A Song For Sleeping

Album: Shangri-La Dee Da (2001)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a lullaby written by lead singer Scott Weiland for his 18-month-old son, Noah. You can see Weiland and Noah in this David Spade sketch about music file-sharing. Noah gets the line, "Will you please buy my daddy's album so I can have food to eat?" directed at another grade-schooler who is struggling to learn why sharing music is a Bad, Bad Thing.
  • Weiland wrote this with bass player Robert DeLeo. They composed it while sitting on the edge of Weiland's bathtub.
  • The lyrics, "So will you tell me the little things? What does God look like? And angels' wings?" comes from the Judeo-Christian belief that all unborn souls are lined up in Heaven waiting to be born, and hence babies are new arrivals from Heaven.

    Weiland's son Noah, named in the song, is also named after the character from the scriptures of Judeo-Christian religions. The "Noah's ark" story is told in the Bible, the Talmud, and the Quran, as well as having roots further back in Mesopotamian and Greek mythology.
  • The album title Shangri-La Dee Da is a pun on the mythical city of "Shangri-La," from James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Its name has become synonymous with the Hindu ideal of an Earthly paradise. However, lest readers draw a false inference from the band's name, Stone Temple Pilots get their name not from Hindu temples but from the old stickers for STP Motor Oil, and a game of trying to come up with an original phrase based on the acronym "STP."
  • This song also appears on Disk 5 of their boxed album set Original Album Series, being a collection of five STP albums from '92 to '01.

Comments: 3

  • Satan'slittlehelper from Westbury, NyI love this song. I actually sing it to my children every night when I put them to bed. I just subtitute "noah"(weiland's son) with my children's names. Sometimes they request an encore. Truly a beautiful song.
  • Matthew Doroshow from Philadelphia, PaThis is my favorite STP song.
  • Mike from Mckinney, TxScott actually wrote this song in a crack-house while he wanted someone to sing him to sleep, he decided to do it himself and wrote this song real quick. Wait, no. I just made that up.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.