Bohemian like who?: the bizarre inspiration behind The Dandy Warhols’ classic
Inspiration is known to be elusive and flighty. So when it comes, it is best not to waste time questioning why it has struck, or, in this case, driven by, and just take it and run instead. In the case of The Dandy Warhols, all it took was a daydreamed conversation with a mystery girl in an early 1980s BMW 320i for them to produce one of their most well-known hits.
As the story goes, it’s a song about love or, rather, the idea of love. The situation the track describes never really happened beyond the concept stated in the first few lines of the piece. Guitarist and lead songwriter Courtney Taylor-Taylor admitted that he was fueled by his fantasies of wanting to help a girl he saw sitting in the traffic below his apartment window should her car break down. They never actually met and never crossed paths again, if you can consider the one-sided sighting to be a crossing of paths. But the thought of her and what could’ve been was enough for Taylor-Taylor to write the stampeding hit song, ‘Bohemian Like You’.
Having had a brief stint as a mechanic before the band found success, the fantasy was all too tempting for Taylor-Taylor. He told The Independent as much in 2011, “I sat there willing steam to pour from the hood of her car. My silly little brain ran amok with the dream of love and vintage motor malfunctions. It was only natural to weave it into a song on the spot. I was overwhelmed, ya know?”
The song is infectious in its tempo, riding along with an unrestrained spirit. It’s driven by some semblance of animal instinct and passion, both in lyric and instrumentation, fully embodying and characterising the experience of a frantic romantic reverie. It pounds along with quickly succeeding and repetitive lines, confessing a loose adoration.
With a thudding bass line and jungle drums as the foundation, the song is given the leeway to explore the carnal feelings of hypothetical infatuation. Lyrically, the song talks of exactly the scene imagined by Taylor-Taylor as he sings in the opening, “You got a great car / Yeah, what’s wrong with it today? / I used to have one too / Maybe I’ll come and have a look.” From here, it proceeds to chronicle his musings about this girl and her car. As mentioned, it eventually turns into a more devotional song, as he confesses just how much he likes her, even though his knowledge of her is limited, even in his imagined dream world.
Admittedly, the track interpolates some of The Rolling Stones’ greatest guitar licks, namely from songs like ‘Gimme Shelter‘ and ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, which does take away from the band’s inherent originality as far as musicality is concerned. Regardless, The Dandy Warhols created a post-punk rock anthem with this striking, fast-paced track. ‘Bohemian Like You’ remains a compelling and honest song that explores the unrequited sector of desire.
Not all love songs are profound or evocative of some heartfelt romance. Some, like this one, are more interested in communicating pure want for no other reason than a lustful craving for attention.
