I Wanna Be Adored

Squire has some amazin guitar on this track, too bad its produced so that u can barely hear it, this song could be done so much better with a focus on the guitars. anyways, the song is just Ian Brown's true self without the Cocky self indulgent Bs that he usually sang about, its his way of showing that hes more insecure then he'd leave you to believe from his "i am the resurection" and other self promoting songs. it sort of reminds me of the weakness and need for love that the Smiths express in "How Soon is Now" the line "I wanna be adored" links to "I am human and i need to be loved" in my opinion it may very well be a tribute to the influence the smiths had on them.

Yeah, that's what Ian said basically. People will be bad and sell theirselves and do things they shouldn't in order to be adored.

"I don't need to sell my soul, He's already in me" the devil? :D

First of all, mode000 and byrnetom, all of us genuine stone roses fans can obviously see its about the devil, i mean the repetition on those lines are so obvious. selling your soul - devil. it's a massive, obvious link. that's probably why it's not worth mentiong. cos true stone roses fans know that it's so obvious it's about the devil. I MEAN DUHH!! however, there is NO mention or indication of drug use, so shut up. im with fez on this one. I think Ian Brown knows what his own song means and he said that its about people selling theirselves and being bad and do things they shouldn't in order to be adored. Shaming people for the measures they go to to win the popularity contest.

Okay i think once you crack it it's pretty straightforward. Two points have been touched on that together complete the formula. A) The stone roses loved to project uber confidence and rightly so, they were in possesion of some incredible material at this point. B) John Squire specifically is an incredible and underatted guitarist and the routes of his style can be traced to blues so we can safely assume that he is a fan and a student of the blues. Robert Johnson would no doubt have been an influence on the whole band but specifically John Squire, Squire would no doubt have been aware and probley intrigued in the story of robert johnsson giving his guitar to the devil who in turned tuned it and gave it back to him instantly giving him the ability tyo play the incredibly compley lix that he became famous for. It's the first song on the first stone roses album, after the intro the opening line is preceeded by an incredible rift from squire and followed by "i dont need to sell my soul he's already in me" its tongue in cheek - it's saying im good enough already, i dont need a deal with the devil to improve" its a statement of intent and the structure continues throughout the song. It's incredible, i have listened to and loved this album for years but only last night did i join the dots....hence me finding this website and posting. As for the fella who thinks this about bum love.......really? i dont think so mate - cant really see these lads sitting in a garage and discussing that concept....have you heard pushing an elephant up the stairs by REM - now that is about crafty butchers! peace.

One of the best indie tunes ever to be recorded in the UK. Yeh I agree with some of the comments above about the song being about redemption. With the line "I don't need to sell my soul, He's already in me," he's trying to say he was done bad things in his life but with the line "I wanna be adored" he's looking for forgivness and wants to change as a person. He wants to feel loved and cared for again.

basically, the urge to feel oneself loved, even just a little, makes one do just about anything, to sell one's soul.

In a 2009 interview with Clash Magazine, Brown explained that he "didn't actually want people to adore me. I was trying to say then, if you want to be adored, it's like a sin, like lust or gluttony or something like that."

"I don't have to sell my soul, He's already in me." Yes! So happy to see that someone else thinks that line is referring to the devil. That's what I gathered the first time I heard this enchanting tune. To me, Ian isn't suggesting that he's literally possessed by the devil, but instead by another evil entity - the desire for fame. This song is very hypnotic, snake-charmer stuff. It's beautiful and an instant classic.

Personally I think it's about not selling out and it's about other bands that will do anything to be adored. Bands that already have had the devil in them.