I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 7: "Ceiling of Stars" 🌠
Grown-up lullabies
Whenever I stay up too late (which, to be honest, is probably most nights), it’s not really for any particular reason. But every once in a while, I’ll stumble into one of those magical late-night windows in which time doesn’t really exist. It’ll come along when I’m watching a show I truly love or reading a book I can’t put down, or when I’m in too deep on a new artist’s Spotify page and can’t stop listening. When this happens, the 1:30 a.m. time stamp somehow makes everything feel infinite and wonderful, cloaked in the overly-romanticized mystique of after-midnight hours that only reveals itself (at least to me) on very rare occasions. It feels like I’m breaking the rules or cracking the code, like I’m getting extra quality time with Mr. Moon so I have to take advantage of it.
Naturally, I made a playlist to properly soundtrack these late-night “bonus hours,” but don’t scroll down just yet. Before we go any farther, I’m forcing you to watch a figure skating routine.
This is not just any figure skating routine. (Trust me, I watched a lot of skating in the early 2000s, so I know.) This one is special. It’s a deep-breathing exercise in figure skating form—clean, peaceful, intricate, joyful—and I’ve typed it into my YouTube search bar on many a can’t-sleep occasion, so I’m passing it on to you.
*You probably can’t watch it embedded in this post so you’ll have to click the “Watch on Youtube” link and view it externally. Sorry! I promise it’s worth the extra step.
LISTEN
The spectrum of nighttime feelings is endless, as are the nighttime albums made to accompany said feelings... so I simply couldn’t pick just one project to highlight here. Instead, I made a mini choose-your-own-adventure game featuring two of my absolute favorite releases from the past six months.
OPTION 1: If you’d like to feel as though you’re closing down an underground poets’ lounge after last call while the moon rises outside (somewhere in Europe, perhaps?) and you’re buttoning your tailored wool coat for a contemplative stroll home, may I suggest…
The Velvet Hour by C.A. Jones
—Don’t miss “Subterranean” / “Fortune Teller” / “Aquarius Moon”
OPTION 2: If you’d like to feel as though you’re orbiting Earth in your own personal (very safe, very comfortable) spaceship and you happen across a lovely meteor shower on your way around, may I suggest…
Isolation by John the Blind
—Don’t miss “Alien Jewelry” / “Aquarium” / “Flame From Philly”
READ
“My Buddy” - Patti Smith’s tribute to Sam Shepard (The New Yorker)
I’m still working my way through Patti’s books, but I think of this essay (her tribute to actor/playwright Sam Shepard and my introduction to her writing) often and with great affection. It’s wistful and nostalgic and totally heartbreaking, but in a way that somehow leaves me feeling whole and hopeful, never sad or empty. This is my favorite part:
“He would call me late in the night from somewhere on the road, a ghost town in Texas, a rest stop near Pittsburgh, or from Santa Fe, where he was parked in the desert, listening to the coyotes howling. But most often he would call from his place in Kentucky, on a cold, still night, when one could hear the stars breathing.”
Excuse me, is she kidding? When one could hear the stars breathing?? It’s simply too perfect. If you’ve ever been in a very remote place on a very clear night, you know exactly what she means.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
This book. Oh man. It truly hasn’t left my mind since I read it in 2019. It asks you to think and feel so deeply—which, depending on your mood/bedtime routine, may or may not be a selling point for you—but I devoured so much of this masterpiece between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. that I had no choice but to recommend it here. For whatever it’s worth, there are lots of lovely nighttime quotes sprinkled in between all the complex characters and powerful emotions. For example:
“I considered the stars, the smattering of blue-and-white phosphorescence, and wondered how anyone could call the night dark.”
And also:
“But for now, the city brims before us with a strange, rare brilliance—as if it was not a city at all, but the sparks made by some god sharpening his weapons above us.”
And lastly:
“All of it, every shade equalized by dusk. What are we if not what the light says we are?”
Note: A24 is making it into a movie soon, so I encourage you to board the Ocean Vuong train at your earliest convenience.
PLAY
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited to share this playlist. After extensive late-night listening sessions and plenty of track testing, I present to you my best bedtime story/evening meditation in playlist form. These songs are my grown-up lullabies—the stronger, more versatile versions of their childhood counterparts, made to assuage bigger fears and provide greater comfort.
For me, this collection is a source of calm and steadiness that sounds exactly like how it feels to exhale after an extra deep breath. (I don’t have the medical data to prove this, but I swear I feel my heart rate and blood pressure decreasing as I listen through.)
These songs are spacious and celestial, but also intimate and small—as if you tried to squeeze an entire life-sized constellation onto the tiny square footage of your bedroom ceiling using those plastic glow-in-the-dark stars.
Anyway, it’s getting late. Light a candle, inhale, exhale, repeat… and press play:
Ceiling of Stars
City of Stars - Ryan Gosling (here’s the clip. you’re welcome.)
In Too Deep - Jacob Collier feat. Kiana Lede
Spinning - Mark Ronson feat. Ilsey (unrelated take: Late Night Feelings walked so Future Nostalgia could run)
Don’t Look Down - Superheart
On the Train Ride Home - The Paper Kites
Playing On My Mind - The 1975 (subdued singer-songwriter Matty Healy is highly underrated)
Pool - Samia
The Birds of Finland - Conner Youngblood (from his 2018 record Cheyenne, all of which is vibey and exquisite)
Big Sky Country - Leif Vollebekk
Oh, What A World - Kacey Musgraves (Golden Hour in general is my security blanket album of choice, but this track truly takes the cake)
Where Can I Go - Josh Gilligan
Hard to Find - The National (hi, where do i sign up to be a National fan? turns out they are a Very Good Band.)
What Falling In Love is For - Emmit Fenn (new album coming soon and i have a feeling it’ll be 10/10)
Serratona Skies - Ed Patrick
For All You Give - The Paper Kites feat. Lucy Rose
Quarantine - Justin Hurwitz (this has nothing to do with the pandemic, i promise)
O - Coldplay
Satellite - Maggie Rogers (a rare celestial queen among us!)
Are You Even Real? - James Blake
alien jewelry - John The Blind
Make Me Cry - Jacob Collier (everything he does blows my mind.)
Goodnight - Nick Murphy
Midnight in NM - Scott Ruth
Count on Me - Superheart (pure reassurance in sonic form—doesn’t get much better)
Moon Seems Lost - Glenn Echo
Big Country - Emile Mosseri (from the excellent Minari score)
Envelous - Ardley
He Is Risen (How Sweet the Sound) - Kevin F. Johnson
Listen to all of it right here:
Or HERE if you use Apple Music!
Deep breaths! Sweet dreams! Goodnight! And thanks for listening. 🌙✨
Natalie
P.S. - If you need big nighttime songs for late-night drives or all-hours trips to Cook Out, don’t worry—I’ve got you covered. Head in this direction.
P.P.S. - If you live for a New Artist High™️ the same way I do, follow THE BAKER’S DOZEN on Spotify or Apple Music. 13 songs—no genre constraints, no release date limits, just fun finds. Updated every Friday!