I'm Only Sleeping
| "I'm Only Sleeping" | |
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Cover of the Northern Songs sheet music (licensed to Sonora Musikförlag)
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| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album Revolver | |
| Released |
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| Recorded | 27 and 29 April, 5 and 6 May 1966 |
| Studio | EMI Studios, London |
| Genre | Psychedelic folk, acid rock |
| Length | 3:02 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
| Audio sample | |
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"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. The track includes a backwards (or backmasked) lead guitar part, played by George Harrison, marking the first time that such a technique had been used on a pop recording.
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.
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. 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. In a London Evening Standard article published on 4 March 1966, 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.'"
The recording of the song began at EMI Studios on 27 April 1966 with eleven takes of the rhythm track, comprising two acoustic guitars, bass and drums. Five further takes of the song were recorded but none was 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.
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