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The first draft of John's lyric for 'I'm Only Sleeping' was scratched on to the back of a letter for m the Post Office, dated 25 March 1966, reminding him that he owed them 12 pounds and three schillings for an outstanding radiophone bill. It's obvious from reading this early lyric that he was writing about the joys of staying in bed rather than any drug-induced dream state which the final recording, with its two back-to-front guitar sounds recorded by George, suggested. John loved his bed. When he wasn't sleeping in it, he would be lying on it, or sitting propped up by pillows writing or watching television. 'I'm Only Sleeping' celebrated the bed and its value as a place for contemplation. It also prefigured 'Watching The Wheels' on Double Fantasy album. The truth however was that John was losing his grip on the Beatles, spending too much time either in bed or lazing around Kenwood. Paul was now the one who was cracking the whip and making sure everyone turned up for sessions. It was also in March 1966 that the Evening Standard ran Maureen Cleave's famous interview with John where he declared that "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock'n'roll or Christianity." In the interview Cleave noted: "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'." |
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