I'm Only Sleeping

"I'm Only Sleeping"
Song by The Beatles from the album Revolver
Released	5 August 1966 (UK)
Recorded	27 and 29 April, 5 and 6 May 1966, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	3:01
Label	Parlophone
Writer	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin
Revolver track listing
14 tracks Side one "Taxman" "Eleanor Rigby" "I'm Only Sleeping" "Love You To" "Here, There and Everywhere" "Yellow Submarine" "She Said She Said" Side two "Good Day Sunshine" "And Your Bird Can Sing" "For No One" "Doctor Robert" "I Want to Tell You" "Got to Get You into My Life" "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Music sample "I'm Only Sleeping"

"I'm Only Sleeping"
Song by The Beatles from the album Yesterday and Today
Released	20 June 1966 (US)
Recorded	27 and 29 April, 5 and 6 May 1966, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	3:01
Label	Parlophone
Writer	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin

"I'm Only Sleeping" is a song by The Beatles from their 1966 studio album Revolver. It was released two months earlier in the United States on the album Yesterday And Today and did not feature on the original US version of Revolver. It was written by John Lennon but, like all The Beatles' songs written by Lennon or Paul McCartney, it is credited to Lennon–McCartney.

Recording

The recording of the song began in EMI Studios on 27 April 1966 with eleven takes of the rhythm track. Five further takes of the song were recorded but none were used. Take 11 was chosen as the master and two days later Lennon added his lead vocals. 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.

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. Harrison perfected the part with the tape running backwards so that, when reversed, it would fit the dreamlike mood. One guitar was recorded with fuzz effects, the other without.

During the break before the second bridge, at about 1:57 into the song, a barely audible voice (probably Lennon's) can be heard saying, "Yawn, Paul", followed by a slightly more audible yawn at 2:00 minutes. The prominent acoustic rhythm guitar track is electronically compressed.

Interpretation

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^{[citation needed]}. While not on tour, due to his lack of routine, Lennon would often spend his time sleeping, reading, writing or watching television, often under the influence of drugs, and would often have to be woken by McCartney for songwriting sessions. In a London Evening Standard article published on 4 March 1966, which contained quotes from an interview in which Lennon made his "more popular than Jesus" remark, Maureen Cleave, a friend of Lennon's, 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.'"

Release

The song was first released on 20 June 1966 as track 2 on the US album Yesterday And Today and on 5 August 1966 as track 3 on Revolver, the album for which the song was originally intended. The US version of Revolver did not feature the song as it had already been released: US Beatles releases frequently differed from the British versions.

The mono and stereo versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" differ in the positioning of the backwards guitar:

• US mono version: 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".
• US rechannelled stereo version: This version was mixed from the US mono version of the song but has far more reverb.
• US 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".
• UK mono version: 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".
• UK stereo version: 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".

Since the release of The Beatles' music on CDs in 1987, the UK stereo version of the album has become the standard version in the US.

Part of an instrumental rehearsal of the song featuring a vibraphone and the first take of the song from 29 April 1966 were released on the 1996 album Anthology 2. The UK mono version of Revolver was released on CD as part of the 2009 The Beatles in Mono remastered box set.

Personnel

• John Lennon – double-tracked vocal, acoustic guitar-Gibson J-160E
• Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass-Rickenbacker 4001
• George Harrison – harmony vocal, backwards lead guitar-Fender Stratocaster
• Ringo Starr – drums
• George Martin – producer
• Geoff Emerick – engineer

Personnel per Ian MacDonald

References

• Cleave, Maureen (4 March 1966). "How Does a Beatle Live? John Lennon Lives Like This". Evening Standard. http://www.beatlesbible.com/1966/03/04/how-does-a-beatle-live-by-maureen-cleave/. 
• "I'm Only Sleeping". The Beatles Bible. 2009. http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/im-only-sleeping. Retrieved 13 November 2009. 
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3. 

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "I'm Only Sleeping"