Which poet wrote the lyrics for the Arctic Monkeys song ‘I Wanna Be Yours’?
On their 2013 album AM, Arctic Monkeys kicked their already huge reputation into high gear when they launched their most commercially successful era to date. It was slick, suave, sexy, and packed full of indie rock anthems that remain some of their biggest and best-loved hits. But for the 12th and final track, Alex Turner put down the pen to sing someone else’s words instead.
It was a bold move, given that from the very start, it has been Turner’s lyricism that made the band great. The thing that got them noticed in the first place was a low-quality burner disc full of their early tracks, where even in that shoddy format, his wit and poetic view of the world around him screamed of pure talent. On breakout hits like ‘Mardy Bum’ and ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’, he proved his power with vivid storytelling lyrics written into catchy indie bangers.
The band has done a few covers during their time. As a B-side to one of their earliest singles, they covered the 1965 hit ‘Baby I’m Yours’ by Van McCoy. But never before had they given someone else’s words pride of place like they did on AM. Typical, all the songs on their albums were written by Turner, occasionally with some added input.
But in 2013, for the first and only time so far, Arctic Monkeys put someone else’s song on their album. However, ‘song’ might be the wrong word here as ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ originated as a poem from one of Britain’s favourite punk writers.
So, who wrote ‘I Wanna Be Yours’?
‘I Wanna Be Yours’ is a 1982 poem by Dr John Cooper Clarke. First appearing on his spoken word album, Zip Style Method, the piece is his most successful and well-known work.
But while many mistake the track for being another Turner song, as the lyrics of ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ are full of precisely the kind of strange metaphors and northern town imagery of his earlier works, it’s a Clarke creation through and through. When heard receipted by its original writer, it has precisely the kind of tight rhythm and deadpan humour that first made the Mancunian writer a star. With a rock-and-roll reading flair to his work, that’s exactly why Clarke has always moved in the same circle as musicians, feeling more adjacent to the rock world than the poetry one.
It’s easy to see why. Phrases like “Let me be your vacuum cleaner” or “Let me be your electric meter” are not the kind of romantic imagery most commonly associated with grand love poetry. It is, however, exactly the kind of off-kilter, unexpected beauty that the world of Alex Turner and his troupe love.
What is the connection between Arctic Monkeys and John Cooper Clarke?
The story of the band covering ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ goes even further than it merely being a poem they loved. In fact, it’s a sweet nod to their origins, as if the band were taking a moment to mark how far they’d come.
Back when the band first started out, Alex Turner had a run-in with the poet. When he told him the band’s name, which up until now everyone had hated, Clarke was a fan. “Johnny was the first person I’d ever met who really liked the name,” Turner told Elle, “And if he thought it was a good name, then we were definitely going to keep it.”
So when they covered his track as their success hit new heights, it was a sweet ode to the man who gave them their name.
