Sleeping At Last

 A common topic nowadays is finding diverse ways of thinking and remaining open to new thoughts, interpretations and ideas. Sleeping At Last is an American band that was established in 1999, and is still producing songs today. The focus of their albums and collections vary, but their first collection Atlas is a collection of 30 songs inspired by the origins of the universe. These songs focus on Darkness, Light, Space, Land and Oceans and Space is broken into two parts. Space I contains 6 songs, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, and Mars, and Space II focuses on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Some of the songs have lyrics, others are solely instrumental, and each song is tailored towards a different celestial body and the writers' interpretation. Despite the differences, the intent behind all of the songs is still the same. Music is a massive part of our culture in America, is a large part of almost every culture, and translating the planets into song for others to listen to and share helps breed those connections, and insight an interest in the stars. Moving forward in astronomy, we need to continue to inspire another generation of young people to look to the stars and music is an excellent way to engage them, to pique their interest.  Sleeping At Last is not the first band to derive inspiration from the stars and the certainly won't be the last, but their approach is respectful and different and worth listening to.