Arctic Monkeys

Released: August 19, 2009

Songwriter: Alex Turner

Producer: Josh Homme

[Verse 1]
You showed me my tomorrow beside a box of matches
A welcome threatening stir
My hopes of being stolen might just ring true
Depends who you prefer
If it's true you're gonna run away
Tell me where, I'll meet you there

[Verse 2]
Am I snapping the excitement
If I pack away the laughter and tell you how it feels?
And does burden come to meet ya
If I've questions of the feature that rolls on your dream reel?
The day after you stole my heart
Everything I touched told me
It would be better shared with you, with you

[Bridge]
And now you're hiding in my soup
And this book reveals your face
And you're splashing in my eyelids
As the concentration continually breaks
I did request the mark you cast
Didn't heal as fast
I hear your voice in silences
Will the teasing of the fire be followed by the thud?

[Outro]
In the jostling crowd, you're not allowed to tell the truth
And the photo booth's a liar
And there's a sharpened explanation
But there's no screaming reason to inquire
I'd like to poke them in their prying eyes with things
They'd never see if it smacked them in their temples

Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, England. The band consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, rhythm/lead guitar), Matt Helders (drums, vocals), Jamie Cook (lead/rhythm guitar) and Nick O'Malley (bass, backing vocals). Former band member Andy Nicholson (bass guitar, backing vocals) left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released. Their sound has changed extensively from album to album, gradually evolving from raw, youthful post-punk revival music to R ‘n’ B and jazz-inspired experiments.

All four original members of the band were devoted fans of hip-hop when they were younger, a genre that would have an immense influence on their later work, but it was the sound of The Strokes and The Libertines that would help shape their early style. The Arctic Monkeys became one of the first bands to find fame and recognition purely through internet publicity and social media; the Arctics used to sell their demos CDs at a bar where Alex Turner used to work, but due to the limited number of CDs, their fans started to upload them on the internet.

Initially, they refused to sign a record contract with any label through fear that they would want the band to change their songs, going as far as to refuse scouts guaranteed entry into their gigs. However, they eventually signed with Domino because of the “do it yourself” attitude of founder, Lawrence Bell, who ran the label from his own house.

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