Peak
3
Weeks
26
Score
3,931
Chart Year
1984
The song's music video, widely aired at the time on MTV and elsewhere, featured the band performing while surrounded by standing, but seemingly sleeping, women who were dressed in lingerie, pajamas, and other sleepwear.
"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. As usual, MTV helped boost The Romantics' success right around this time with videos of their songs. In Greg Prato's book MTV Ruled the World, Romantics' lead singer Jimmy Marinos talks about this song: "That was the last song recorded for the album In Heat. All we had was a backtrack, the instrumental part of the song. And we realized it was too good a track to leave unfinished. So everybody put their heads together, and in a couple of days, we finished up the song melodically and lyrically." Ha also mentions that the video was filmed at 8:00 in the morning in Detroit, surrounded by girls in their jammies, at what was deemed "not really rock 'n' roll hours." So if they look like they just woke up, that's because they did - and it works great! In the season 2 Stranger Things episode "MADMAX," this plays while Nancy is helping Steve with his essay in the school parking lot.
When you close your eyes and go to sleep And it's down to the sound of a heartbeat I can hear the things that you're dreaming about When you open up your heart And the truth comes out You tell me that you want me You tell me that you need me You tell me that you love me And I know that I'm right 'Cause I hear it in the night I hear the secrets that you keep When you're talking in your sleep When I hold you in my arms at night Don't you know you're sleeping in the spotlight And all your dreams that you keep inside You're telling me the secrets That you just can't hide When you close your eyes and you fall asleep Everything about you is a mystery
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 8, 1983 | 90 | 36 |
| 2 | Oct 15, 1983 | 86 | 40 |
| 3 | Oct 22, 1983 | 77 | 49 |
| 4 | Oct 29, 1983 | 66 | 60 |
| 5 | Nov 5, 1983 | 63 | 63 |
| 6 | Nov 12, 1983 | 61 | 65 |
| 7 | Nov 19, 1983 | 57 | 69 |
| 8 | Nov 26, 1983 | 44 | 82 |
| 9 | Dec 3, 1983 | 29 | 97 |
| 10 | Dec 10, 1983 | 24 | 102 |
| 11 | Dec 17, 1983 | 20 | 106 |
| 12 | Dec 24, 1983 | 12 | 114 |
| 13 | Dec 31, 1983 | 12 | 114 |
| 14 | Jan 7, 1984 | 6 | 120 |
| 15 | Jan 14, 1984 | 6 | 120 |
| 16 | Jan 21, 1984 | 4 | 122 |
| 17 | Jan 28, 1984 | 3 | 123 |
| 18 | Feb 4, 1984 | 3 | 123 |
| 19 | Feb 11, 1984 | 3 | 123 |
| 20 | Feb 18, 1984 | 5 | 121 |