Primadonna Like Me

Album: Young & Dangerous (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Struts' Luke Spiller is a flamboyant frontman who was described by one critic as "the musical love child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger." He wrote this bombastic track about his stage character. Spiller explained:

    "It's this completely deluded guy running around his small town, all dressed to the nines - a full-on 21st century dandy going around saying, 'Don't you know who I think I am?'"
  • The song came about when Luke Spiller and guitarist Adam Slack were working with their producers on the island of Jersey, off the south coast of England. They were getting frustrated with a demo that had huge potential, but was missing some vital ingredient, so they decided to let off some steam.

    "We had this riff that Adam was playing that really reminded me of Elton John's Yellow Brick Road era," Spiller recalled to Louder Sound. "So we had this amazing backing track, and we sort of knew what it was going to be, but this chorus was just insane. We were banging our heads against a brick wall for two days with the loop of the chorus going over and over and over."

    The song had a working title of 'I'm The King Of Rock, I'm The King Of Rock And Roll', which The Struts band members knew had to be replaced. Spiller explained they "were looking for a great word, and 'primadonna' suddenly just came out, and that was it."

    The word "primadonna" proved to be the missing piece in the jigsaw and after that the song came together fairly easily.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.