Poison / Look What the Cat Dragged In / 1986
Want Some, Need Some
restless, horny, mildly desperate but upbeat
A glam-metal plea for companionship that treats loneliness as an itch to be scratched rather than a feeling to be examined. The song never settles on a specific person, just a generic craving for 'someone,' which makes its hunger feel more physical than romantic.
loneliness desire/lust conflated with love instant gratification youthful restlessness escapism
Who's speaking
A first-person narrator addressing an unnamed, interchangeable listener/audience; the voice is unreliable in the sense that it claims to want love but describes wanting a transaction.
What happens
The song opens with the narrator noting everyone around him is paired off while he isn't, then escalates from wistful wishing to blunt demand. He tries closing his eyes to wish the problem away, wakes up still alone, and reacts with cartoonish frustration before repeating the same cycle of wanting and needing without resolution.
How it's built
Simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus pop-metal structure with no bridge, built for arena repetition. The two verses mirror each other (falling asleep lonely, waking up lonely), bookending an unchanging chorus that functions as a chant rather than a developing idea, reinforcing the sense of being stuck in a loop.
Section by section
Opening verse
The narrator frames his loneliness socially, comparing himself to peers who all have partners, which sets up desire as conformity as much as feeling.wanting what others have rather than a specific person.
Pre-chorus
“Maybe if I close my eyes”
A brief gesture toward self-soothing or denial, suggesting the narrator would rather wish the problem away than confront why he's alone.
Chorus
“custom built for me”
The phrase exposes the song's core irony: the narrator claims to want love but describes wanting a product, someone assembled to specification rather than a real person to connect with.
Second verse
Waking up alone triggers an exaggerated physical outburst, played for comic release rather than genuine vulnerability, keeping the song's tone light despite its stated subject of loneliness.
Final chorus
Identical to the first, the repetition confirms that nothing has actually changed or been resolved; the song ends mid-craving rather than mid-story.
Craft
- anaphora
- The repeated 'I want some / I need some' structure hammers the central craving into a slogan, prioritizing rhythm and hook over nuance.
- synecdoche
- The absent partner is reduced to an empty space in the bed and a generic 'someone,' standing in for intimacy without any individualizing detail.
- hyperbolic physical comedy
- The narrator's exaggerated reaction upon waking alone turns emotional desperation into a performative, almost comic gesture suited to the song's arena-rock bravado.
Reading it
The most straightforward reading is that this is a glam-metal party anthem dressed in the language of loneliness and romance, using 'love' as a polite stand-in for sex and status among peers. A more generous reading could treat the narrator's insomnia and frustration as a sincere, if clumsy, expression of isolation underneath the bravado, but the chorus's commercial language undercuts that sincerity, favoring a reading of appetite over emotion.
Context
This track appears on Poison's 1986 debut album, part of the mid-80s LA glam/hair-metal wave that favored anthemic, hook-driven songs about sex, partying, and desire aimed at a young, image-conscious audience. I don't have specific documented context about the song's writing process beyond the lyric itself.
Listen for
- the shift in energy between the drowsy verses and the shouted chorus
- the way the chorus never names a person, just repeats generic pronouns
- the mock-frustrated vocal delivery on waking up alone
- how the song's structure loops rather than resolves, mirroring the unresolved craving
About Poison
Poison was an American rock band formed in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1983. The most successful incarnation of the band consists of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Bret Michaels, drummer Rikki Rockett, bassist Bobby Dall and lead guitarist C.C.
1983 - present / United States
Full biography and catalogue