John Cooper Clarke reacts to Arctic Monkeys and I Wanna Be Yours reaching a billion streams

21 March 2023, 11:58 | Updated: 25 January 2024, 14:26

The punk poet discussed the effects of the Sheffield band's take on the poem, which featured on their 2013 AM album.

John Cooper Clarke has reacted to Arctic Monkeys' I Wanna Be Yours reaching one billion Spotify streams.

The punk poet rose to fame in the late 1970s, but was brought into the mainstream when Arctic Monkeys' reworked his I Wanna Be Yours poem for their 2013 AM album.

Now, the track, which borrows from the famous composition that was originally on 1982's Zip Style Method, has reached the impressive milestone, the Salford bard has been quizzed about it.

Speaking to The Guardian about the impressive milestone, the 74 year-old poet said: "Is that a lot? An American billion is different to a British billion – and I don’t know what either of them is. But it’s a f*** of a lot of listens."

Despite being written over 40 years ago, the poem has since been included in a GCSE English anthology and it's often recited at weddings.

Speaking of the phenomenon, John Cooper Clarke revealed that when he's staying in hotels he's often approached by couples who tell him his poem was just read at their wedding.

He doesn't escape it when he's a guest either, adding he's often asked to recite the ode when he's a guest at his friends' nuptials.

“I get a dinner out of it," he told The Guardian. "It is to weddings what [Monty Python's] Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is to humanist funerals.”

Clarke - who re-used the title of the poem for his 2020 autobiography - also praised Arctic Monkeys' version and added that while he's always survived as a poet and performer, the band's track has helped him continue to thrive.

“This is what I do," he said. "This is my job, and sometimes I’m doing better business than others. But thanks to a great extent to the lads sticking me into the pop world again, everything has gone from strength to strength.”

• Why Arctic Monkeys' AM is their most important album
• Liam Gallagher reveals his favourite Arctic Monkeys song

Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know (Radio X Session)