A DIVE INTO “ATLAS: II”, THE ENNEAGRAM OF PERSONALITY FROM SLEEPING AT LAST BY ERICA HAAS
Sleeping at Last is a musical band led by singer-songwriter and musician Ryan O’Neal. The Atlas albums are a current project by the band, and there are currently three albums in total, the ongoing one being Atlas: III. The specific album Atlas: II was created on June 7th, 2019. There are a whopping twenty-five songs in this album, all inspired by the idea of “Involuntary Human Development”. Within those songs, there are different themes including “Life”, “Senses”, “Emotions”, “Intelligence”, and “The Enneagram of Personality”. The over-arching theme of this series of albums is “music based on the origins of the universe and life within in”. In this book, I am going to be covering “The Enneagram of Personality” section of Atlas: II. There are nine songs in this section, each titled by their respective number and represents the nine different personality types. These songs have been a source of comfort for me throughout the years, their dream-like melodies never failing to relax my mind. I have never looked into the meaning of these songs, and through this book I am excited to take the opportunity to do just that.
“One” is the first song out of the “Enneagram” section of the Atlas: II album. It’s one of the more up-beat songs and focuses on the idea of the “Reformer/Perfectionist” type. It is said that these types of people’s deepest fears are being morally flawed or seen as imperfect. Their core motivation is to strive to be good and honorable, to “live a life with purpose” (Truity). Their temptations or flaws are often seen as hypocrisy and/or hypercriticism. The quickened tempo of this song fits this personality type quite well because it portrays the frantic struggle these people feel to achieve their goals. Through the lyrics, we learn about someone who is exhausted from this ever long fight for unrealistic perfection. Their goal is “I want to sing a song worth singing. I’ll write an anthem worth repeating. I want to feel the transformation, a melody of reformation”. However, at the end of the song, we hear them self-reflect and discover some fraction of peace within the lines “I’ve spent my whole life searching desperately, to find out that grace requires nothing of me”. It’s a powerful ending to the song and drives this person learning to a deeper meaning. This self-discovery of each individual is a repeating theme throughout the nine songs, which adds a beautiful display of each person’s strengths and weaknesses.
The second song on the album, “Two”, focuses on “The Helper”. These people are said to be caring, generous, people-pleasing and possessive. Their basic fear is being unloved, and their basic desire is to feel love. This song has a peaceful flow of a piano and strings throughout and is on the more upbeat side. It almost sounds like your typical love song at first but paying close attention to the lyrics reveals the song is darker than you’d first notice. “You know I’ll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat” and “You can take the oxygen straight out of my own chest” are some of these self-mutilating lines. They are undoubtedly overdramatic and harmful to the one singing these promises. This was something I missed through my first couple listens of the song. At first I only heard the immeasurable amount of love this person had for the other. Now that I pay closer attention to the lyrics, its easy to see how caught up this person is with loving everyone else, that their love turned self-destructive.
“Three” is a song about “The Achiever/Performer” and is slow and melancholic, with powerful piano notes and heartfelt strings that sneak in at different parts. This personality type is self-assured and ambitious and are always pushing themselves to be the best. In this song we hear the true emotions of an entertainer who has spent a significant amount of their life on stage, “it’s so exhausting on this silver screen where I play the role of anyone but me”. They finally pay attention to what they are truly feeling through the lines “For the first time I see an image of my brokenness utterly worthy of love”. Although I love this songs sense of raw emotions, I feel like the dramatics could be turned up a bit more in the lyrics and/or instruments, like we saw for “Two”, since the song is focused on a performer. It’s interesting to hear the pure emotions of the acter, but I feel like setting a classic, dramatic stage sells the idea of how caught up this person has gotten into their own art, that it plagues even their deepest emotions. It would also set a scene of us watching the performer act but come to their self-reflection in the middle of their performance.
“Four” is my personal favorite song in the album. It focuses on personality type four, which is the “Individualist” and “Romantic”. Their basic fears are having no identity or significance, and their basic desire is to be uniquely themselves. This song is slower, but definitely has its moments when it picks up and becomes almost whimsical. There are playful instruments like woodwinds and strings hiding beneath the melancholic tune. The story we follow seems to be about an artist who strives to create something unique. We hear this artist talk about their passion in the beginning of the song, primarily through the lines “As if God hid the building blocks of every beautiful thing. In this game of hide-and-seek, I can’t help but think that ordinary has swallowed the key”. Throughout the song, the artist slowly learns that there is beauty hidden in everything, even the ordinary. True to O’Neal’s fashion of creating music, it all ties together strongly in the ending. Most instruments safe out and were life with the soft hum of a piano as the artist make an important realization. “Bodie fashioned out of dirt and dust. For a minute we get to be glorious… Get to be glorious… What if we already are who we’ve been dying to become. In certain light I can plainly see, a reflection of magnificence, hidden in you, maybe even in me”. The lines “Get to be glorious” have been appeared within the song several times, but it repeats over and over in this line, like it’s meaning has become something new. All but a couple instruments clear out in these final lines makes it feel like the artist has finally cleared their mind of their idealistic idea of beauty, every charming instrument becoming too much together and creating a disastrous symphony. It’s a powerful part of not just the song, but the entire album.
