Released: 2022
Chance Peña’s ‘Sleep Deprivation’ is a heartfelt song about struggle, perseverance, and the search for purpose. It explores the challenges of balancing personal ambition with family expectations, and the emotional toll of striving for success while grappling with self-doubt and uncertainty.
The opening lines ‘Sleep deprivations got me at my heels / This year taught me how it feels to be lost and ambitious’ set the tone for the song. The phrase ‘at my heels’ is a colloquial way of saying that something is constantly bothering or pursuing you. In this case, the artist is expressing how his lack of sleep and the pressures of the past year have been weighing on him.
‘I’ve been on a mission, I won’t stop ’til I’m done / I toss and turn almost every night / I pray to God I’m doing right by all my family’s wishes’ – Here, Peña is revealing his determination to succeed, despite the sleepless nights and worries about fulfilling his family’s hopes for him.
‘Lord knows I’m missing the love outshines the sun’ – This line is a poetic way of saying that he misses the love that is more powerful and brighter than the sun. It could be a reference to a specific person, or a general longing for the warmth and comfort of love.
The chorus ‘So when I break down and list all the reasons / I’m here and I’m still breathing, oh, I’m hanging on / Try to break ground and wait for tomorrow / I’ll find the way through the sorrow, I / One day at a time’ – This is a powerful declaration of resilience. Despite the hardships, he’s reminding himself of his reasons for pushing forward, and taking things ‘one day at a time’ – a common phrase meaning to deal with things as they come, rather than worrying about the future.
‘I see the world outside my door / Constant reminder, there’s so much more than what I’m seeing / That thought is freeing but shakes me to the core’ – Peña is acknowledging the vastness of the world and the opportunities it holds, which is both liberating and intimidating.
‘Settle down, settle down, get back / It’s bad when it hits me in my heart like that / I know I’m exactly where I need to be / So I’m out for some clarity’ – These lines express a moment of self-doubt and the need for clarity. The phrase ‘hits me in my heart’ is a metaphor for a strong emotional impact.
The song ends with the repeated line ‘One day at a time’, reinforcing the theme of perseverance and the importance of living in the present, despite the challenges.
