Father John Misty
“Maybe, Sweet One, You Won’t Have Nightmares Tonight”
Digital Single
The other morning, my girlfriend and I were talking about how weird it was that in dreams everything seems normal, no matter what. You might be taking a wildebeest on a Tinder date with earthworms for fingers, but while you’re dreaming, it all feels as normal as showing up for a morning meeting.
Josh Tillman explores this phenomenon on this lighthearted track, originally written for the Colbert Show. Like much of his recent songwriting purple patch, this song walks the line between silliness and sincerity. And the earnestess in his voice on lines like “and you realize your penis has become detached” keep this from veering into Weird Al territory. There’s a tenderness that gives it real heart and takes me to those bizarre early-morning conversations that we have with loved ones about the weird ass places our brain went while we were fast asleep.
