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[nimrod]

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
 I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
 I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
 No, no, no

 I'm so tired I don't know what to do
 I'm so tired my mind is set on you
 I wonder should I call you but I know what you'd do

 You'd say I'm putting you on
 But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
 You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
 You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
 You know I'd give you everything I've got
 For a little peace of mind

 I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset
 Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette
 And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
 He was such a stupid get

 You'd say I'm putting you on
 But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
 You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
 You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
 You know I'd give you everything I've got
 For a little peace of mind
 I'd give you everything I've got
 For a little peace of mind
 I'd give you everything I've got
 For a little peace of mind

 (Monsieur, Monsieur, Monsieur, how about another one?)


Lennon wrote the song at a Transcendental Meditation camp when he could not sleep; the Beatles had gone on a retreat to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India. After three weeks of constant meditation and lectures, Lennon missed his soon-to-be wife, Yoko Ono, and was plagued by insomnia that inspired the song. One of dozens of songs the Beatles wrote in India, "I'm So Tired" detailed Lennon's fragile state of mind. It was also an open letter to Ono, whose postcards to Lennon in India were a lifeline. "I got so excited about her letters," he said. "I started thinking of her as a woman, and not just an intellectual woman."

Lennon later said of it: "One of my favourite tracks. I just like the sound of it, and I sing it well".

The theme of insomnia complements Lennon's earlier song "I'm Only Sleeping" on the Revolver album.

The song is in the key of A major and features Lennon singing the main tune in a slow, flowing fashion while the rest of the band sings the chorus, which is repeated twice and yelled at the end of the second time.

An early demo of the song was recorded at George Harrison's Esher home, in May 1968. It was basically identical to the released version, in terms of verse, but it does include a spoken section reminiscent of a similar section in "Happiness Is A Warm Gun". It goes as such:

When I hold you,
in your arms,
When you show me,
each one of your charms,
I wonder should I get up,
and go to the funny farm.No, no, no!

This section was probably improvised at the time, as it was never used again


Personnel

John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, organ
Paul McCartney – bass guitar, electric piano, backing vocal
George Harrison – lead guitar
Ringo Starr – drums

[Moogmodule]

It was fortunate he dropped those spoken lyrics.

[Klang]

Funny. When the album was new I considered this a speed bump. Kind of a downer and skip-worthy. I have a new appreciation now. Good song, good performance.

 

[tkitna]

This song sucks. I hate it. Drawn out and boring as sh*t. This one is a bottom feeder in their catalog.

[Normandie]

Never cared for this one; it's too draggy and depressing to me, although with 3 kids at home the line "I'd give you everything I've got / For a little piece peace of mind" has always resonated.

Yikes, can't believe I misspelled that. Time to stop working for a bit! 

[oldbrownshoe]

Once again the beauty of the 'White Album', the only record in history where two people who both confessed to liking it could, in theory, pick an entirely different 15 favourite songs from it.
Incredible to think that they didn't put out a 45 from it in the UK.

I used to like 'I'm So Tired' more 25 years ago, but then I used to like 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' more 25 years ago. That said, for many acts writing either of those would constitute their best song.

[blmeanie]

I'm ok with this one.  Mood needs to be right but I like it.

[Moogmodule]

This is a bit turgid. Although I like the bridge or whatever you call it where the energy ramps up. It is a good vocal performance by John though. Which probably makes more of the song than would otherwise.

The White Album really seemed to be the point where the tendencies of solo John started to assert themselves. He stopped crafting songs the way he had in previous years. They became a little one dimensional to my ears. They're were always good melodies and things in there but they lacked the variety of arrangement of his earlier stuff. He gave up writing for the listener in any way. It all seemed to be about him from here on.

[Normandie]

It is a good vocal performance by John though.

That's a good point. I do like his vocals on it.

[blmeanie]

The White Album really seemed to be the point where the tendencies of solo John started to assert themselves. He stopped crafting songs the way he had in previous years. They became a little one dimensional to my ears. They're were always good melodies and things in there but they lacked the variety of arrangement of his earlier stuff. He gave up writing for the listener in any way. It all seemed to be about him from here on.

This is the better point from moog's post me thinks.

[Hello Goodbye]

An early demo of the song was recorded at George Harrison's Esher home, in May 1968. It was basically identical to the released version, in terms of verse, but it does include a spoken section reminiscent of a similar section in "Happiness Is A Warm Gun". It goes as such:

When I hold you,
in your arms,
When you show me,
each one of your charms,
I wonder should I get up,
and go to the funny farm.No, no, no!

This section was probably improvised at the time, as it was never used again

It was fortunate he dropped those spoken lyrics.

