How Do You Sleep?

Infobox Song
Name = How Do You Sleep?
Artist = John Lennon
Album = Imagine
Released = October 8, 1971
track_no = 8
Recorded = June 23, 1971-July 5, 1971
Genre = Rock
Length = 5:36
Writer = John Lennon
Label = Apple/EMI
Producer = John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Phil Spector
prev = Oh My Love
prev_no = 7
next = How?
next_no = 9

"How Do You Sleep?" is a song from John Lennon's 1971 album "Imagine", in which he implicitly disparages former Beatles songwriting partner Paul McCartney. It features a slide guitar part played by George Harrison.cite book | first=Simon |last=Leng | title=The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps | year=2003 | pages=79 | publisher=Firefly Publishing | location=London | isbn=0-946719-50-0] Despite the overtness of the attack, Lennon later claimed that the song was more about himself than McCartney, and certainly one or two lines, notably "jump when your momma tells you anything," sound as though they are directed more at Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono than McCartney's with Linda, though it could be seen as a reference to Paul's claims of hearing from his dead mother Mary in the song Let it Be. And the song begins with the puzzling statement "So "Sgt. Pepper" took you by surprise," a sentiment which applies more to Lennon than McCartney, the latter having been the principal driving force behind creating the album.

The overwhelming impression of the song, however, is an attack on McCartney, such as in the lines, "The only thing you done was yesterday/And since you've gone you're just another day." Considering the puns involved, these two lines particularly stand out since it was Paul McCartney who composed the Beatles' song "Yesterday" and also later in his solo career wrote "Another Day." Besides making satirical reference to other McCartney songs, the lyrics also refer to the Paul is dead hoax ("Those freaks was right when they said you was dead").cite book |first=John |last=Blaney |title=John Lennon: Listen To This Book |year=2005 |pages=89| publisher=Biddles Ltd. |location=Guildford, Great Britain |isbn=0-9544528-1-X]

Although Lennon receives the sole credit as the song's author, multiple reports indicate that Ono as well as Allen Klein, John's manager, also contributed lyrics.cite book |first=John |last=Blaney |title=John Lennon: Listen To This Book |year=2005 |pages=89| publisher=Biddles Ltd. |location=Guildford, Great Britain |isbn=0-9544528-1-X]

In addition to George Harrison on slide guitar, the song featured Lennon on piano and vocals, Klaus Voormann on bass, Alan White on drums, acoustic guitar played by Ted Turner, Rod Linton, and Andy Davis, as well as additional piano parts by Nicky Hopkins and John Tout.cite book |first=John |last=Blaney |title=John Lennon: Listen To This Book |year=2005 |pages=89| publisher=Biddles Ltd. |location=Guildford, Great Britain |isbn=0-9544528-1-X]

Lennon felt attacked by McCartney, who later admitted that lines in the song "Too Many People" on the album "Ram" were intended as digs at Lennoncite web |author=Playboy Magazine |url=http://www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/db1984.pmpb.beatles.html |title=Playboy Interview With Paul and Linda McCartney |publisher=Playboy Press |date=1984 |accessdate=2008-08-23] (Lennon thought that other songs on the album, such as "3 Legs," contained similar attacks).cite book | first=Patrick |last=Cadogan | title=The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years| year=2008 | pages=141 | publisher=Lulu| location=Morrisville, North Carolina | isbn=978-1-4357-1863-0] Ringo Starr visited the studio during the recording of the song and was reportedly upset, saying: "That's enough, John."cite book |first=John |last=Blaney |title=John Lennon: Listen To This Book |year=2005 |pages=89| publisher=Biddles Ltd. |location=Guildford, Great Britain |isbn=0-9544528-1-X] Lennon and McCartney later reconciled, and "How Do You Sleep?" remained Lennon's only attack on McCartney in song.

References