How Do You Sleep? (John Lennon song)
| "How Do You Sleep?" | |
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"How Do You Sleep?" is a song from John Lennon's 1971 album Imagine, which is an attack aimed at his former Beatles' songwriting partner, Paul McCartney.
Composition
Following the release of McCartney's album Ram earlier that year, Lennon felt attacked by McCartney, who later admitted that lines in the song "Too Many People" were intended as digs at Lennon[1] (Lennon thought that other songs on the album, such as "3 Legs," contained similar attacks).[2]
The song's lyrics refer to the Paul is dead controversy, ("Those freaks was right when they said you was dead").[3] The song begins with the words, "So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise", referring to their landmark album. Preceding this first line are ambient sounds evocative of those heard at the beginning of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
The lyrics, "The only thing you done was yesterday/And since you've gone you're just another day" are directed at McCartney, the first lyric being a reference to The Beatles' 1965 song "Yesterday". In the "Imagine" film, (with Harrison playing alongside Lennon) an obviously upset Lennon sings, "How do you sleep you cunt?" before he asks the engineer to stop the recording.[citation needed] The second lyric is a reference to McCartney's hit single, "Another Day", released earlier in 1971. Lennon initially penned the lyrics, "You probably stole that bitch anyway", as a reference to the many times McCartney himself had made claims that he wasn't sure if he "nicked" Yesterday, having asked Lennon, Harrison, Martin and others if they heard that song before. Although Lennon receives the sole credit as the song's author, multiple reports indicate that Ono, as well as Allen Klein, Lennon's manager, also contributed lyrics.[3]
The lyrics, "Jump when your momma tell you anything" refer to the Beatles song "Let it Be" which was written after Paul's mother came to him in a dream and told him "Let it be".
Recording
The song features a slide guitar part played by George Harrison.[4] In addition, the song featured Lennon on piano and vocals, Klaus Voormann on bass, Alan White on drums, acoustic guitar played by Ted Turner, Rod Linton, and Andy Davis[disambiguation needed], as well as additional piano parts by Nicky Hopkins and John Tout.[3]
Ringo Starr visited the studio during the recording of the song and was reportedly upset, saying: "That's enough, John."[3]
Personnel
- John Lennon – Lead Vocal, Piano, Rhythm Guitar
- Flux Fiddlers – String Section
- Nicky Hopkins – Electric Piano
- George Harrison – Lead Slide Guitar
- Klaus Voorman – Bass
- Alan White – Drums
Reception
In a contemporary review of the Imagine album, Rolling Stone magazine described the song as “horrifying and indefensible” but noted its “immediacy”.[5]
Aftermath
Roger Glover wrote the riff for the song Maybe I'm A Leo, recorded by Deep Purple in 1971, after hearing this riff, inspired by the fact that the riff didn't start on the down beat.
Lennon softened his stance in the mid-70s and said that he had written the song about himself; he revealed in 1980, "I used my resentment against Paul... to create a song... not a terrible vicious horrible vendetta... I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and The Beatles, and the relationship with Paul, to write 'How Do You Sleep'. I don't really go 'round with those thoughts in my head all the time".[6]
The Magnificent Bastards, a side project of Stone Temple Pilots by lead singer Scott Weiland, recorded a cover version in 1995 for the tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon. Replicants, featuring members of Failure and Tool, covered the song on their self-titled debut.
A demo version of the song appears on John Lennon Anthology, released in 1998.
References
- ^ Playboy Magazine (1984). "Playboy Interview With Paul and Linda McCartney". Playboy Press. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
- ^ Cadogan, Patrick (2008). The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years. Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4357-1863-0.
- ^ a b c d Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen To This Book. Guildford, Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. p. 89. ISBN 0-9544528-1-X.
- ^ Leng, Simon (2003). The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps. London: Firefly Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 0-946719-50-0.
- ^ Gerson, Ben. Rolling Stone. Imagine; 28 October 1971 [Retrieved 3 October 2011].
- ^ "Playboy Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono - 1980". john-lennon.com. Retrieved 15 December 2007.