1967 Classic, Originally a Sarcastic Jab at the Monkees, Became a Timeless Rock Anthem
During the mid-1960s, the Byrds were flying pretty high (pardon the pun). Thanks to such hit singles as "Turn, Turn, Turn" and their cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," they were one of the most popular bands of the era. But while the Byrds are still considered one of the most influential bands in rock history, by late 1966, the musical landscape was starting to shift, with manufactured pop bands like The Monkees climbing up the charts...and the members of the Byrds were getting fed up.
"We'd watched [The Beatles film] A Hard Day's Night just as we were starting out and were so enamoured of it," bassist Chris Hillman told Classic Rock in 2017. "Then it all did happen. We started doing shows and girls were running after us and jumping on the car. But within a matter of two years, all of a sudden we were like jaded old men who'd been around the block a few times. It was sort of comical."
"We'd had such a quick rise to fame, and it went to our heads a little," agreed guitarist Jim McGuinn in the same interview. "But by late '66, early '67, we were going out of business. We were up at Chris's house and going through the pages of some teen magazine, cracking up at all these one-hit wonders who would be gone by the next week."
Hillman and McGuinn's frustrations inspired the now-classic track, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," which was released as a single on January 9, 1967. The song's somewhat cynical lyrics get straight to the point:
Sell your soul to the company
Who are waiting there to sell plasticware
And in a week or two if you make the charts
The girls'll tear you apart
The price you paid for your riches and fame
Was it all a strange game? You're a little insane
The money that came, and the public acclaim
While it's been widely assumed over the years that "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" was directed specifically at the Monkees, Hillman insisted there was no ill will between the bands.
"The song was a slight jab - not at The Monkees as individuals, they actually had a very good gig making money, but at how contrived it was," he said. "Roger and I weren't blatantly writing about The Monkees. To me, it was more like we were jabbing at Hollywood's smarmy, controlled process of that. It strips away all the soul and depth of the experience of a rock band. It makes it so vanilla, too clean and pretty. Since the late fifties, with songs like 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini,' manufactured pop music had been there. It all comes down to square one: profit."
"I was friends with them - I knew Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith, we used to hang out together - so I wasn't trying to put The Monkees down," McGuinn agreed. "The whole song was kind of tongue-in-cheek. It wasn't a bitter condemnation of the music business. We found it funny; it was a superficial Beatles thing."
Whether it was meant to be funny or not, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" has definitely rung true for plenty of other rock stars. It's been covered by such musical icons as Patti Smith, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Nazareth, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who covered the tune during their Southern Accents tour.
"I've always loved that track," Hillman said. "We really nailed it."
Related: 1979 Career-Defining Classic Was Turned Down by Another Band Before It Shot Up the Charts
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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 9:33 PM.