Daysleeper

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title: "Daysleeper" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1998-songs", "1998-singles", "r.e.m.-songs", "number-one-singles-in-iceland", "songs-written-by-michael-stipe", "songs-written-by-mike-mills", "songs-written-by-peter-buck", "song-recordings-produced-by-michael-stipe", "song-recordings-produced-by-mike-mills", "song-recordings-produced-by-pat-mccarthy-(record-producer)", "song-recordings-produced-by-peter-buck", "warner-records-singles"] description: "Song by R.E.M" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daysleeper" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Song by R.E.M ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Daysleeper
cover	R.E.M. - Daysleeper.jpg
type	single
artist	R.E.M.
album	Up
B-side	Emphysema
released
genre	Alternative rock
length	3:37
label	Warner Bros.
prev_title	How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
prev_year	1997
next_title	Lotus
next_year	1998
::

| name = Daysleeper | cover = R.E.M. - Daysleeper.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = R.E.M. | album = Up | B-side = Emphysema | released = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Alternative rock | length = 3:37 | label = Warner Bros. | writer =

• Peter Buck
• Mike Mills
• Michael Stipe | producer =
• Pat McCarthy
• R.E.M. | prev_title = How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us | prev_year = 1997 | next_title = Lotus | next_year = 1998 "Daysleeper" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the first single from their eleventh studio album Up on October 12, 1998. Sung from the point of view of a night shift worker corresponding with colleagues, "Daysleeper" focuses on the disorientation of time and circadian rhythm in such a lifestyle, leading to despair and loss of identity. Lead singer Michael Stipe developed the song's concept after noticing a sign reading "daysleeper" on a New York City apartment door.

Background

During R.E.M.'s performance for VH1 Storytellers, Stipe explained the background to the song:

::quote[attribution="New York]], putting together a book of [[haiku]]s that I worked on with several dear friends of mine over the course of a year, and I was walking down the steps of this building. It was probably four o'clock in the afternoon, and I come to a door—it's apartment 3-D or something—and there's a sign on it that says "Daysleeper," and I walked a lot more carefully, quietly down the steps, thinking about that poor person who's trying to sleep, and me and my big old boots interrupting her sleep. So I wrote this song about a daysleeper that's working an 11–7 shift and how furious the balance is between the life that you live and the work that you have to do in order to support the life that you live."] I was in [[New York City ::

The song "The Lifting" from R.E.M.'s 2001 album Reveal is a prequel to "Daysleeper" and features the same character.

Music video

The video, shot at Broadway Studios in the Astoria district of New York City in September 1998, was filmed in stop-frame photography to get what Stipe called a "really druggy, really great look." It features Stipe as the office worker who goes to work at night. All three band members then wear pajamas and bed socks, while failing to get to sleep during the day. The video was directed by the Icelandic Snorri brothers. "I think it's about the sort of alien nature of a night shift," explained Mike Mills. "The weird lighting, the fluorescent lights that you find and the isolation of working the graveyard shift—how it screws up your sleep patterns and that sort of thing, and I think that's the main image we're trying to get across."

Track listings

All songs were written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.

• US 7-inch, CD, and cassette single : UK cassette single : European CD single

1. "Daysleeper" – 3:32
2. "Emphysema" – 4:21

• Canadian, Australian, and Japanese CD single

1. "Daysleeper" (single) – 3:31
2. "Emphysema" – 4:21
3. "Sad Professor" (live in the studio, Toast, San Francisco, California) – 3:59
4. "Why Not Smile" (Oxford American version) – 3:00

• UK CD single

1. "Daysleeper" – 3:31
2. "Emphysema" – 4:21
3. "Why Not Smile" (Oxford American version) – 3:00

• UK mini-CD single

1. "Daysleeper" (single edit) – 3:31
2. "Sad Professor" (live in the studio, Toast, San Francisco, California) – 3:59

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1998) | Peak position | Australia (ARIA) | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) | Italy Airplay (Music & Media) | Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 57 | | | | | | | | 27 | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | | 15 | | | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1999)	Position	US Triple-A (Billboard)
30
::

Release history

::data[format=table]

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.	Europe	United Kingdom	United States	Japan
September 1998	Radio	Warner Bros.
October 12, 1998
October 13, 1998	Contemporary hit radio
October 26, 1998	CD
::

References

References

1. As stated by [[Michael Stipe]] on ''[[Later... with Jools Holland]]'' in 2001.
2. ''[[Q magazine. Q]]'', October 1998
3. [[R.E.M.]]. (1998). "Daysleeper". [[Warner Bros. Records]].
4. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
5. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
6. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
7. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
8. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
9. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
10. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
11. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
12. R.E.M.. (1998). "Daysleeper". Warner Bros. Records.
13. {{cite Ryan
14. (October 31, 1998). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
15. (November 20, 1998). "Íslenski Listinn (20.11–27.11. 1998)". [[DV (newspaper).
16. (24 October 1998). "Major Market Airplay: Italy".
17. "Tipparade-lijst van week 45, 1998". [[Dutch Top 40]].
18. (December 24, 1999). "The Best of '99: Most Played Triple-A Songs".
19. Bell, Carrie. (October 3, 1998). "R.E.M. Is Looking 'Up' with Album".
20. (October 10, 1998). "New Releases: Singles".
21. (October 9, 1998). "New Releases".
22. "デイスリーパー {{!}} R.E.M.". [[Oricon]].

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