Skip to content

Cover of Especially for You by The Smithereens — Cover: Especially for You

Song · The Smithereens

“Behind the Wall of Sleep” by The Smithereens

From the album Especially for You (1986)

“Behind the Wall of Sleep” by The Smithereens appears on 23 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1986 and 2023. It was first released in 1986 on the album Especially for You. Its best result is #62 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #83 alternative song of 1986 and #1,319 alternative song of all time.

23countdowns

7stations

#62best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1986–2023years charted

Watch

The Smithereens - Behind The Wall Of Sleep

Video from YouTube (TheSmithereensVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Behind the Wall of Sleep" was the second single from Especially for You, The Smithereens' 1986 debut, and it began as a hangover scrawl. Pat DiNizio jotted the words on a cocktail napkin flying from Boston back to New York, after sharing a bill with The Bristols and falling for their bassist, Kim Ernst. He hummed the tune to himself the whole trip so it wouldn't slip away.

The result is a crush song dressed in swinging-London imagery, with nods to model Jean Shrimpton and to Bill Wyman's stance with a bass. Jim Babjak and DiNizio lock their guitars into a jangling, moody chug, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros add the harmonies, and Joe Kernich drops in some piano. Power pop rarely sounded this wistful.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#716 of the '80s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1986	62	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986	107
1986	66	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1986	90

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1988	380	Live 105	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)	501
1989	300	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)	495
1989	396	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)	500
1991	366	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)	500
1994	258	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)	500
1996	233	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)	498
1999	352	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)	500
1999	960	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	374	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)	500
2000	1011	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	375	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)	498
2001	1015	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	493	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)	500
2002	1015	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	810	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	486	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)	500
2003	1000	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	1950	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	1000	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	1000	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2023	366	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s	850

Also listed as: Behind The Wall of Sleep; Behind The Wall Of Sleep.

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Behind the Wall of Sleep" by The Smithereens.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.