I'm Only Sleeping

"I'm Only Sleeping" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 studio album Revolver. In the United States and Canada, it was one of the three tracks that Capitol Records cut from the album and instead included on Yesterday and Today, released two months before Revolver. Credited as a Lennon–McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon.<ref name="Fontenot/About">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The track includes a backwards lead guitar part played by George Harrison, the first time such a technique was used on a pop recording.<ref name="GilmoreAcidTest">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="McCormick/Tele">Template:Cite news</ref>

Since the standardisation of the Beatles' catalogue for its international CD release in 1987, the song has appeared on Revolver in North America. The 1996 Anthology 2 compilation includes outtakes of the song from the Revolver sessions, including an instrumental version that features the Beatles' first use of a vibraphone. In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked "I'm Only Sleeping" at number 12 on their list of the best Beatles songs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Background and inspiration

The first draft of Lennon's lyrics for "I'm Only Sleeping", written on the back of a letter from 1966, suggests that he was writing about the joys of staying in bed rather than any drug euphoria sometimes read into the lyrics.<ref name=rollingstone /> While not on tour, Lennon would usually spend his time sleeping, reading, writing or watching television, often under the influence of drugs, and would have to be woken by McCartney for their songwriting sessions.Template:Sfn In a London Evening Standard article published on 4 March 1966, Maureen Cleave, a friend of Lennon, wrote: "He can sleep almost indefinitely, is probably the laziest person in England. 'Physically lazy,' he said. 'I don't mind writing or reading or watching or speaking, but sex is the only physical thing I can be bothered with any more.Template:'"Template:Sfn

Recording

The recording of the song began at EMI Studios on 27 April 1966Template:Sfn with eleven takes of the rhythm track,Template:Sfn comprising two acoustic guitars, bass and drums.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Five further takes of the song were recorded but they were not used.Template:Sfn Take 11 was chosen as the master and two days later Lennon added his lead vocals.Template:Sfn On 5 May, George Harrison wrote and recorded the double guitar part. The next day the recording was completed by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's backing vocals.Template:Sfn

The song features the then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet played by Harrison in a five-hour late-night recording session with producer George Martin.Template:Sfn Harrison perfected the part with the tape running backwards so that, when reversed, it would fit the dreamlike mood.Template:Sfn One guitar was recorded with fuzz effects, the other without. Engineer Geoff Emerick described the meticulous process as "interminable". "I can still picture George hunched over his guitar for hours on end", Emerick wrote in 2006, "headphones clamped on, brows furrowed in concentration."<ref name=rollingstone>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During the break before the second bridge, the sound of a yawn can be heard, preceded by Lennon saying to McCartney, "Yawn, Paul."Template:Sfn

Release

"I'm Only Sleeping" was first released on 20 June 1966 as the second track on the US album Yesterday and TodayTemplate:Sfn and on 5 August 1966 as the third track on Revolver,Template:Sfn the album for which the song was originally intended.Template:Sfn The US version of Revolver did not include the song as it had already been released: US Beatles releases frequently differed from the British versions.Template:Sfn

The mono and stereo versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" differ in the positioning and length of the backwards guitar parts:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

• US mono version (mixed on 12 May 1966):Template:Sfn No backwards track during the second verse but a quick fragment is heard on the "time" in "taking my time" and "ceiling" in "lying there and staring at the ceiling". The track is fully intact during the instrumental break and continues into the words "please don't" in "please don't spoil my day". Near the end of the song the backwards track starts four beats after the last word "sleeping".<ref name="Fontenot/About" />
• US rechannelled stereo version: This version was mixed from the US mono version of the song but has far more reverb. It was used only on the initial pressing of the Yesterday and Today album.<ref name="Fontenot/About" />
• US stereo version (20 May):Template:Sfn Backwards track on "running everywhere at such a speed" and "till they find there's no need". The track fades in two bars into the solo but continues into the word "please" in "please don't spoil my day". At the end of the song, the track starts immediately after the word "sleeping".<ref name="Fontenot/About" />
• UK mono version (6 June):Template:Sfn Backwards track on "where at such a speed", "there's no need" and "staring at the ceiling". The track stops at the end of the solo and at the end of the song, starts immediately after the word "sleeping".<ref name="Fontenot/About" /> Of the five mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping", this version features the most extensive amount of backwards guitar.Template:Sfn
• UK stereo version: Backwards track on "everywhere at such a speed" and "find there's no need". The track stops at the end of the solo and at the end of the song, starts immediately after the word "sleeping".<ref name="Fontenot/About" />

The Beatles' pioneering studio effects on Revolver proved highly influential on other contemporary artists.Template:Sfn Musicologist Walter Everett cites the inclusion of backwards guitar parts on Crosby, Stills & Nash's 1969 song "Pre-Road Downs" as an apparent "homage" to "I'm Only Sleeping".Template:Sfn

Since the release of the Beatles' music on CD in 1987, the UK stereo version of the album has become the standard version in the US.Template:Sfn Part of an instrumental rehearsal of the song featuring a vibraphone and the first take of the song from 29 April 1966Template:Sfn were released on the 1996 album Anthology 2.Template:Sfn The inclusion of the vibraphone part marked the Beatles' first use of this instrument and reflected the band's experimentation with new sounds during the Revolver sessions.Template:Sfn The UK mono version of "I'm Only Sleeping" was released on CD as part of the 2009 The Beatles in Mono remastered box set.

Music video

An official music video, directed by Em Cooper, was released to YouTube on 1 November 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Covers

The Suggs version reached the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart in 1995.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:Template:Sfn

• John Lennon – lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar
• Paul McCartney – bass, harmony vocals
• George Harrison – acoustic guitar,Template:Sfn backwards lead guitars,Template:Sfn harmony vocals
• Ringo Starr – drums

Sources

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External links

• Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official website Template:Webarchive
• Template:Noteson