I Wanna Be a Warhol

Album: My Shame Is True (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This lust-ridden track about vocalist and guitarist Matt Skiba's romantic and sexual obsession with his former girlfriend was released as the first single from Alkaline Trio's 2013 album My Shame Is True. The song title references American pop artist Andy Warhol (1931-1987) whose pictures of soup tins and celebrities and flair for self-publicity made him a household name in the late 1960s. It was Warhol who coined the phrase "15 minutes of fame."
  • A music video for the song was released on March 8, 2013 featuring the actress Milla Jovovich.
  • The album title is a cheeky reference to Elvis Costello's 1977 LP My Aim Is True. However, it holds its own meaning with eight of the twelve songs written for Skipa's girlfriend whom he split from shortly before recording the record. "There's just this underlying theme of shame in the album," he told Billboard magazine. "I wrote them as if no one but her was going to hear them. That's kind of the way I used to write our original records because I didn't think anyone was gonna hear them."

    Skiba and his ex remained friends. She's the leather-clad motorcycle rider featured on the cover of My Shame Is True.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.