The album 's title track , " Want " , alludes to Wainwright 's parents Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle , and mentions musicians John Lennon and Leonard Cohen as well as '' 3rd Rock from the Sun '' cast members John Lithgow and Jane Curtin . In " 11:11 " , " Put away your posies , I 'm gon na have a drink before we ring around the rosies " refers to the nursery rhyme " Ring Around the Rosie " , which is commonly said to be about the black plague . The last verse , which mentions " something burning " in Manhattan , alludes to the September 11 attacks and the collapse of the World Trade Center towers . " Dinner at Eight " was written about a disagreement Wainwright and his father had at a photo shoot for '' Rolling Stone '' . The song contains an allusion to the Biblical story of David and Goliath with the phrase " I 'm gon na take you down with one little stone "
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Want One