"I Go to Sleep" is a song written by Ray Davies which has been covered by numerous artists. Peggy Lee, the Applejacks and Cher recorded covers in 1965 without chart success. The Pretenders released a cover in 1981 which reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart. Peggy Lee's cover was used in the title sequence of the 2024 Amazon Prime Video series The Edge of Sleep.
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Ray Davies's demo
Ray Davies composed "I Go to Sleep" on 23 May 1965. Working on the piano at his parents' home in Fortis Green, north London, he wrote the song while awaiting news about the birth of his and his wife's first child. The following day, the song was one of seven for which he recorded demos at Regent Sound Studios in central London. The recording features overdubbed vocals from Davies whilst he plays piano.
The Kinks never formally recorded the song. Band biographer Johnny Rogan considers the lack of a Kinks recording strange, given that the material they recorded around the same time was "obviously inferior". Davies's demo remained unreleased until April 1998, when it appeared as a bonus track on the CD remaster of Kinda Kinks. Sanctuary Records later included it on the 2014 box set The Kinks Anthology 1964–1971.
Cover versions
Early covers
In June 1965, during the Kinks' first US tour, Davies's song publisher Edward Kassner shopped his song catalogue to various artists. Kassner succeeded in convincing the American jazz singer Peggy Lee to cover "I Go to Sleep", which she recorded backed by a studio orchestra conducted by Sid Feller. Capitol Records included the song on Lee's 1965 album Then Was Then – Now Is Now!, and the label also released it as a single, but it failed to chart.
During the same US tour, after a Kinks show in Philadelphia on 19 June, the singer Mary Wells expressed to Davies a desire to record the song, but he rejected the offer since it had already been promised to Lee. Around 30 June, as the American singer Cher finished recording her debut album at Gold Star Studios, Larry Page convinced her to record the song for that album. The English beat group the Applejacks issued a cover of the song as a single in the UK on 27 August 1965, but it failed to chart.
The German singer Marion (de) (later known as Marion Maerz) covered the song in 1967. Page produced the record in London. The song was released in West Germany and the UK. Marion performed this song as the first and only German female singer in the famous German music program Beat Club.
The Pretenders
"I Go to Sleep" was covered in 1981 by the Pretenders and released as a single from their second studio album Pretenders II.
"I Go to Sleep" had been rumoured to have been one of the first songs that Chrissie Hynde ever learned. At the time of the song's recording, Hynde had been dating Davies, whom she had met after covering the Kinks track "Stop Your Sobbing". The song features "a very strong late-'50s pop feel and flavor" according to Allmusic's Matthew Greenwald. The song also includes a French horn part; "The French horn in 'I Go to Sleep'…" Hynde recalled, "It's those little embellishments that capture my attention."
Anika
English-German singer Anika covered the song in 2010 for her self-titled debut album, the song was later featured in the first season of Russian Doll.