Until late last year I’d never had any trouble sleeping. I don’t know what brought about the change but since November I haven’t slept for more than a couple of hours a night. I often sneak off to bed early but I find myself lying there wide awake for hours on end. After a while I give up and wander back to living room to watch late-night TV. When you can recite the entire script of the ‘Shark Vac then Steam’ infomercial you know you’re in a bad place. I told a friend about my sleepless nights. He said that he’d experienced a similar problem. It wasn’t until Coldplay released the album ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’ in 2002, that he was able to get more than half an hour of consecutive sleep. “You can put the whole album on if you want,” he said, “but if you really need a solid night’s rest, just play the track ‘Clocks’ on repeat.” I went out and bought the album the following afternoon. It was unbelievably effective. I slept for 13 hours straight; I even overslept my alarm. The song is so incredibly boring that it’s impossible to stay awake. The repetitive chords, E, B, B, F, coupled with Chris Martin’s dull, lifeless voice is the perfect recipe for even the most extreme insomnia. Counting sheep is limited by one’s knowledge of the numerical system; Coldplay’s repetition is actually endless. I’ve read something about a chord change halfway through the song, but I doubt anyone has stayed awake long enough to hear it.