![]() During their stay, the group naturally used some of their off time to write songs that would eventually be included on their next album, which they would begin recording when they returned. On February 16th, 1968, John Lennon and George Harrison arrived in India with their wives to begin their extensive retreat with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to practice meditation, the other Beatles arriving shortly afterwards. “One of his most direct songs,” says John Robertson in his book “The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Beatles” about John's song “I'm So Tired.” “Lennon's delivery works itself into anger, his resignation rising to hostility,” says Tim Riley in his book “Tell Me Why,” adding that “the hung-over pace of the players sounds as though they're trying to get through the track without knocking anything over.” David Quantick describes it as “a perfect exercise in mood, pace, and melody,” also saying that it's “the only song ever written that manages not only to musically describe insomnia, but to also make it sound entertaining.” So, when someone like John Lennon is put in a situation where he finds it impossible to get some sleep, such as during his months-long trip to India to study spirituality and practice meditation, what would be his reaction to this insomnia? His first solo single, 'Give Peace A Chance,' is one of the few classic songs actually recorded in bed.Like many artistic people who rise late, work late, and value their sleep perhaps a little too much, Lennon was mad for his bed.” John's love affair with his bed can be detected in a good number of songs he had composed during his career, most notably his lazily drifting “ I'm Only Sleeping” from The Beatles' 1966 masterpiece “ Revolver.” As pointed out by David Quantick in his book “Revolution: The Making Of The Beatles' White Album,” John's “great political gesture was the bed-in, which was done partly for its humor value, partly because, on some level, bed must have appeared to Lennon a much more sensible place to be than Vietnam, and partly because he just liked being in bed. Paul would arrive at midday or the early afternoon and wake him up." As related in this book, John would habitually still be in bed in the early afternoon when Paul arrived at John's home for a pre-arranged songwriting session. "John led a more relaxed suburban life," states Barry Miles in the book "Many Years From Now," "but if he went to dinner in London or to a club, living so far from town meant that he returned home very late.
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