 "It just seemed like, you know, we couldn't even manage to talk to girls, ... we were just thinking if we were rock stars, it'd be easier.I went home and wrote the song," Duritz said.In the live version of the song, as on the album , the first couplet of the song is a quotation of the 1967 song "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" by The Byrds.