50 Best Rock Songs About Insomnia
Best Rock Tracks That Capture Sleepless Nights
There’s a strange haze that settles in when sleep won’t come. Not the cinematic kind where someone lies awake looking poetic, but the real thing—when the clock keeps jumping ahead and the room starts to feel off-kilter. You flip the pillow, scroll through your phone, stare at the ceiling. Somewhere between tired and wired, you hit play on a song that sounds like the inside of that moment. These tracks lean into the restless hours, where your thoughts loop and the city outside hums like it’s in on the joke. Some come from rock, others drift close to pop, country, and R&B songs that circle the same sleepless orbit.
There’s something raw in how these songs move. The guitars sound half-awake, the vocals crack around the edges, the drums never quite settle. Some lyrics talk about late nights directly, others only hint at it through mood and texture. It’s that space where music carries the weight your brain won’t let go of. The night stretches too long, your body wants rest but your mind refuses to clock out. The best ones don’t try to fix it—they ride the pulse of it, looping until morning feels like a rumor.
Not every track needs to spell out insomnia to fit. Some hit that sleepless energy sideways—loneliness, obsession, overthinking, the hum of caffeine still burning through your veins. They hang together in that half-light between night and day, the kind of songs you play with the brightness turned low. Here are the best rock songs for sleepless nights that sound like they were made somewhere between 2 and 4 a.m.
Top 10 Insomnia Rock Songs
1. 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica
2. 'Sleepless' by King Crimson
3. 'I'm Only Sleeping' by The Beatles
4. 'Sleep' by The Dandy Warhols
5. 'Sleeping Sickness' by City and Colour
6. 'Sleep Now in the Fire' by Rage Against the Machine
7. 'I Don't Sleep I Dream' by R.E.M.
8. 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' by The Smithereens
9. 'Sleep to Dream' by Fiona Apple
10. 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' by Beastie Boys
Alternative Rock Songs About Staying Awake #11 to 20
11. 'Tired of Sleep' by The Distillers
12. 'I Can't Sleep' by The La's
13. 'Sleepwalking' by Bring Me The Horizon
14. 'Insomniac' by Green Day
15. 'Tired of Waiting for You' by The Kinks
16. 'Insomnia' by Matt Alter
17. 'Sleep' by My Chemical Romance
18. 'Who Needs Sleep?' by Barenaked Ladies
19. 'Daysleeper' by R.E.M.
20. 'I Can't Make You Love Me' by Bonnie Raitt
Popular Rock Songs With Sleepless Themes #21 to 30
21. 'Waking Up' by The Cure
22. 'Sleep When I'm Dead' by Bon Jovi
23. 'I Stay Away' by Alice in Chains
24. 'Dream Police' by Cheap Trick
25. 'A Lack of Sleep' by The Last Shadow Puppets
26. 'I'm So Tired' by The Beatles
27. 'Talking in Your Sleep' by The Romantics
28. 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' by The Smiths
29. 'Sleepwalking' by The Chain Gang of 1974
30. 'Asleep' by The Smiths
Essential Rock Music For Tired Minds #31 to 40
31. 'Sleeping Bag' by ZZ Top
32. 'Insomnie' by The Divine Comedy
33. 'I Can't Get to Sleep' by Blur
34. 'No Sleep' by The Rasmus
35. 'Lullaby' by The Cure
36. 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' by The Script
37. 'When I Wake Up' by The Get Up Kids
38. 'The Dreamer' by The Tallest Man on Earth
39. 'Sleepless Night' by Simple Minds
40. 'In the Shadows' by The Rasmus
Top Rock Songs About Insomnia Feelings #41 to 50
41. 'Sleepless Nights' by Everly Brothers
42. 'Insomnia' by Dio
43. 'Bedshaped' by Keane
44. 'Waking the Demon' by Bullet for My Valentine
45. 'Slept So Long' by Jeff Buckley
46. 'Who's Going to Drive You Home' by The Cars
47. 'No Sleep 'Til' by Fozzy
48. 'The Bed's Too Big Without You' by The Police
49. 'A Nightmare on My Street' by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
50. 'Go to Sleep' by Radiohead
© 2025 Carson McQueen
