Starts at Night

20 odes to the most potent time

All my favourite social activities happen at night: gigs, events, dinners, parties, sexy times, etc. I’m more creative in the evening. I often get my best ideas while falling asleep. The most revealing conversations happen after sunset. Bonds are formed in darkness. Without doubt, the night is the most interesting, exciting, potent time.

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I recently read The Power of When by Michael Breus, PhD. It’s about chronotypes, the four types of biological clocks. The book posits that, by identifying which chronotype you are, you can maximise many aspects of your life. It sounds heady, maybe gimmicky, but it’s an accessible and insightful book.

I have always considered myself a “night owl” – slow-moving, fuzzy, and introspective in the morning; energised, clear-headed, and extroverted at night. My best friend Desmond, during a trip we took to Colombia in 2018, remarked on how quiet I am in the mornings; sometimes I barely spoke until midday. He’s a charming, always-on extrovert, and when we’re together socially, we often match each other energetically. Prior to that holiday, we’d mostly hung out in the afternoons and evenings, so my morning quietude took him by surprise.

I’ve never been a “morning person.” Whilst I’m rarely prone to sleeping in, I hate having to go to bed or wake up at a specific time. Regardless of how well I may have slept, it takes me an hour or two to warm up, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I am not great at socialising in the first few hours of my day, even with my nearest and dearest. (Sorry, girlfriend!)

I was a kid who couldn’t settle down at night – I am the youngest in my family, so I had to go to bed before everyone else, resulting in a constant FOMO. I would lie awake listening to the sounds of my parents and sisters, worrying that I was missing a good TV show or a family activity or an adult conversation.

To this day, I’m a terrible sleeper, and part of the reason is that I get surges of energy in the afternoon, and it’s hard for me to wind down and relax so that sleep comes naturally at a reasonable time. I’ve never used a sleep tracking device because I’m terrified of the data indicating how poor my quality of sleep is. (I’ve taken sleep and meditation courses, tried prescription drugs and herbal remedies… I could go on, but you get my point.)

At the start of his book, Dr. Breus points out that the common descriptions of chronotypes using bird species – Larks (up early), Owls (up late), and Hummingbirds (neither) – are too limited. Plus, parallels with birds don’t make sense for humans because birds aren’t mammals. Instead, he explains how his four chronotypes correspond to the behaviours of four different mammals: dolphins, wolves, bears, and lions. There’s a quiz at the start of the book to determine which chronotype you are.

I am, without a doubt, a dolphin.

“Dolphins usually wake up feeling unrefreshed and are tired until late in the evening, when they suddenly hit their stride. Most alert: late at night. Most productive: in spurts throughout the day.” (The Power of When, page 26)

That’s just one of dozens of dolphin explanations in the book. All of them rang true to me.

I won’t delve further into chronotypes, as you should read Breus’s book. In addition to the self-awareness I gained from reading the book, it made me reflect on my love of the night-time – the wide open, darkened landscape of potential adventure.

I’m always looking for novel reasons to make a new playlist so, inspired by The Power of When, I have curated 20 songs devoted to the night. I could’ve included dozens more with “night” in the title and/or lyrics, but I chose tracks and artists that are meaningful to me.

These songs speak to the power of the evening for calm, chaos, spontaneity, risk-taking, tragedy, trouble, fright, and fun. The night encompasses it all. The night always wins. It all starts at night.

P.S. I changed the opening track of this playlist dozens of times. In the end, I opted for the greatest, and possibly most famous, night song: “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. It sets a creepy tone, which largely dissipates by track four or five, so I’m still unsure if it works as an opener. Let me know in the comments.