W.A.S.P .- I Wanna Be Somebody

W.A.S.P .- I Wanna Be Somebody - Meaning of the song

"I Wanna Be Somebody" is the first single from heavy metal band W.A.S.P.'s debut album W.A.S.P.

It was ranked at #84 in VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.

The origin of the W.A.S.P. classic “I Wanna Be Somebody” is from watching a Barney Miller episode. In the last few seasons of the show, Ron Glass, who played Detective Ron Harris, was writing a novel called “Blood on the Badge”, and his publisher had arranged for a book signing so he had gone to Miller and got the okay for some time off. Suddenly, as he is about to leave the office, a mugging detail comes and Captain Miller yells, “Harris, you and Dietrich go check it out!” “But what about my book signing?” Miller yells again. “Now!” Harris slams the phone down and yells, “God I Wanna Be Somebody!!!” He did it with this sort of cry in his voice and it was really funny when he did it but then I thought about it and thought a lot of people probably feel like that and that was the origin of that song.

I Wanna Be Somebody - Lyrics

You say you don't wanna run and hide A face that no-one knows And everyone ya meet, you're gonna show You're nobody's slave, nobody's chains are holdin' you You hold your fist up high And rule the zoo Oh, you just got to be Up high where the whole world's watching me Cos I, I got the guts to be somebody ...to cry out I wanna be somebody, Be somebody soon I wanna be somebody Be somebody too You say you don't wanna starve Or take the table crumbs that fall You don't wanna beg or plead at all You don't want no nine to five Your fingers to the bone You don't want the rock piles' bloody stones Oh, you just got to be Up high where the whole world's watching me Cos I, I got the guts to be somebody ...to cry out I wanna be somebody, Be somebody soon I wanna be somebody Be somebody too I want shiny cars and dirty money Lots of rock and roll I will live in fame and die in flames I'm never gettin' old I wanna be somebody, Be somebody soon I wanna be somebody Be somebody too I'm gonna be somebody, I'm gonna be somebody

W.A.S.P .- I Wanna Be Somebody - Live