"I Can Sleep When I'm Dead" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Jason Michael Carroll Jason Michael Carroll (born June 13, 1978) is an American country music artist. After being discovered at a local talent competition in 2004, Carroll was signed to the Arista Nashville label in 2006, releasing his debut album ''Waitin' in the Co ...

. It was released in February 2008 as the third single from his album '' Waitin' in the Country''. It peaked at number 21 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country charts. The song was written by Carroll,

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. He has written songs since at least the 1990s as a songwriter; he has written several number one country hits including " Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by Brooks ...

and Jim Collins.

Content

The song is an up-tempo accompanied largely by

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

, in which the central character is kept awake due to a lifestyle of constant nighttime partying. As a result, he does not have any time set aside for sleeping, thus claiming that he can "sleep when

e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...

dead". The song's title was inspired by a comment which Carroll made to a friend, describing his own attempts to maintain his career in country music while raising four children at the same time.

Reception

Engine 145 reviewer Matt C. gave the song a "thumbs up" rating. He described the song as "a rather surreal experience for me, as I’m used to hearing 'I can sleep when I'm dead' from workaholics who are referring to anything but painting up the town" but added, "It’s hard not to smile at the image of Jason Michael Carroll racing his paperboy home and his baritone voice sounds really great on this track. If we must have country rock, this is what it should be: this song's loud, but in a country kind of way."

Music video

A music video was made for the song in June 2008. It was directed by David McClister, who also directed the video for Carroll's 2007 single " Livin' Our Love Song".

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 2008 singles 2007 songs Jason Michael Carroll songs Songs written by Jim Collins (singer) Songs written by Rivers Rutherford Song recordings produced by Don Gehman Arista Nashville singles