The song “Five” starts out the most intriguing to me, setting a scene in what sounds to be a rainforest of beautiful instruments. The first two minutes of this song is solely instrumentals and sets the mood for this wondrous personality type. This song is actually the longest out of the nine songs, coming in at about six minutes long, while the other songs end around the four to five minute mark. I believe that fits this personality type the best, since each note is long and experienced to its fullest. That being said, you could guess just the by the beginning of this song what this personality type is; “The Investigator/Observer”. These people are perceptive, innovative and secretive. Their basic fear is helplessness, incapability and incompetence, and their basic desire is mastery and understanding. This song is very direct in its lust for knowledge, starting off with the lines, “I want to watch the universe expand. I want to break it into pieces small enough to understand”. We get to hear the pure passion of one of these driven people, the playful tune of music helping to sell that sense of longing for knowledge. As we see in the other songs, there is a moment of self-discovery and reflation towards the end of the song. This person realizes that they can learn about the universe through more then just science and facts, but through emotions and experiences as well, the things that are keeping them human. The song ends with the lines “I finally feel the universe expand. It’s hidden in heartbeats, exhales, and in the hope of open hands”, which furthers this person’s acceptance hat to understand the universe, you must be able to feel it.
“Six” is another melancholic song. The personality type is referred to as the “Loyalist/Skeptic”. We learn the story of someone who is in an especially vulnerable moment in their life. They “dream in which they are floating to Heaven but could only remain focused on all of the worries and fears back on Earth that they couldn’t get out of their mind” (murlough23, wordpress.com). Six’s greatest fear is to be without support or guidance, and their basic desire is to have this. Their temptation is thinking that fulfillment is somewhere else as well. I relate a lot to this personality type, especially with the lines “my mind was heavy, running ragged with worst case scenarios”. I think this type fits people with anxiety the best, knowing the constant fear they are plagued with 24/7. He singer acknowledges this endless struggle throughout the song, and cries that “Oh God I’m so tired, of being afraid”. Suddenly around the middle of the song, most of the instruments cut out or calm down and slowly build themselves back up as the singer gathers the strength to say “I want to believe, no I choose to believe that I was made to become a sanctuary. Fear won’t go away, but I can keep it at bay. These invisible walls just might keep us safe.” They realize that they know this pestering feat won’t go away, but they can learn to live with it and function normally. The song ends with “no matter what, somehow we’ll be okay, don’t be afraid”. Coming form a person with anxiety, I think this song does us justice. It captures the nagging fears that are present everyday and how tiring they are, but also the hopefulness we crave that eventually we can find a way to coexist with this fear.
“Seven” starts out with a rhythmic, upbeat acoustic guitar, and sounds a lot different then the other songs, which mainly have a piano and strings. Seven is “The Enthusiast”, who is the spontaneous, fun-loving, distractible, and scattered type. Their basic fear is being unfulfilled, trapped, and deprived, and their basic desire is to be satisfied and content. There is definitely a spring to this song, and the acoustic guitar couldn’t fit any better with this lively song. We follow someone who is lists their life goals and desires and craves to do them all now, disregarding any concern or caution. “How nice it’d be if we could try everything. I’m serious, let’s make a list and just begin” the song starts out with, quick t the point, which represents his personality type perfectly. They hunger for whats next, openly mocking the idea of having worries, “What about danger? So what. What about risk?”. The self-reflection in this song is a little mor fuzzy then the other songs, but to me, the singer strives to see what else is out there, but they also crave to stay in one place to keep their relationships stable. The cost of moving around constantly is not being around the people you love, and the singer acknowledges this trade off, “but I want to be here. Truly be there, to watch the ones that I love bloom”. They want to “make room” for these people, but they also cannot resist the desire to see the world. This song has several repeating lines, specifically “I’m hungry” and “I’m ready”, and, fittingly, the song ends with “I’m ready for whatever comes next”. This repetition furthers the panic and need this person feels to go out into the world right at this very moment, unable to wait any longer. Seven is a personality type I am truly envy of. I want to be spontaneous and bold enough to chase after inspiration and risk, taking every opportunity I can to feel free. However, I am naturally anxious and am unable to properly enjoy the thrill of life without constant worries plaguing my every step. Even with this fact, I am hopeful that in the future I can learn to better coexist with anxiety and enjoy life to its fullest, just like Sevens.
