2013Released
3:03

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about I Wanna Be Yours. By Songfacts®.

The lyrics for this sad, yearning lament that's full of desire were taken from John Cooper Clarke's poem of the same name. The rhyme has been a staple setwork for British schoolboys for years, and vocalist Alex Turner explained to NME that it has been a huge inspiration for him as a lyricist: "I was your typical teenager, trying to be cool and not interested and the teacher proceeded to read 'I Wanna Be Yours,' doing an impression of Johnny," he recalled. "It made my ears prick up in the classroom because it was nothing like anything I'd heard, especially on this syllabus. Had I not seen him do his thing, I wouldn't have started writing like that."

This was the first song that the Monkeys have ever recorded with a drum machine. Producer James Ford told NME: "That's the thing, on the last record we tried to do a 'band in a room' type thing, with barely any computers used. It was very much to tape. But this one was a case of 'all bets are off'. The band wanted to push things on and do something different. So to move it on and make it sound different we were very open to using bits of keyboards or drum machines, or whatever worked for the song really. Obviously it still has to link into them and feel like them, but..."

Alex Turner said of the drum machine to NME: "It's the first time we've done that. An old Selmer drum machine, and the setting on it was 'Liverpool.'"

John Cooper Clarke recalled to NME penning his 'I Wanna Be Yours' poem: "I wrote it along with a load of others at the time, I tend to write like that," he said. "I remember when it was - about '83 or '84 or something like that. It's come to my attention that it's the wedding favourite. The number of people that have said, 'I had that read at my wedding', or 'My husband proposed to me using that number'... It's been very useful in the world of modern romance! It is to modern wedding ceremonies what 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life' by Eric Idle is to humanist funerals. I probably go to a great many more funerals than you do, so take it from me."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of I Wanna Be Yours.
CKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
68BPM

Album

The album I Wanna Be Yours is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released I Wanna Be Yours.
Domino Recording Co
2013 Domino Recording Co Ltd
2013 Domino Recording Co Ltd

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