Sleeping Awake

"Sleeping Awake"
Single by P.O.D.
from the album The Matrix Reloaded: The Album
Released	May 26, 2003 (US) June 3, 2003 (UK/AU)
Format	CD single
Genre	Alternative metal
Length	3:23
Label	WEA, Atlantic
Producer	Howard Benson P.O.D.
P.O.D. singles chronology
"Satellite" (2002) "Sleeping Awake" (2003) "Will You" (2003)

"Sleeping Awake" (often mistitled as "Sleeping Away") is the lead single by P.O.D. from The Matrix Reloaded: The Album. The film soundtrack was released on May 6, 2003 by Warner Bros. Records/Maverick Records with the single itself available May 26. The US edition only includes the title track while the UK/Australia edition, released June 3, includes the video and two more songs.

"Sleeping Awake" was later released as a bonus track on P.O.D.'s studio album, Payable on Death.

The song's video and lyrics are directly inspired by The Matrix Reloaded. The chorus features the line "dreaming of Zion," which refers to the last human city of planet Earth as depicted in the film.

Video

The "Sleeping Awake" radio single, which began playing April 5,^[1] and Marc Webb-directed music video garnered significant airplay upon release. The video shows two versions of the band performing the song. In one room, the band is performing while dressed entirely in black with sunglasses, similar to characters in the Matrix films. Vocalist Sonny Sandoval is shown demonstrating "Matrix powers" (the ability to warp the reality of the Matrix) to levitate alphabet nursery blocks and form the word "ONE" from the word "NEO." The second room appears to be a boiler room, and the band in this room is dressed in white. It is shown that they are mirror-images of each other, positioned and moving in the same manner as each other - the band dressed in black are playing their instruments left-handed to further touch on the theme. At the video's end, the song's final note shatters the glass separating the two rooms, thus allowing the two bands to see each other.

"Sleeping Awake" marked the P.O.D. video debut of guitarist Jason Truby. During shooting of the video, Sandoval confessed that while the band had seriously considering breaking up after the departure of Marcos Curiel (who has since rejoined the band), "[Jason] did us a favor by helping us out with this song, and then once it was all said and done it kind of confirmed that maybe we should keep doing what we loved--and that's making music. . . So now he's helping us do that."^[2]

Track listing

US edition

1. Sleeping Awake

UK/Australia edition

1. "Sleeping Awake" by P.O.D.
2. "Bruises" (Album version) by Unloco
3. "The Passportal" (Album version) by Team Sleep

• "Sleeping Awake" (Video)

Charts

References

External links

• "Sleeping Awake" music video @ DailyMotion.com