Song · The Beatles
“I'm Only Sleeping” by The Beatles
From the album Yesterday and Today (1966)
“I'm Only Sleeping” by The Beatles appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2001 and 2004. It was first released in 1966 on the album Yesterday and Today. Its best result is #585 on the WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,543 indie & aaa song of all time.
"I'm Only Sleeping" was cut for Revolver, but Americans got it first: Capitol pulled it and two other tracks off that album and slotted them onto Yesterday and Today, which came out a couple of months ahead of Revolver in 1966. Only when the catalog was standardized for CD in 1987 did North American copies of Revolver finally carry it.
It's John Lennon's song at heart, though credited to Lennon-McCartney, with John singing lead and strumming acoustic, Paul McCartney on bass, Ringo Starr on drums, and backing vocals from John, Paul and George Harrison. George Martin produced. The real head-turner is Harrison's lead guitar, played backwards, the first time anyone had tried that trick on a pop record. Anthology 2 dug out Revolver-session outtakes in 1996, among them an instrumental take with the band's first go at vibraphone.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1521 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 585 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
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