1. A popular hard rock ba… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least six artists with this name:
1. A popular hard rock band from the United Kingdom
2. A death metal band from Germany
3. An alternative rock band from Poland
4. A Eurodance group
5. A thrash metal band from the Czech Republic
1. The Darkness are a hard rock band which formed in Lowestoft, England in 2000. The band consists of Justin Hawkins (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dan Hawkins (guitar, vocals), Frankie Poullain (bass) and Ed Graham (drums). According to the Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Songfacts, Ed Graham inspired the band’s name as his youthful bleak moods were known as The Darkness.
They are widely regarded as a glam rock band, but the members disputed this and saw themselves as a classic hard-rock band. Their highly retro style of music was influenced by rock bands like Queen, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Sparks, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, T. Rex, Def Leppard, Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy. They are best known for the soaring falsetto of their lead singer Justin Hawkins, whose departure in 2006 resulted in the dissolution of the band. In 2011, the band announced their return, with a third album, "Hot Cakes," to be released on Wind-up Records.
Dan had initially seen his brother's potential of being a frontman after Justin did an impressive recreation of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at a New Year's Eve party in 1999, thrown by Justin and Dan's aunt in her pub The Swan at Gillingham just over the River Waveney in Norfolk, despite the fact that Justin was only miming to the original song. Playing at first only in pubs and bars, their pyrotechnic guitar solos and over the top performances soon brought them to public knowledge.
Achieving major success in the UK in 2003, The Darkness received considerable radio airplay of their singles, including I Believe in a Thing Called Love and the Christmas hit Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End). Their debut album, Permission to Land, reached number one in the UK charts and went on to sell one and a half million copies in the UK alone. The success of this album led to heavy touring for the band, which included headlining the Carling Festivals in 2004. The band won three Brit Awards in the same year, including Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards for Best Live Act and Best British Band.
By late 2004 the band's huge success had led to a public backlash, and people claiming that the band were more a joke than a 'real' band became more common. The band responded to this criticism by touring the UK's top arenas on the "Winter-National Tour" tour with the Irish group Ash supporting them. One part of the show included Justin climbing upon a life-sized white tiger during "Love on the Rocks with No Ice" and being elevated around the audience whilst still playing guitar. The majority of the shows on the tour sold out.
On May 23, 2005 original bass player Frankie Poullain left the band during the recording of their second album, apparently due to "musical differences" with Justin Hawkins. Frankie has disputed this version of events, claiming he was "frozen out" and forced to leave the band by Justin and his longterm girlfriend (and the band's manager) Sue Whitehouse. On June 13 2005, The Darkness announced that Richie Edwards, formerly Dan's guitar technician, had replaced Frankie as bass player.
One Way Ticket, the first single from their second album, was released on 14 November 2005, debuting and peaking at number 8 on the UK Singles chart. The Darkness followed this with their second album One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back on November 28, 2005 to mixed reviews despite it having been produced by the well known Roy Thomas Baker whom has worked with bands such as Queen. Although it has been made platinum its sales do not come close to their debut's five-times-platinum rating and its chart peak at number eleven is a weak showing compared to Permission To Land's number one. The second single release from this album was Is It Just Me?, released on 20th February 2006 and charted at number eight. Soon afterwards Justin announced while performing live that the third single to be released from the album would be Girlfriend; and gained a mixed response. Released on 22nd May 2006, it charted at a disappointing number thirty-nine.
After having disappeared for quite some time the band announced that singer Justin Hawkins had left the band on 11th October 2006, after a battle against drugs.
On December 24, 2006, it was reported by Yahoo! News that bass player Richie Edwards would become the group's new frontman, with Toby MacFarlaine to join The Darkness and take over on bass. In blog entries on MySpace, Richie Edwards, Dan Hawkins and Ed Graham said that they had started recording a new album with Toby McFarlaine, and that they had formed a new band together.
On March 2, 2007, The Darkness' official website was changed, showing a photograph of the new, and as yet unnamed band. Links to the members individual Myspace pages were included, confirming the line-up of Richie Edwards, Dan Hawkins, Toby MacFarlaine and Ed Graham. Richie later added a message to the site, categorically confirming that the band would not continue under the name "The Darkness", saying "we are literally days away from announcing our new name".
It was announced on August 25, 2007 that the band had finished recording an album but no release dates or names, of either the band or album, had been decided. Record label and support has yet to be decided.
