Lead singer Pat DiNizio wrote the lyrics to the song on the back of a cocktail napkin on a flight home from Boston to New York City. The Smithereens had shared a bill with the Boston band The Bristols, whose bassist Kim Ernst had caught DiNizio's attention.[2] DiNizio: "My crush on her led me to write that on a very hung-over morning after a party in Boston."[3] The lyrics include references to 1960s model Jean Shrimpton ("She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965") and Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman ("She held a bass guitar and she was playing in a band/And she stood just like Bill Wyman/Now I am her biggest fan"). At the time, DiNizio didn't give a lot of thought to the pop imagery in the lyrics, but it "seemed to create a certain interest later on", he said in 1995.[4] The melody came to DiNizio at the same time: "I’m singing the thing to myself for the whole flight, like a mantra, so I don't forget it. Then I get stuck in traffic for two hours and I’m nearly losing my mind, because I knew I had a good song."[2]
Release
"Behind the Wall of Sleep" was released as the second single from the band's debut album, Especially for You. The track reached number 23 on the US Mainstream Rock Charts, as well as number eight on the UK Indie Charts.
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