Talking In Your Sleep

"Talking In Your Sleep" is the biggest hit of The Romantics' career. In fact, it's their only Top 10 hit, and only one other song by them ("One in a Million") even made it to the Top 40. Contrast that with the number of times you've heard The Romantics' "What I Like About You," which only made it to #49. Written by the band, this singer learns his lover's secrets when she reveals them in her sleep. Luckily for the guy, she says lots of nice things about him.

Your geeky little takeaway for this song's subject: The phenomenon of talking in your sleep is known by the scientific name of "somniloquy," an unexpectedly beautiful word for it. Somniloquy is related to the same stage of sleep that produces rapid eye movement (what R.E.M. stands for), and it represents a "motor breakthrough" in which words you're saying in a dream become spoken out loud. The lyrics of this song, of course, refer to a lover who is professing affection for the singer in their subconscious only. Note for nighttime lovelorn lurkers: Things people say in their sleep probably have nothing to do with reality, unless you really are being chased through a submarine by PeeWee Herman riding a Pokemon at the moment.

In the UK, The Romantics' version didn't chart, so "Talking In Your Sleep" was covered by the band Bucks Fizz. While unheard-of in the US, they took it to #15 on the UK Singles chart, beating The Romantics with their own song.