Suggs - I'm Only Sleeping

[drivebyg]

The thing I don't like about remakes of songs such as this is as Plato said art is flattery and twice as false as reality, but not only are song lyrics usually restrictive they don't explain themselves and yet to take an idea and only change the music seems pointless and requires no intellectual improvement on the idea.

[rkogts619]

this version and the video reminds me of Robbie Williams' Tripping, i dont know why ...

[Suggsneaux]

Hey that is my name is he an imposter? Enjoyed the tune...

[dominickearney]

Lennon liked Madness, so I think he would have approved.

[shmuli9]

I used to think "Suggs" was rather attractive... I remember this version quite well...

[latigremusic]

See, I love the beatles, and love when good musicians do good covers of their songs. So, I thank you suggs. This is very fabulous.

[jimgoodmanful]

The genius that is Suggs

[funktapus]

So fucking BADDD. ABOMINATION

[tuzoangi]

con lentes se parece a Ben Affleck

[Mind1973]

This will sound CRAAAZY but when I bought The Lone Ranger as an import (I live in the states) back in 1998 I remember listening to this song on repeat a grand total of 38 times. Yeah I loved it that much. As much as I love The Beatles and I really dig their version of the tune I gotta go with the Suggs rendition as my favorite. Real heavenly thing he has going with the girls singing in the background. This rendition is catchy as hell.

[musicmad65]

suggs is so sexy would love to meet him

[HappyNeil]

i like it.. and i like the beatles version too.

[HappyNeil]

like it .. it fun.

[me1onhead]

I remember Suggs talking on TV about this upbeat version of the Lennon tune. Suggs said he intended to cover it at the same tempo as the Beatles track, but Sly Dunbar (of Sly and Robbie fame) who produced The Lone Ranger album, suggested he speed it up and give it some 'oomph' to alter the whole dynamic of the song. After a few run throughs, Suggs was forced to concede that the producers idea was best!

[masterofscotland]

Haha my fav Beatles song, and one of my fav band ( well band singers )

[jobber25v]

classic 

[cajf1970]

its good yeah

[burkezillar]

He's playing the Irish Centre in Birmingham on Thursday, and I'm going, AND I CAN'T WAIT!!!! HE WILL BE AMAZING :D

[Calaitafan]

Who is Suggs the band called Madness??

[MadnessDixie]

@Calaitafan u taking the piss sonny boy

[paullynskey1]

i want this song to be played at my funeral everybodys welcome yee haaaa

[arkireW]

This cover Isn't bad In my opinion, but Its so different than the origional that I personaly dont like it. But its not bad, just doesn't have feel to it that I liked In the beatles version.

[somnomagh]

@arkireW maybe the problem is that it's too upbeat for the subject matter. i prefer the lazy, drowsy sound of the original. it's more fitting.

[Godslove66]

Is the guy in the plaid suit and hat Mike Barson? He was also from Madness.

[madamebarso7]

yes it sure is Monsieur Barzo!

[simonturner73]

i don't know what these people are going on about this is great i also like the beatles version but why cant i like both i don't get it ?

[thearchives2009]

brilliant cover, fun song, great vid, especially love that Barzo and Smash are there!

[lordpenut1]

damn fine cover! but nothing on the original.

[SonicJCG]

anyone dont like this version, just dont listen to it! simple as that! its a good updated version I reckon.

[ueberRegenbogen]

Not a very sleepy arrangement. It doesn't make sense as an upbeat song. It's a very laid back subject.

[Aidref]

@ueberRegenbogen

It's different yes but good all the same, I much prefer covers like these where it's a stark contrast to the original. Really shows a creative spark in the coverer(not a word but I can't think of a better one :P )

[sazzarooneyjones8]

Suggsy,Barso and Smash!! this song is fab i really like it

[la4france]

Suggs n madness rok but I don't like this for some unknown reason

[greg311kid]

suggs owns

[klutz94306]

what a disgrace to the beatles.ya music blows these days.

[brunojanoski]

wtf... poor lennon =/

[crapolllla]

this kinda really sucks

[reivenlocke]

No...you kinda really suck.  Asswipe.

Awesome cover.

[AOCRkid]

horrible cover omg who let this happen?

