I'm So Tired

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I'm So Tired is a song off The Beatles' 1968 self-titled album. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

I'm So Tired was written while The Beatles were staying in India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John had written I'm So Tired three weeks into their stay. He was without alcohol and drugs for the first time in years, and though he was thinking clearer, he suffered from insomnia during the trip. I'm So Tired was partially written about this, though it also touches on him wanting to be with Yoko Ono, who was in Egland while John and then-wife Cynthia were in India. John recalled, "I'm So Tired was me, in India again. I couldn't sleep, I'm meditating all day and couldn't sleep at night. The story is that. One of my favorite tracks. I just like the sound of it, and I sing it well." The song follows a doo-wop chord sequence frequently used in Lennon's songs, notably This Boy, Yes It Is, and Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Paul recalled, "I'm So Tired is very much John's comment to the world, and it had that very special line, 'And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid get.' That's a classic line and it's so John that there's no doubt that he wrote it. I think it's 100 per cent John. Being tired was one of his themes; he wrote I'm Only Sleeping. I think we were all pretty tired but he chose to write about it."

Recording

The earliest recording is an acoustic demo recorded at George Harrison's home, Kinfauns, in Late May 1968. It features a spoken part similar to Happiness Is A Warm Gun.

"When I hold you in your [sic] arms
When you show each one of your charms
I wonder should I get up
And go to the funny farm, no no no
You say I'm putting you on..."

All studio recording was done on October 8, 1968, during a long session which The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill was also recorded. They began recording at 4:00 PM and finished at 8:00 AM the following morning. I'm So Tired was taped first, in fourteen takes. Even though it was not necessarily a complex recording, it used up all of Abbey Road's eight tracks. Even though the song was mostly played live, each instrument was recorded on a seperate track. In fact, the recording of this song was a rare occurence, as this song, unlike most post-1963 Beatles recordings, had the vocals recorded along with the basic track, whereas they would usually be overdubbed in later. Later, they added more overdubs, including vocals from Lennon and McCartney, more drums and guitar, electric piano and organ. The version on Anthology 3 is a composite of takes three, six, and nine. The last known recorded Beatles version of it is from January 3, 1969, when The Beatles did a quick run-through of it during the Get Back sessions with Paul on vocals.

Recording Sessions


Role In The Paul Is Dead Myth

By 1969, rumor had begun to spread that Paul McCartney had died in a car crash in 1966 and a replacement had been hired to take his place. This song is thought to contain one of the many "clues" that The Beatles supposedly planted in their recordings. At the end of the recording, John mutters what seems to be gibberish. When played backwards, it sounded to some like "Paul is dead, man, miss him, miss him, miss him." In reality, this was not a backwards message. John had really mumbled "Monsieur, monsieur, monsieur, how about another one?" forwards.

Personnel

The Beatles

Production

Available Versions

Available On

Cover Versions

Source

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