The Beatles I'm So Tired Demo May 1968

I thought that was pretty good!  John broke into a bit of Happiness Is A Warm Gun in those spoken lyrics.

[Hello Goodbye]

I love these alternate takes...

The Beatles - I'm So Tired (Anthology 3 Disc 1)

This was one of the songs we played backwards when The White Album was released.  John, as he proved to us in Rain, was good at speaking backwards.  He knew exactly what he was doing at the end of this song...

The Beatles - I'm So Tired (Original with Alternate Backing Track and Reverse Message Ending)

[nimrod]

Ive always really liked this little song.

I absolutely love the sound of it, it could have been made last week

I just cant imagine anybody else singing it, John goes from his sleepy morose 'please love me' sensitive voice to his heavy rock voice even raising it to a scream at the end.

I can see its not a great song by any means, but its a little interlude of sorts that sets a kind of scene in which John is kinda speaking to you personally, its a bit ethereal for me.
 
The run up guitar intro is a fabulous tone (Im guessing the Epi) ...Even the organ bits seem to be a perfect fit.

This together with Prudence and Warm Gun make a fantastic trio imo, Pauls harmonies sound a bit stronger on the mono version Ive noticed which is nice

Brilliant 9/10

[Dcazz]

I always liked the song OK. it's not your happy Beatles type of song but the instruments and production have a really tough sound! I for one always found the contrast of I'm Only Sleeping and the almost manic I'm So Tired an interesting contrast that 2 years and a whole lot of drugs and a new perspective on life with Yoko could bring!

I agree with Moodmodule about him writing for himself. I think he announce he was the new messiah about this time as well. I think he's a very confused and disillusioned  guy at this point

[Hello Goodbye]

I think he announce he was the new messiah about this time as well.

When did he ever do that?

[Dcazz]

In 68 during the recording of the White Album he summoned his fellow Beatles,Yoko and a few others to a pub/restaurant to announce he was the new incarnation of the messiah. As I read it they all rolled they're eyes and kept on eating and drinking not paying him much mind.
I can't remember whose book I read this in quite some years ago.

[Moogmodule]

In 68 during the recording of the White Album he summoned his fellow Beatles,Yoko and a few others to a pub/restaurant to announce he was the new incarnation of the messiah. As I read it they all rolled they're eyes and kept on eating and drinking not paying him much mind.
I can't remember whose book I read this in quite some years ago.

I read that. It was quite funny how it was written up.  The other Beatles took it in stride as if it was perfectly normal for John to do such stuff.

[Moogmodule]

I like most of the John songs on the White Album. I quite like this one as well. But I compare the stuff here with what he was doing only a year or two earlier on Rubber Soul, Revolver and Pepper. There was a lightness to the music writing on the earlier works. No doubt because of a greater input by Paul but also probably indicative of some state of mind he had at the time.  I think here's he's sliding into the less user friendly territory that would make much of his solo work such a challenge . Maybe it's the difference between pot/LSD writing and heroin writing.

Still compelling though. Just not as rounded as his best earlier work.

[Mr Mustard]

Perhaps more than any other songwriter, Lennon could tap directly into his own raw psyche and engage the listener with real empathy. Half way through playing "I'm So Tired" and I can feel his fatigue. No one has ever been able to translate "I'm exhausted" into a song more palpably than this. As an expression of insomnia set to music it is simple but effective.

Is it compulsive listening? not for me, no; It's stifled by its own sluggish inertia. Does it have merits? certainly - Lennon's peerless vocals are perfectly showcased here. To quote the great Carr & Tyler (with whom I sometimes strongly disagree - they preposterously trumpet this as "Lennon's best song on the album" and overrate it as "magnificent"): "The voice control and dynamics displayed on the later bars of each verse are quite astounding and reveal him as by far the most gifted vocalist in the group." Hmmmm.....

Ringo's somnolent drum stumbles obligingly along and duly supports the occasional snarling protests at sleep deprivation. And I always smile at the badmouthing of Sir Walter Raleigh. But John is still sleepwalking through the album at this point, and whilst I'd never skip it, for me this track lands somewhere in the middle of the collection...just on the cusp of the keep/lose dividing line, were we to boil the material down into a single album.

[nimrod]

In 68 during the recording of the White Album he summoned his fellow Beatles,Yoko and a few others to a pub/restaurant to announce he was the new incarnation of the messiah. As I read it they all rolled they're eyes and kept on eating and drinking not paying him much mind.
I can't remember whose book I read this in quite some years ago.

I think whether or not John actually did this..

It shows that the love of a good woman can enable you to achieve practically anything