I'm Only Sleeping

John Lennon wrote the lyrics to I'm Only Sleeping and he and Paul McCartney put together the music for this song, which appeared on the UK version of the Beatles' 1966 album, Revolver. (This song, plus two others, had been released in the US two months earlier on the Yesterday and Today album, so Capitol had to release a separate, US version of Revolver that omitted the songs in question.) Like the trail-blazing song Rain (also in 1966), I'm Only Sleeping contains a guitar solo played backwards. Harrison double-tracked the guitar (one with fuzz), and then the tape was run backwards. To create the dreamy mood of the song, Harrison had to work late into the night with George Martin to get it right. Recording started on April 27, 1966 with the rhythm track (in 16 takes). Take 11 was used as the master. Later Lennon added lead vocals, George added the backwards guitar, and on May 6 the recording was completed with backing vocals by John, Paul and George together. Contrary to the views of some, Lennon's lyrics are about the pleasure of lying in bed, not about drugs. During this period in Lennon's life he spent long hours being lazy in bed at home (when not on tour, of course). Paul frequently had to wake him up for joint music-writing sessions. This is evidently the situation that inspired the song. Another song on a similar subject, I'm So Tired, came out on The White Album two years later.