve spent my life building walls
brick by brick and bruise by bruise…
a birdcage religion that whispered me to sleep.

but time is spinning silk
that coils ruthlessly;
with the devil’s patience,
it binds my hands so quietly
that soon it becomes a part of me.

so soften these edges and straighten out my tie.
and help me remember
the hope that i have compromised.

please be a broken record for me.

And then in “Naïve,” a delicate piano and voice piece form Storyboards, a stunning moment of clarity and triumph unfolds, the likes of which is rarely achieved as well in song lyrics, when the song culminates in a moment of realization:

but in the end such tired words will rest.
the truth will reroute the narrow things they’ve said.
the marionette strings will lower and untie
and out of the ashes, love will be realized.

Perhaps what is most intriguing about Sleeping At Last is how O’Neal mixes his commitment to his faith in God with his art form. In an interview from Wrecked.org¹, O’Neal was asked if Sleeping At Last is a Christian band, what that means to him, and how is his faith incorporated into the music he writes and plays?

O’Neal responded:

“I hate to use the old “We’re not a ‘Christian band,’ we’re Christians in a band…” thing, but… since we began, we’ve felt very passionate about making our music available to anyone that was kind enough to listen, no matter who they are or what they believe in. We’ve also always aimed to write music that is as sincere as possible and that incorporates everything that means a lot to us.

“Our faith is a very big part of our lives, so naturally it comes through in our songs in a lot of ways. We never try to tone it down or up. And that’s sort of how we’ve approached our faith and music from the beginning. We’re just privileged to play music for anyone with an open ear.”¹

O’Neal’s answer rings true to what I have thus far heard from him musically—an example of faith neither overdone nor underdone, but just exactly as he is—a true reflection of what is inside the artist. His ability to bring it out in words and music is what makes Sleeping At Last a must listen.

You can check out O’Neal and Sleeping At Last more at their website.

I leave you with a recent live version of “Tethered,” a personal favorite of mine, which is off the Yearbook album. If you follow along with the lyrics included below, you will get a taste of O’Neal’s high level of sensibility, use of imagery, and song craft…

we were married by the ocean.
we were tethered by the sea.
we tied string around our fingers
to remember our ideals.

i’ll be brave when you are frightened.
you’ll be strong when i am weak in the knees.
i’ll be calm when you have had enough of these rushing waves.
you’ll be the oxygen i need.

we’ll take turns to untangle the knots,
though our hands may be tied,
it’s all a part of the plot.
cat’s cradle etiquette, we oblige,
as we learn to enlace for the rest of our lives.

you’ll be balance when i waver.
i’ll be warmth when you are shivering cold.
you’ll be patience when i’ve had enough of this waiting game.
i’ll be the anchor cast below.

we’ll take turns to untangle the knots,
though our hands may be tied,
it’s all a part of the plot.
cat’s cradle etiquette, we oblige,
as we learn to enlace for the rest of our lives.

Check out more music and video selections from the Sleeping At Last website here.

¹ For the quote and the full interview, see http://arts.wrecked.org/?filename=voices-in-culture-sleeping-at-last-interview, last accessed 06/13/2012 (no longer valid as of 2019).