The song “Eight” is another personality type I honestly wish I could understand. These people are “The Challenger/Protectors” who are self-confident and confrontational. Their basic fears are being controlled, harmed, and violated. In contrast to this, their basic desire is to gain influence and be self-sufficient. This song has power behind it, a strong beat representing the strong nature of these individuals. The beat almost feels like punches since hey have such an emphasis behind them, which are produced by horns, an instrument we have not heard in the foreground of these songs until now. The song follows someone with a deep desire to fight for those they love, “I wanna break these bones ‘til they’re batter”. What I really love about this song is how hard it hits on this person’s strengths and weaknesses. “Now you won’t see all that I have to lose and all I’ve lost in the fight to protect it”. During these vulnerable moments, the hard beat slows down and comes a bit softer, but quickly picks back up again when they realize their flaws are showing, “I can’t afford, no, I refuse to be rejected”. Throughout the song, these vulnerable moments shine through until the end. However, slowly these moments are embarrassed as the tune turns strong and accepting, and their passion to protect slowly turns around and is directed at themselves. “I am strong” repeats several times at the end, until it ends with “invincible like I’ve never been”, which I find beautiful. . The song starts strong and ends strong, perfect for this personality type. These people have always known they are strong, but now they have taken their strength to a whole new level. There is not another song on this album that is as aggressive as this one, which honestly makes my heart ache more that I am unable to be like these people. In fact, when I took the enneagram test myself, this is the personality type I scored the lowest on. The amount of courage these people have is something far beyond my understanding.
“Nine” is the final song of this section, as well as the album. It’s a powerful song we are left with, and I think it bursts with the most hopeful and crushing lyrics out of all the songs in this album. The ninth and final personality type is “The Peacemaker/Mediator”. Their basic fears is loss, fragmentation and separation, and their basic desire is wholeness and peace of mind. It’s also stated that their temptations include avoiding conflicts and self-assertion. O’Neal has stated this is his personality type as well. This piece is primarily a delicate piano, slow and steady. The song starts out with the lines “who am I to say what any of this means. I have been sleepwalking since I was fourteen”. I believe this song is primarily about Ryan O’Neal himself, since this is his personality type and, through the lines above, seems like he’s breaking the fourth wall and writing about his feelings and thoughts about the album he has just created. O’Neal has admitted that this song in particular took him a long time to make, and it sounds like he incorporated that writers block in the song itself, which makes it feel even more personal. The piano played is peaceful, but there is the occasional gentle ripple in the tune, which to me feels like a wave of inspiration. He first time we hear this pick-up, we hear the lyrics “wake up, fall in love again. Wage war on gravity, there’s so much worth fighting for, you’ll see. Another domino falls, either way”. We hear pars of that line repeated throughout the song during those inspirational parts. It is an absolutely beautiful lyrics and shines the encouraging and hopeful personality type we are learning about. He song ends in acknowledging the hardships we must face and gives encouragement to fight through it. “A little at a time, I feel more alive. I let the scale tip and feel all of it, it’s uncomfortable but right. We were born to try, to see each other through. To know and love ourselves and others well. It’s the most difficult and meaningful work we’ll ever do”. What I love about this song is how O’Neal includes himself as a part of the struggle. He is working to lift us up, but lift himself up as well, and states his faults and relate to us. In the first lyrics of the song, he immediately tells us how he’s struggled and makes sure we know he isn’t putting himself above us but including himself among us. I think this humility is beautiful and makes his subtle guidance all the more appreciated.
Although I find it morbid that we can accurately fit most personality types into such a tight space, I still find it an interesting concept and way to view humans complicated personalities and emotions. The fact that we can be united like this is, in a way, horrifyingly beautiful. It makes me wonder where the people I know fit under. Of course, I had to take this personality test for myself. I took the most well-known enneagram test I could find, which was on the website Truity. Since no one is perfectly one personality type, this test shows you a pie chart and what percentage of each personality type you are. I took this test a couple times to see if the results were consistent, and each time was relatively the same, and surprised me a bit. I scored the highest for personality type nine, “The Peacemaker/Mediator” at 98%, with two, “The Helper”, and six, “The Loyalist/Skeptic” following closely behind in the 90% range. I thought for sure I would score highest for personality type two or six, since I am primarily an anxious person that likes to help with understanding people’s emotions where I can. Having this result makes me question things about myself that I am more than happy to explore.
I’m positive there is a more accurate, official enneagram test out there that will give better results then the test I took, but it was fun, nonetheless. You can take the test seriously or just out of curiosity. Whether you are a skeptic about the legitimacy about the enneagram personality types, each of these songs written by Sleeping at Last has brought a new level of beauty to the idea. Each type of person has their own theme song through this album, and a new way to understand their emotions through heart-wrenching melodies and self-discovery. I thoroughly enjoyed every song in this part of the album and will continue to listen to this playlist whenever I need something to sooth my mind. Now that I understand the context behind these songs, I can also enjoy them through the discovery of the enneagram personalities, no matter of their accuracies.
Erica Haas, Delaware College of Art and Design, Creative Writing, Spring 2022