"I Wanna Be Yours" is a spoken word poem by British poet John Cooper Clarke, on his 1982 album Zip Style Method. The poem was brought to wider audience via an adaptation by Arctic Monkeys on their 2013 album, AM.
Original lyrics The poetic spoken lyrics recount the love of one person for another, using metaphors around various domestic equipment: I wanna be your vacuum cleaner Breathing in your dust I wanna be your Ford Cortina I will never rust.
The poem was included in a GCSE English anthology. Clarke re-used the title of the poem for his autobiography published in 2020. In March 2023, The Guardian noted that "if it was previously Britain's favourite wedding poem, it's now quantifiably the world's favourite British poem, full stop".
Arctic Monkeys adaptation
The English rock band Arctic Monkeys brought the poem to a wider audience via an adaptation which appears as the closing track on their 2013 album, AM. The adaptation, produced by James Ford and Ross Orton, contains novel lyrics written by lead singer Alex Turner. It was not released as a single, but the song still gained popularity as part of AM. In May 2025, the recitation reached 3 billion streams on Spotify.
Personnel Personnel taken from the AM liner notes.
Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner Matt Helders Jamie Cook Nick O'Malley
Additional personnel James Ford – production, keyboards Ross Orton – co-production Ian Shea – engineering Tchad Blake – mixing Brian Lucey – mastering
Weekly charts + 2013 weekly chart performance Chart (2013) Peakposition UK Streaming (OCC) 39
+ 2021–2024 weekly chart performance Chart (2021–2024) Peakposition Greece International (IFPI) 9 India International (IMI) 2 Ireland (IRMA) 78 Israel (Mako Hitlist) 62 Lithuania (AGATA) 20 Malaysia (Billboard) 21 Norway (VG-lista) 37 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 51 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100) 44 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 66
Year-end charts + 2022 year-end chart performance Chart (2022) Position Lithuania (AGATA) 43 + 2023 year-end chart performance Chart (2023) Position Brazil Streaming (Pro-Música Brasil) 199 Global 200 (Billboard) 56 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 47 UK Singles (OCC) 86
+ 2024 year-end chart performance Chart (2024) Position Global 200 (Billboard) 49 Portugal (AFP) 77
+ 2025 year-end chart performance Chart (2025) Position Global 200 (Billboard) 71 India International (IMI) 6
Certifications
See also Evidently Chickentown Sleeper hit
References