Songfacts®:

• The Twilight Singers is a musical project that was formed in 1997 by Greg Dulli, the frontman of the Afghan Whigs. The band was conceived as a side project during a hiatus from the band, but after the Afghan Whigs disbanded in 2001, Dulli continued to use The Twilight Singers as his primary artistic vehicle. This song is the closing track from their fourth album, Powder Burns, recorded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. According to Dulli, "I Wish I Was" is meant to be "sung to New Orleans as if she were a woman - which I think she is."
• Greg Dulli was in Italy when Hurricane Katrina struck, but he had been in New Orleans for three to four weeks prior when Hurricane Cindy hit, which he considered a precursor to Katrina. During the curfew in New Orleans, he wrote many of the songs for Powder Burns, and even though he was not specifically writing about the hurricane, the experience heavily influenced the project. "I Wish I Was" is the closest he has come to a song about Katrina, as it was influenced by the events that preceded it.
  
  "I had never been under any kind of curfew - almost a martial law kind of environment - before," he told Uncut magazine. "Bars were open in another parish and we would sneak out and drive a car with the lights out, to avoid the National Guard. It was wild. You couldn't leave your house before 6 a.m., but I would take my bike out at 5 a.m. and ride to the French quarter - it was empty, like The Twilight Zone."
• Dulli co-produced Powder Burns with New Orleans-based producer Mike Napolitano (Blind Melon, Squirrel Nut Zippers). After Hurricane Katrina caused floods in New Orleans, they moved the sessions to a deserted studio, using extra power generators to ensure uninterrupted electricity.
  
  "The thing that I'll say about the Powder Burns experience was the sense of community that I felt, people really getting together to help each other out. It was one of the most unique experiences of my life," said Dulli. "I was working with Mike Napolitano, though, and staying in another apartment on his floor, while he was beginning his relationship with the woman who would become his wife. That was Ani DiFranco, who sings on two of the songs on Powder Burns."
• Dulli co-wrote "I Wish I Was" with The Twilight Singers' bassist Scott Ford. Dulli played guitar and Rhodes, and Ford bass guitar. The other musicians are:
  
  Bobby Campo: trumpet
  Roderick Paulin: saxophone
  Andy Pizzo: trombone
  Greg Wieczorek: drums, percussion
  Leta Lucy: additional vocals