Sandi Thom “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker with Flowers in My Hair” released

I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker with Flowers in My Hair Sandi Thom

Writer(s): Tom Gilbert, Sandi Thom (see lyrics here) Released: October 3, 2005 First Charted: October 15, 2005 Peak: 11 UK, 110 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK, 0.54 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 15.3 video, 58.37 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alexandria “Sandi” Thom was born in 1981 in Banff , Scotland. She released her debut album, Smile…It Confuses People in 2006. It went nowhere in the United States, but was a chart-topper in the UK. It was fueled by “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker with Flowers in My Hair” which was initially released in October 2005 by Viking Legacy records and peaked at #55. A story then circulated that she was doing webcasts from her basement apartment, went viral, gained an audience of 70,000, and was discovered by a major label record executive. The story appears to be a publicity stunt. She did do webcasts, but certainly wasn’t getting those kinds of numbers. SF She did, however, get signed to Sony. The song was re-released in May 2006 and went to #1 and became the fifth biggest seller of the year. WK The song also reached the pinnacle in Australia, spending 10 weeks atop the chart and became the biggest selling single of 2006 in Australia. The song is an “idealistic paean to a simple, lo-tech age when people cared enough to form movements such as ‘flower power’ in 1969 and punk rock in 1977.” SF It was “one of the first to lament the fast-moving advancement of digital technology.” SF Thom wrote the song after getting robbed one night. Without her mobile phone, she had no way of contacting friends, family, and the bank. She said, “I wondered if that had happened to me back in the days of the hippies what would I have done and would I have freaked out so much?” WK Other artists criticized the song. James Frost and Robin Hawkins from the band The Automatic said, “if she was a punk rocker with flowers in her hair she’d get the shit kicked out of her by other punk rockers for having flowers in her hair.” WK Sounds like someone completely missed the point of the song and is jealous of its success. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sandi Thom AMG All Music Guide SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 10/9/2022.