This is the last time we're going to explain this, so listen up. During our 10th grade year, the 2nd Foo Fighters album The Colour and the Shape was released. Of course, the single "Monkeywrench" was being played constantly on the local radio station, so it had invaded all of our minds. Somehow the song was brought up, specifically the "don't wanna be..." part and I believe this spurred a conversation about the Spice Girls (since they have that song "Wannabe"). I'm assuming this was about May '97, since at that time, I was writing 5-10 songs per day (none of them were that good, but still...). So, naturally, an idea for an anti-Spice Girls song came up, to be titled "Don't Wannabe." How clever. Of course, around this time, we had heard about Daniel Johns getting hit by a bottle at a concert and continuing to finish off his set. None of us really liked Silverchair (except Chris, but we forgive him) and for a variety of reasons: dumb lyrics that were passed off as 'meaningful' ("people dying for no reason at all..." etc.), their typical all-too-Nirvana-esque sound, and their 'rebellious' teenage fan base (the kind of guys we never liked in high school). To further annoy us, we overheard some people at our school saying how "punk rock" it was that he kept playing even after getting hit with the bottle. We all agreed this was pretty dumb and with this and some other things listed above in mind, I began writing the anti-Silverchair "Don't Wanna Be (Daniel Johns)."
Looking back, I can't believe that anyone ever took this song seriously; it was totally meant as a joke, perhaps a joke only we understood, but nevertheless.... I was also surprised to learn that so many people knew the guy's name and who he was... it seemed to me that people would have more of a "Daniel Johns, who's that?" reaction, but oh, how wrong I was.
Eventually, when more people than just me knew how to play their instruments, we started playing it as a band, and it was an instant success. We were surprised and amused by other people's reactions to it and it was just fun to play.
He plays guitar and he has blond hair
He writes these songs and pretends to care
About the issues happening everywhere
Don't wanna be Daniel Johns
Don't wanna play any of his songs
Don't wanna sing like him
Don't wanna write like him
Don't wanna be Daniel Johns
Once during a concert he got hit with a bottle
People say, "He's so punk rock! He's my role model!"
Since when is "punk rock" getting hit with a bottle?
I know that bottle doesn't rhyme with bottle!
chorus
Daniel Johns (x4)
I bet you weren't expecting this change in the song
It may sound strange, it may sound wrong
You might say this doesn't fit anywhere
But that way it sounds more like Silverchair
Through the window I see all the pain
Dark clouds in the sky start to rain
All the feelings they can contain
Only everything remains...
chorus
Daniel Johns (x4)
Put your hands in the air!