"I'm Only Sleeping" is a song by The Beatles that appeared on their studio album Revolver. Though the song-writing credit is Lennon-McCartney, the song was written solely by John Lennon. It is unique because it features a guitar solo by George Harrison played backwards. The melody is consistent because Harrison took great pains to practice the entire melody of his solo backwards, so that when reversed once more, only the sound of the guitar would sound backwards, to fit the dreamlike mood of the song. This hazy, disjointed mood on top of the lyrics suggest a drug-induced state rather than actual dreaming, and this is the usual interpretation of the song.
However, the first draft of Lennon's lyrics for "I'm Only Sleeping", written on the back of a letter from 1966, suggest that he actually was writing about the joys of staying in bed rather than any drug euphoria. In fact, Lennon loved staying in bed, and when he wasn't sleeping, he would sit in it and read, write, or watch television. In fact, in a March 1966 interview with Maureen Cleave , the same interview in which Lennon stated, "We're more popular than Jesus now," Cleave said, "He can sleep almost indefinitely, is probably the laziest person in England."
In 2001, the song was covered for the movie I Am Sam by Australian alternative rock band The Vines.
References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 006095065X
External link
Last updated: 05-28-2005 03:56:16
