The band has released seven studio albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011), AM (2013), Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018) and The Car (2022) (the first six of which debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart.
Each of the band's first five singles "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor", "When the Sun Goes Down", "Leave Before The Lights Come On", "Brianstorm" and "Fluorescent Adolescent" hit the UK Top Five, but their sixth single, "Teddy Picker", only went Top 20 and their seventh single, "Crying Lightning" peaked at #12.
The band's rise to success started in late 2004/early 2005 when demo songs that had been handed out in CD form at gigs found their way onto the internet. These demos rapidly spread among message boards and friends leading to a growing fan base for the band, and were collected on the unofficial Beneath the Boardwalk, which the band recognizes on their website. The band owe much of their success to viral buzz via the Internet, and have eschewed typical 'commercial' channels, including refusing to appear on the UK's (now discontinued) Top Of The Pops music program, which was often seen as a gateway to success.
The band's debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, held the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in the UK (in its first week, it sold more than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined). The album sold over 360,000 copies in its first week, but lost the title in November 2007 to Leona Lewis's album Spirit.
On 19th June 2006 the band officially announced that founding member and bassist Andy Nicholson had left the band after missing the American leg of their tour due to 'fatigue' and the other band members couldn't stand the constant 'missing his girlfriend syndrome' so they told him to sling his hook. Former Dodgems bassist Nick O'Malley was initially brought in as a stand-in, and played the band's remaining summer commitments. He was then announced as Nicholson's permanent replacement.
The single "Leave Before The Lights Come On" came out on August 14th, but only reached Number 4 on the UK charts, denying the band a third consecutive number 1 single.
Their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not won the 2006 Mercury Prize, was chosen as the best album of year 2006 by Q Magazine, and received a slew of other accolades.
Their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare was released on April 23rd 2007. It was preceded by "Brianstorm", the first single from the album, which was released a week before. Like its predecessor, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" sold more than the rest of the Top 20 combined, and - due to an error on iTunes - every song on the record appeared on the UK Top 200 Singles the next week.
When asked about Favourite Worst Nightmare Turner commented, "We haven't changed that much. It's still about making contact with girls or not making contact with girls".
The band began to write and record demos for the third album in January 2008, Turner said "We had tunes that we'd already been playing on tour so we recorded them. That’s six [songs]. We’re going to take it easy and start practicing over the summer and doing new stuff."
The band premiered new material from the unreleased album during their January 2009 tour of New Zealand, playing small venues in Wellington and Auckland ahead of the Big Day Out festival. Their first show in more than a year was on January 13, 2009 at Wellington's Town Hall. In both cities, the new songs played were "Crying Lightning", "Go-Kart", "Dangerous Animals" and "Pretty Visitors." The full setlist from the Auckland gig is available online. Also played was a cover of the Nick Cave song "Red Right Hand." During their last tour, the band had played new songs "Put Me In A Terror Pocket", "Sandtrap," and "The Fire and The Thud" live.
Lead singer/songwriter Alex Turner started a two-man project with the singer from the Rascals, Miles Kane.
The band is called 'The Last Shadow Puppets'
The Arctic Monkeys band released their album Humbug in August of 2009, preceded by the single "Crying Lightning"
They released their fourth studio album, Suck It And See, on June 6th, 2011.
They released their fifth studio album, AM, on September 9th, 2013.
They released their sixth studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, with no preceding single releases, on May 11th, 2018.
They released their seventh studio album, The Car, on October 21st, 2022, preceded by the singles "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball", "Body Paint" and "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am".
http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/
09 From The Ritz To The Rubble
Arctic Monkeys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And one of 'em's alright, the other one's the scary one
His way or no way, totalitarian
He's got no time for your looking or breathing
How he don't want you to, so step out the queue
He makes examples of you and there's nowt you can say
Behind they go through to the bit where you pay
And you realize then that it's finally the time
And you can swap jumpers and make another move
Instilled in your brain, you've got something to prove
To all the smirking faces and the boys in black
Why can't they be pleasant? Why can't they have a laugh?
He's got his hand in your chest, he wants to give you a duff
Well, secretly I think they want you all to kick off
They want arms flying everywhere and bottles as well
It's just something to talk about, a story to tell, yeah
Well, I'm so glad they turned us all away
We'll put it down to fate
I said a thousand million things
That I could never say this morning
Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?
Well, this town's a different town today
Said, this town's a different town to what it was last night
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday
And that girl's a different girl today
Said, that girl's a different girl to her you kissed last night
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday
Of course not
Well, I'm so glad they turned us all away
We'll put it down to fate
I thought a thousand million things
That I could never think this morning
Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?
