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/
Old wellow bricks
Arctic Monkeys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love's a risk
Quite the little escapologist
Looked so miffed
When you wished
For a thousand places better than this
You are the fugitive
You can't kid us
And you couldn't trick anyone
Houdini, love you don't know what you're runnin' away from
Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up?
Blinded by nostalgia
Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up?
She was enraged but the way
That the emperor put traps in the cage
And the days she been dull
Lead to nights readin' beer bottles
You're such a fugitive
But you don't know what you're runnin' from
You can't kid us
And you couldn't trick anyone
Houdini, love you don't know what you're runnin' away from
Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up?
Blinded by nostalgia
Who wants to sleep in a city that never wakes up?
You're at a loss
Just because
It wasn't all that you thought it was
You are a fugitive, but you don't know what you're runnin' away from
She said, "I want to sleep in the city that never wakes up
And revel in nostalgia"
I know I said he wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up, but
Dorothy was right though
The lyrics of "Old Yellow Bricks" by Arctic Monkeys speak to a sense of restlessness and disillusionment with one's current circumstances. The opening lines, "Old yellow bricks, love's a risk, quite the little 'escapologist'" suggest a longing for adventure and a desire to break free of the mundane. The use of the word "miffed" to describe the subject's reaction to the suggestion that there might be "a thousand places better than this" underscores this restlessness.
The chorus repeats the question "Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up?" as a way of suggesting that the subject is seeking something more fulfilling than the urban rat race. The reference to Houdini implies that the subject is attempting to escape from some kind of confinement or limitation, but doesn't quite know what they're running away from.
The second verse adds more texture to the theme of trappedness, with the description of someone (presumably the subject's romantic partner) feeling trapped by an emperor's traps in a cage. The reference to "nights reading beer bottles" suggests a sense of escapism through alcohol, or perhaps a desire to live a more carefree and less intellectually taxing life.
Overall, "Old Yellow Bricks" captures a sense of yearning for something more fulfilling than the daily grind, while also acknowledging the difficulties of breaking free from entrenched patterns of behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
Old yellow bricks
Memories of the past
Love's a risk
Love comes with uncertainty and the possibility of failure or heartbreak
Quite the little 'escapologist'
You try to escape your current reality
Looked so miffed
You appear unhappy with your current situation
When you wished
You have dreams and aspirations
For a thousand places better than this
You are not satisfied with your current location or circumstances
You are the fugitive
You are running away from something or someone
But you don't know what you're runnin' from
You are unaware of what you are trying to escape from
You can't kid us
It's hard to deceive people who are aware of the truth
And you couldn't trick anyone
It's impossible to fool someone who knows what's happening
Houdini, love you don't know what you're runnin' away from
You are escaping from something but you don't know what it is
Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up?
Who wants to be stuck in a place that is stagnant?
Blinded by nostalgia
You are overly sentimental about the past
She wasn't raged but the way
She wasn't angry but she was bothered by the fact that
That the emperor put traps in the cage
Authority figures have control over your life in a negative way
And the days she been dull
The days have been mundane and boring
Lead to nights readin' beer bottles
You turn to alcohol for entertainment
You're at a loss
You are confused or defeated
Just because
Even though you were hopeful
It wasn't all that you thought it was
Your expectations were not met
She said, "I want to sleep in the city that never wakes up
She wants to be in a place where life is always moving forward
And revel in nostalgia."
While still holding onto fond memories of the past
I know I said he wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up, but
Although previously stated otherwise
Dorothy was right though
The idea of 'there's no place like home' is true
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jon McClure, 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.