On November 9, 2007, it was announced on The University of East Anglia's student union website that the new band would be called Stone Gods. This name was confirmed on the official website on November 21, 2007. The line-up has been confirmed as Dan Hawkins (lead guitar), Toby MacFarlaine (bass), Ed Graham (drums) and Richie Edwards (vocals/guitar).
In March 2011, The Darkness announced on their newly updated website that they would be reforming the original line-up to play the Download Festival in Donington, Derbyshire. Songfacts reports that Nothin's Gonna Stop Us, the first new material from the band since they reconvened, was made available several months later as a free download from The Darkness’s official website.
The Darkness will be releasing "Hotcakes," their first album since reuniting, in 2012 on Wind-up Records. This album includes the singles "Every Inch of You" and Everybody Have a Good Time."
Hammer
The Darkness Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the city it's burning
It's out of control
My oh my
There's a fire
In the city
I give you my heart and my soul
Give me a chance and I'll take it
Show me some love and we'll make it
Baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Hammer and tongs
Now the sun rises over the city the stars are all gone
Bye bye
The pavement is burning my feet but the fire rages on
You and I
I gotta say this is a great night
Don't even know by the daylight
'Cause baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Oh yeah
N baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Hammer and tongs
Hammer and tongs
There's a fire
In the city
Out of control
Out of control
Oh woah oh woah
Baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Oh woahhhhhhh
Baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Baby we're right where we belong
O hammer and tongs
Hammer and tongs
Oh woah oh woah
Baby we're right where we belong
And we're going at it, hammer
Hammer and tongs
Hammer and tongs
The lyrics of “Hammer & Tongs” by The Darkness talks about the passion and intensity of a romantic love. The song starts with a fire burning out of control in the city, symbolizing the passion and intensity of the love between the two people. The singer then gives his heart and soul to his loved one and asks for a chance, promising to make it work. The chorus repeats that they are right where they belong and that they are going at it, hammer and tongs, emphasizing the intense and passionate nature of their love.
The second verse talks about the morning after and how the sun is rising over the city, but the fire within them is still raging. The singer declares that this is a great night and that they are where they belong, still going at it hammer and tongs. The outro repeats the chorus, emphasizing the intensity of their love once again. It is a declaration of love and desire, passionate and intense, where nothing can stop them from embracing and fulfilling their love for each other.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a fire
There's a burning passion
In the city
Within us
It's burning
Our passion is intense
It's out of control
Our desire is all-consuming
My oh my
Wow, this is intense
I give you my heart and my soul
I'm fully invested in this relationship
Make me cry
Emotions are intense
Give me a chance and I'll take it
I'm ready to seize any opportunity
Show me some love and we'll make it
With love, we can overcome any obstacles
Baby we're right where we belong
We're meant to be together
And we're going at it, hammer
We're passionately pursuing our relationship
Hammer and tongs
With full force and intensity
Now the sun rises over the city the stars are all gone
Time is passing, but our love is still burning bright
Bye bye
Goodbye to the night
The pavement is burning my feet but the fire rages on
Despite the challenges, our passion remains strong
You and I
Together
I gotta say this is a great night
This is an unforgettable moment
Don't even know by the daylight
We're so lost in the moment that we're not even aware of time passing
Oh yeah
This is amazing
And we're going at it, hammer
We're still pursuing our relationship with full intensity
Oh woahhhhhhh
Wow, this is incredible
O hammer and tongs
With full force and passion
Oh woah oh woah
This is intense
And we're going at it, hammer
We're still passionately pursuing our relationship
Hammer and tongs
With full force and intensity
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DANIEL HAWKINS, FRANCIS PATTERSON, JUSTIN HAWKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@butasoffroad
Great song of a pure Rock band. Glam Rock 4ever.
@CharlesWillisBonsai
One of my favorites from Last of our Kind!
@orivegili
Love this band. Thank you for keeping ourselves alive.
@emilianogambelli1706
One of my favourite of album!
@neilkeepingitreal
this whole album is amazing your a credit to what you do best guys
@nathybalbiful
I love this one...!!!
@petersekela5243
pure rock´n ´roll :)
@thomasackerman3995
sounds like the stones. i was gonna say the singers timing is off slightly but seems sppropreate too. love this band
@vanshayrapetyan1752
Yeh this is they songq !
@waynehenton7714
Awsome