Songfacts®:

• The main inspiration for this song was the artist Jackson Pollock's death in 1956 when he crashed into a tree while driving drunk. Pollock's classic "Splash Art" painting style was a big influence on the band's trademark visual style; they wore Jackson Pollock shirts along with their baggy clothes.
• Stone Roses guitarist John Squire is an accomplished artist with a love of modern art. Squire's Jackson Pollock-esque paintings and designs have adorned all the band's albums and singles.
• Pollock is also referred to in the B-side "Going Down" in the cryptic line, "Yeah, she look like a painting, Jackson Pollock's, Number 5." In November 2006, Pollock's "No. 5, 1948" became the world's most expensive painting, when it was sold for $140,000,000. The previous owner was film and music-producer David Geffen.
• In 1989, when asked what this song was about, John Squire replied, "Making a wish and watching it happen, like scoring the winning goal in a cup final on a Harley electroglide dressed as Spiderman." Squire was probably taking more about the feel of the song rather than its actual lyrical content.
• This was originally released in 1989 but only made #90. It was re-issued in 1990, this time making #20.
• The Stone Roses made their first appearance on national British TV in September 1989 when they performed this song live on BBC's cultural show The Late Show. Famously, there was a power cut and Ian Brown walked off shouting "Amateurs!"