I Lie Awake Every Night

Album: We Move (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song, James Vincent McMorrow revisits the eating disorder that afflicted him as a teenage boy in Dublin. Between the ages of 14 to about 17, he developed anorexia and later bulimia. At his lowest point the Irish teen was hospitalized in a mental health unit weighing just over five stone (70 lbs). McMorrow explained to The Evening Standard:

    "The song was written about a point when I was hospitalized because I just wasn't coping well with life. I had friends but I didn't think about life the same way as them. It's a chicken-and-egg thing: was I unhappy because I didn't make friends easily, or did I not make friends easily because I was unhappy? There was no singular moment that happened [to trigger it]. I just have a predisposition towards control and wanting to have control of my life. The classic thing with eating disorders is that when life is out of control, it's the one thing that you can control."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Gentle Giant

Gentle GiantSongwriter Interviews

An interview with Ray and Derek Shulman of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant to discuss counterpoint, polyrhythms, and... Bon Jovi.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."