"I Wanna Be Adored"
Single by the Stone Roses
from the album The Stone Roses
B-side"Going Down"
Released1989
RecordedJune 1988 – February 1989
Genre
Length
  • 4:52 (LP and 12-inch version)
  • 3:28 (edit and 7-inch version)
LabelSilvertone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)John Leckie
The Stone Roses singles chronology
"She Bangs The Drums"
(1989) 		"I Wanna Be Adored"
(1989) 		"Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For"
(1989)

"I Wanna Be Adored" is a song by the British rock band the Stone Roses. It was the first track on their debut album, The Stone Roses, and was released as a single.[4] The US release charted at number 18 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in 1990.[5] In 1991, the single was released in the UK, Germany and Japan featuring previously unreleased B-sides.[6]

Composition

"I Wanna Be Adored" begins with a collage of sounds. The first instrument to enter is the bass guitar, which appears 40 seconds in. This is followed by two guitars, one of which plays a pentatonic scale riff. The bass drum enters at 1:13, and the main portion of the song begins at 1:30.[7]

The song is performed in the key of G. The song features two main sections: a four bar G–D–G–D–Em chord progression, followed by an eight-bar bridge that shifts from D to C repeatedly. The song's lyrics are minimalist, mainly consisting of the lines "I don't have/need to sell my soul/He's already in me" and the song's title repeated throughout the entire song.[7]

Reception

In 2006, the music magazine Q voted it 32nd in its list of 100 greatest songs of all time. In May 2007, NME magazine placed "I Wanna Be Adored" at number 17 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. VH2 placed the song at number two on the Indie 500, a countdown of their top 500 indie songs of all time. Though "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" by the Smiths was at number one, on a condensed version showing just the top 50, the two songs had swapped places, with "Adored" at number one. Stylus Magazine also included the song's bassline at number 17 in their 2005 list of the Top 50 Basslines of All Time.[8]

In popular culture

The song features in the 2005 film Green Street.[9]

Oasis refer to the Stone Roses by quoting "I Wanna Be Adored" in their 1997 song "Magic Pie": "They are sleeping while they dream/ but then they wanna be adored".

Music video

The music video for "I Wanna Be Adored" was made concurrently with "Fools Gold" for the American release of the single in 1989; hence the videos share similar visual effects and scenery. The videos were both filmed near the A57 Snake Pass between Sheffield and Manchester, in the same location that Inspiral Carpets used for the video of their song "This Is How It Feels."

Track listing

1989 US release

12-inch vinyl (Silvertone 1301-1-JD)
Cassette (Silvertone 1301-4-JS)
CD (Silvertone 1301-2-JD)

  1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (edit) – 3:28
  2. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
  3. "Going Down" – 2:46
  4. "Simone" – 4:24

1991 UK release

7-inch vinyl (Silvertone ORE 31)
Cassette (Silvertone ORE C 31)

  1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 3:28
  2. "Where Angels Play" – 4:15

12-inch vinyl (Silvertone ORE T 31)

  1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
  2. "Where Angels Play" – 4:15
  3. "Sally Cinnamon" (Live at the Hacienda) – 3:52

CD (Silvertone ORE CD 31)

  1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (7" version) – 3:28
  2. "Where Angels Play" – 4:15
  3. "I Wanna Be Adored" (12" version) – 4:53
  4. "Sally Cinnamon" (Live at the Hacienda) – 3:52

1991 Japanese release

CD (Silvertone/Alfa ALCB-392)

  1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (12" version) – 4:53
  2. "Where Angels Play" – 4:15
  3. "Sally Cinnamon" (Live at the Hacienda) – 3:52
  4. "Fools Gold" (Extended version) – 9:53

Charts

Chart (1990–1991) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[10] 141
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 21
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 20
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[13] 18

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Cover versions of I Wanna Be Adored have been recorded by the following musical groups and artists:

References

Notes

  1. ^ Dalton, Stephen (9 August 2009). "So much to answer for". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  2. ^ "where have all the flowers gone?". Spin. Vol. 9, no. 2. SPIN Media LLC. May 1993. p. 47. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  3. ^ Pitchfork Staff (24 August 2015). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 February 2023. ...a marvellously engineered slice of psychedelic rock...
  4. ^ "Stone Roses, The – I Wanna Be Adored". Discogs. 19 August 1989.
  5. ^ "Billboard > Chart History > The Stone Roses > Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Stone Roses, The – I Wanna Be Adored (Master Release)". Discogs. 19 August 1989.
  7. ^ a b Rooksby, p. 126
  8. ^ "Stylus Magazine's Top 50 Basslines Of All Time". Stylus Magazine. 12 September 2005. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Green Street (2005): Cast, soundtrack & all you need to know about the football hooligan drama | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  10. ^ "The Stone Roses ARIA chart history, received 20 May 2020". ARIA. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
  11. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Stone Roses". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  13. ^ "The Stone Roses Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  14. ^ "British single certifications – Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  15. ^ "The Photo Album (Deluxe Edition)". Bandcamp. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  16. ^ "The Raveonettes - I Wanna be Adored - Dr. Martens". Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  17. ^ Modell, Josh (15 July 2014). "Eagulls cover The Stone Roses". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  18. ^ "Metallica - I Wanna Be Adored". YouTube. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021.

External links

The Stone Roses
Authority control databases
Categories