MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS - About Insomnia

Martha and the Muffins were a Canadian new wave pop band most famous for their hit single Echo Beach. The band's material was marked by a mix of straightforward pop and avant-guard sensibilities, which is represented perfectly in my favorite single of theirs, About Insomnia, and its B-side, 1 4 6.

About Insomnia is a melodic pop gem with some really compelling lyrics:

Waiting for the dawn for a dream, a chance to lie down
That confused imitation of life eludes me now
All routes of resistance impaired by your face
Oh, fugitive hope, will I see you today?
In a tunnel, on a bridge, or a viaduct we'll meet just by chance
And in a moment, or maybe just an hour or so, renew our romance
And if the charms of foreign places call for changing tableaux
We will auction all our paintings and our furniture
And take to the road
Do you suppose?
The patterns on the wall never change, but shadows grow long
Vous n'assassinez de la realite' c'est malheuresement
As daylight disperses the spectres of night
My nocturnal musings don wings and take flight

About Insomnia was taken from the band's Trance and Dance LP from 1980. While the song is very accessible, its non-album B-side 1 4 6 is a random, noisy instrumental that reflects the more avant-guard side of Martha and the Muffins. Check out vinyl rips of both tracks from my 7" single below:

- Martha and the Muffins - About Insomnia (7" Single, 1980)

FOR FANS OF:
Blondie, The Waitresses, Talking Heads, Romeo Void

WEB LINKS:
- Martha and the Muffins Official site
- Martha and the Muffins CDs on Amazon.com
- Martha and the Muffins on Wikipedia
- Martha and the Muffins on RateYourMusic
- Martha and the Muffins on AllMusic Guide