Last night, what we talked about
It made so much sense
But now the haze has ascended
It don't make no sense anymore
Said, last night, what we talked about
It made so much sense
But now the haze has ascended
It don't make no sense anymore, oh
Da-da, da-da-da
Da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
The song "From The Ritz To The Rubble" by Arctic Monkeys is about a night out at a club where the bouncers are intimidating and aggressive. The first two verses describe the bouncers and their behavior towards the club-goers. The scary bouncer is described as having a "totalitarian" attitude and no time for anyone who doesn't adhere to his rules. He makes examples out of people who step out of line and the club-goers are left feeling helpless.
The third verse turns to the perspective of the singer, who is reflecting on the chaos of the night before. The lines "Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate" suggest that the singer and his friends were fortunate to be turned away from the club, as something violent may have happened inside. The phrase "got too deep, but how deep is too deep?" implies that the night got out of hand, but the singer is unsure of how far it went. The last two verses describe how the night's events have affected the town and the people that were there. The singer suggests that they have all changed, even though it was just one night.
Overall, "From The Ritz To The Rubble" is a commentary on the aggressive behavior and power imbalance that can arise in nightlife settings. The song suggests that there is a need for more pleasant and positive interactions between people, rather than a culture of violence and intimidation.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night these two bouncers
Last night, the singer encountered two bouncers
And one of em's alright
One of the bouncers was amicable
The other one's the scary one
The other bouncer was intimidating
His way or no way, totalitarian
The scary bouncer was totalitarian and unsympathetic
He's got no time for you
The scary bouncer had no patience or tolerance for the artist
Looking or breathing
The bouncer didn't care about the singer's mere existence
How he don't want you to
The bouncer conveyed his desire for the singer to leave
So step out the queue
The artist was instructed to leave the queue
He makes examples of you
The bouncer purposely embarrassed or humiliated those who disobeyed him
And there's now you can say
The artist knew he couldn't argue or reason with the bouncer
Behind they go through to the bit where you pay
The bouncers allowed only those they deemed acceptable to enter the club
And you realize then that it's finally the time
The artist understood that he couldn't enter the club and would have to leave
To walk back past ten thousand eyes in the line
The singer would have to pass the long queue of people waiting to enter the club
And you can swap jumpers and make another move
The singer considered changing his appearance to sneak into the club
Instilled in your brain you've got something to prove
The singer was motivated to prove himself by getting into the club
To all the smirking faces and the boys in black
The artist wanted to prove himself to those who had mocked him and to the bouncers
Why can't they be pleasant?
The artist didn't understand why the bouncers and the people in the queue couldn't be friendly or welcoming
Why can't they have a laugh?
The singer wished that everyone could be jovial and carefree
He's got his hand in your chest
The bouncer was physically aggressive towards the singer
He wants to give you a duff
The bouncer was attempting to provoke the artist into a fight
Well secretly I think they want it all to kick off
The artist believed that the bouncers and the people in the queue were hoping for a violent confrontation
They want, arms flying everywhere and
They wanted to witness a chaotic and violent fight
Bottles as well it's just
Even objects like bottles could be used as weapons in the fight they were hoping for
Something to talk about
A violent confrontation would give them something interesting to discuss or gossip about
A story to tell you
A violent confrontation would also give them a fascinating story to tell others
Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate
The singer was relieved that they weren't allowed into the club and believed it was meant to be
I said a thousand million things that I could never say this morning
The singer reflects on all the things he wished he had said to the bouncers
Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?
The artist thought he may have become too emotionally invested in his desire to enter the club
This town's a different town today
The artist felt that the events of the previous night had changed the dynamics of the town
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday
The events of the previous night could only have occurred on a weekend, when people go out to socialize
That girl's a different girl today
The singer observes that the girl he encountered the previous night is different now
Said that girl's a different girl to her you kissed last night
He notes that the girl he kissed the previous night is not the same girl he sees now
Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate
The artist is still glad they weren't able to enter the club and believes it was destiny
Last night what we talked about
The artist reflects on conversations from the previous night
It made so much sense
The conversations from the previous night were coherent and logical
But now the haze has ascended
The artist feels clouded or unclear in his thoughts
It don't make no sense anymore
The previous night's conversations no longer make sense
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alex Turner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
pax
on 505
yo this is sick
robin
on When the Sun Goes Down
DAMNNN THEY ARE GOOD GOOD
robin
on Old Yellow Bricks
damn looking at these comments remind me that there is so many things to understand about the lyrics
Birgit Eierhoff
on Do I Wanna Know
The sound goes into the blood. :)
Jeannie Smith
on Do I Wanna Know
I like it.