How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

John Cooper Clarke, poet and national treasure, recorded this poem in 1982.

Most of Clarke’s poetry is rhythmic and can be set to music. It works best as a performance poem, best read aloud to maximise the humour.

It is a love poem with a difference, in that the speaker uses inanimate objects as metaphors — vacuum cleaner; Ford Cortina, coffee pot etc. Each has its humour and significance. Note the Cortina anchors the poem in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Arctic Monkeys reworked it for their own I Wanna Be Yours.

Although each of the items listed suggest on first reading that the speaker wants to do as much as possible for the girl, it could also be interpreted as controlling, setting up dominance and dependence. However, this may be reading too much into a humorous song/poem, designed for performance, with clever word-play, that is best enjoyed literally.

Structure
The poem comprises three eight-lined stanzas. The shorter pair of lines at the end of each stanza function as a refrain. There is a regular rhyming shceme; ABABCCCD.

Language and Imagery
The language is colloquial, with the speaker asserting how he wants to be like inanimate things that one doesn’t associate with love. The aim is, of course, to maximise the humour through the bizarre. Note the colloquial ‘wanna’ and ‘dreamboat’. He also uses the title of a song, Elvis Presley’s ‘I Wanna be your Teddy-Bear’.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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