[Apuyina]

ahahahahahhahah :S:S:S:

[mistaben2k]

he's a great performer,

fantastic cover.

should have made the top spot.

[mignonhenne]

brave choice of obscuire beatles song ,shoulda been bigegr.

[BlueGJW]

Suggs and the boys have stood the test of time - they are still awesome!!!

[jiayunlim]

suggs sux.

[Marshey14]

He sucks at being bad... He's too good

[salvadormarley]

Go for it Suggsy boy.

[bradley2brad2]

shame it only reached 30

[badhead]

This was a top 10 single.

[RodgersRevolution]

Goes to show how shitty music is these days.

[therubbersoul09]

great cover!

[lennonfan93]

i like this its a good cover

[Detroit1967]

John would've loved it.

[rodrigoraulsuarez]

I like this one. Maybe the original is better, but I like Madness style too much and here is some of that.

[timlove1]

I'm a major Beatles fan and I think this is one of my favorite covers of a Beatles song.

[chevgr]

@timlove1 me too. there is something about this version. the bv's are good. if you like this listen to Scritti Politti's version of "She's a Woman" similar radical re working of a Macca song

[allyplumb]

I like this a cover done and differently..JOHN LENNON wrote this in a lighthearted way anyway. Alot of people view BEATLES songs as some kind of holy grail which can never be touched butlot of the fab four tracks were written in a humerous way and I think LENNON would have liked this version.

[Sheenaliza33]

well not 100 percent crappy but still its the exact same lyric!

[reivenlocke]

Go blow a goat.

[Sheenaliza33]

this seems like a cheap rip off of the Beetles version (AKA CRAPPY!)

[killerbehindyou00]

Excellent version!

[SimonB198207]

nice. this came out in '95... long hot summer...

whether you like this version or not, no need to get all biligerant and sweary, just stay in bed, float up stream...

[gpzb2]

I think this is a great cover of the original.

The mod touch......

[MADNESSRULE2K8]

is mike barson at the start of that ??????

[bea78tles]

Great cover. At least they changed it instead of these bands who basically do the same version of a song only worse. Better than the original? Well...hardly. I wouldn't call this a butcher of it, but I agree there should be some sort of provision in the World Court about butchering Beatle songs.

[weejockpoopongmcplop]

I don't think the Beatles deserve any special treatment. If you don't like covers of their songs, don't listen to them.

[bea78tles]

Ha. Telling people what to listen to and what not to listen to? Keep posting such brilliant statements. You think the World Court statement was a sarcastic joke I made maybe? You're the best sweetie.

[weejockpoopongmcplop]

Oh sorry, my mistake. Jokes are usually funny. Keep trying though, I'm sure you'll get there eventually ;)

[funktapus]

it should be a federal crime to butcher Beatles songs

[WANKERTYWANK]

How can a yank seriously say that when you actually pay shit rappers and R n B singers to RAPE your National ANTHEM at every major sports event. "aaaand the ho ho ho ho me offff da da beraaaaaaave one time one time can i get a reeewind"!

[funktapus]

Are you defending this song?

If so, i don't give a shit what you think, go listen to more ska interpretations of formerly good songs.

[WANKERTYWANK]

You dont know shit about SKA jamaican or british.I dont give a shit about you or the Beatles end of the day all the FUCK they were was an early FAGGOT boyband like New Kids on the Block.MADNESS are the dogs bollocks and Suggs is a fucking LEGEND!

[bea78tles]

Beatles were like New Kids on the Block. Nice comment. You are a very smart person.

[WANKERTYWANK]

Er yeah whys that so hard to work out.The screaming girls the ponsy hai do's just because it happened in the 60's dont mean the term boyband cant be coined.THEY INVENTED ALL THIS FAGGOT SHIT!

[funktapus]

Hahaha.

Calm down buddy.

[kinglizard22]

omg, still liking the original old version from the beatles

[avesavia1985]

concha i mean cunt people change

[tzarguy0]

in fact he looks like matt damon!!! lol

[tzarguy0]

simply amazing

[peterlorre11]

Better than the original.

