The lyrics describe a musician recalling his childhood dream of being a star and follows his life through his musical work, with some close breaks until he is faced with the ultimate realisation that he is not destined to become a star. It ends on an upbeat note from the would-be celebrity proclaiming "I thank the lord for giving me the little that I knew". Johnson based the early verses on his own life and the later verses "on others I've known. I always draw on things I know, things around me, on everyday life for my songs". He told Australasian Performing Right Association representative, Debbie Kruger, in March 2002, that he had written it in two days: