So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star - Background and Content

Background and Content

Musically, one of the song's main hooks is provided by McGuinn's striking 12-string Rickenbacker guitar riff, while Hillman's driving bass-line forms the core of the song. Hillman has stated that he composed the song's bass guitar part during a recording session for South African musician Hugh Masekela. The song also features the trumpet playing of Masekela, which represents the first use of brass on a Byrds recording. In addition, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" features the sound of hysterical teenage pop fans screaming. These screams were recorded at an August 15, 1965 Byrds' concert in Bournemouth by the band's publicist, Derek Taylor, at McGuinn's request.

Rolling Stone editor David Fricke has noted that although the song's lyrics are heavily sarcastic, beneath the playful cynicism there is a deeper, implicit irony to the song; The Byrds had, themselves, achieved almost overnight success with the release of their debut single, a cover version of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." However, the band's members all knew, from their common bitter personal experiences, that the most difficult part of success was in staying successful, staying ahead of the curve artistically, and staying sane under the immense pressure of stardom.

During an interview with music journalist Pete Frame, McGuinn noted, "Some people have accused us of being bitter for writing that song, but it's no more bitter than 'Positively 4th Street.' In fact, it isn't as bitter as that. We were thumbing through a teen magazine and looking at all the unfamiliar faces and we couldn't help thinking: 'Wow, what's happening...all of a sudden here is everyone and his brother and his sister-in-law and his mother and even his pet bullfrog singing rock 'n' roll.' So we wrote 'So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star' to the audience of potential rock stars, those who were going to be, or who wanted to be, and those who actually did go on to realize their goals."