[Pr0bl3ms]

I agree

[madnessmum]

one of the best songs of all time

[drumsex]

this sucks

[madmacska]

thats your opinion!!!i think different my friend

[horridh]

horridh says best suggs song ever

[rpopstar]

a fantastic marriage of singer and cover song.... such an inspired arrangement.....

i'm sure john would have approved....

imo

rusty

[funktapus]

This is a fucking slaughter

Is that a Reggae beat?

Shoot me

[beano200821]

its a ska beat, and im a big beatles fan. this is one of the more origanel covers out there

[dawnofthedeaddead]

Hes singing sense! Let me sleep!!!

[bobgrantsbus]

Breathes new life and rythm into the Beatles classic.

[marienphil]

love this.... thanx 4 video!!!!!

[NuttyGirlGeorgie]

omg i LOVE this Suggs sooooo much. If he wasnt married, I'd marry him! <3

[lfbJJCool]

is that Barso playin the piano?

[NuttyGirlGeorgie]

yh he is. Carl Smyth is in the vid too!

[Hotlips4000]

I love this track!;)

Much better than the original because of his voice and the Sly and Robbie mix! ;)

Utterly brilliant!

[majortony]

I'm a big Madness fan, but to claim this is better than Lennon's original is an obscene claim.

[ManganeseHawk]

Why? I've heard both, and prefer Suggs' version, nothing wrong with that, just because it's John Lennon's song doesn't make it untouchable.

[Branewbie]

I remember this tune it came out in 1995 or 1996..ish didnt it?I just thought it was a fun tune to be honest it wasnt a classice by any means but we are talking about an era that was banging out tunes like Saturday night,Skatman and other crazy party tunes back then.

[petshopboysupporter]

GREAT TUNE SUUGS ROX

[sirdoccy]

The two people in the background, are they Mike Barson and Chas smash?

[NuttyGirlGeorgie]

yh they are

[Camgirl73]

Suggs is good.

[alchomy666]

Suggs is cool and i think he sings this song Brilliantly.

[VeniVidi]

Marvellous

Shame this misses out the end of the song though.

[allyplumb]

People tend to take BEATLES songs too seriously they used toi mock themselves all the time John especially..

[djhousefire]

not many artists can cover the Beatles and cover them well. I think they could have done alot worse than Suggs to cover this one.

[PetchCartoons]

John Lennon was a fan of early Madness so this cover makes sense in that respect.

[plecman]

I think you have to be familiar with the whole Madness sound to get this..GO ON SUGGSY, GIVE IT TO `EM!! :)

[merseybeatle84]

doing a ska version of i'm only sleeping is like doing a swing version of strawberry fields forever.. or a metal version of our house for that matter. it just doesn't work, it defies the whole mood and point of the original.

[THESTAFFIECHANNEL]

His only havin a laugh.People like Suggs aint got nothing to prove anymore.all the stuff Madness release today is for the FANS.Where as people like saint Paul have people on his payroll telling him that his "still hip with the kids man!" all day long.

[tabletschool]

But some people do enjoy versions that defy the point of the original.

Mack The Knife is a very popular American lounge music standard, but it was originally written as a serious German opera song about murders in South London.

[merseybeatle84]

If the song still retains some integrity or the new style version stands up then yeh, i agree, but ska i'm only sleeping doesn't, it just sounds naff, but each to their own mate.

you do get the impression a lot of people on here are madness fans in denial.. it doesn't make you any less of a fan of madness (which I am) to admit this song is awful.

[tabletschool]

Like you say, this is TOTALLY down to personal taste so there's not really anything to argue over really. Personally I do genuinely like this version of the song, honestly!

I don't think I'm in denial because I never liked his other solo singles "holiday" and "the tune" which came out at the same time, they always felt like filler to me. It was nice to see him on TOTP again but I wasn't blindly saying all his stuff was good cos it wasn't.

[griffshanks]

its diabolical

[babes11987]

griffshanks shut up, it's fab! I'd like to see you do better dick head.

[griffshanks]

dick head? You dont think thats a bit harsh? I presume it was you who rated the comment negatively, so forgive me if I do the same to you...didn't realise I wasn't allowed to express an opinion

[suggsisking]

This is a great cover!!! Think suggs done a hell of a job with it

[CircuitxScene]

i kinda like it x) but you know the original will always be the best

[poolfarm2]

This song should have done better than it did!