Arctic Monkeys. Who would have thought that a group of teenage boys from Sheffield could have connected to millions of people around the world through their music. Could go from handing out CD’s and posting videos on social media to touring the world and releasing eight studio albums. They could and they did.
The four young boys: Alex Turner; Matt Helders; Jamie Cook and Nick O’Malley formed the band in 2002 with the intention of playing for fun. An unusual fact that I have recently learned is that the name Arctic Monkeys comes from the term ‘northern monkeys’ which is another name for people from northern England! They played their gig in 2003 at The Grapes Pub in Sheffield when the boys were just 16 years old and released their first album (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not) in 2006.
Come 2023, they have released eight studio albums, 24 music videos and 23 singles. Their newest album, the car, has reached 102,571,657 streams which just goes to show how much their songs affect people. The lyrics of the new song ‘body paint’ are being heavily debated by fans who are wondering what exactly the meanings are. Some fans believe that the lyrics…:
For a master of deception and subterfuge
You’ve made yourself quite the bed to lie in
Do your time travelling through the tanning booth
So you don’t let the sun catch you crying
…Are about a person who is building lies and developing weird behaviours, apparently to hide what she’s doing. The ‘time travelling through the tanning booth’ can represent an image of what the girl does to pursue her goals, which can both refer to being tanned or creating a time period where she doesn’t have to justify what she does or where she is. By doing this, she’s also following a lifestyle that probably doesn’t make her feel good, which could be the reason for crying.
There are a lot more different fan interpretations of the lyrics to this song which again goes to prove the emotional attachment of the listeners to the lyrics. On a personal level, I understand and empathise with multiple lyrics from a few of the Arctic Monkeys’ songs myself and hope you can too.
If you haven’t began to listen to the Arctic Monkeys then I recommend starting with ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’ it is one of my personal favourites and it sums up the style of the band too!
By Megan Yr7
Boston High School Newsroom
Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Columnists, Entertainment, Music
There are a great band and have such long standing appeal.
Great article and I love listening to the Arctic Monkeys
Amazing writing by such a talented young lady! I’m so proud that I’ve seen her grown and very proud of her ability to write so well! I remember this band coming out and living not far from Sheffield and the way this is written is how I remember their journey!
That is soooo great well done it’s amazing I thought it was an adult who wrote it.It’s soooooo so good. I hope you win! Also it is very appealing. You deserve to win. Wow!!!😃👍🎉✅✨🤩
I agree it is the bests o far hope you win
If you get the chance to catch them live, don’t miss out, as they are one of the best out there right now.
It is scary to think they have been going for over 20 years as I remember their first single coming out. I’m old.
You’ve made me want to know more and listen to some of their songs, so I’m going to start with your recommendation.
Yet another great band from the NORTH. Well worth a listen.
I Like the Artic Monkeys and a great little report. An NME Journalist in the making. Well done Megan 👍
Super band , personal favourite and what an inspirational article.
Great article. Colourful and insightful and some interesting facts about the band. If I wasn’t already a fan, I would be having read that piece!
A great thought provoking article, I’m going to check them out on Spotify.
A well presented reflection of the Artic Monkeys!
Fantastic article, lots of interesting information. Thank you. X x x
That’s my favourite too Megan
Great article. Love you lots x
Their music is loved across so many age groups too, great band!
How interesting, I didn’t realise how many songs I knew till I heard their set the other weekend
Love bands that make music that not only sounds fab but also makes you think a bit as well. Great article which makes you think about what the music is trying to say.
Very well written and very interesting.
Well done Megan, what a well written article.
I love listening to the artic monkeys
“I bet that you look good on the dance floor” is an all time favourite of mine.
Great article Megan!
Well written Megan. Xx
Interesting facts, well researched and written article
I also love the Arctic Monkeys Megan and I definitely recommend ‘I bet that you look good on the dance floor’ as well. Keep up the good writing!!! X
I also love the Arctic Monkeys. Keep up the good writing!!! X
such a great article 🙂
I LOVE ARCTIC MONKEYS!!! Great article! xxx
Thanks to all the people who have commented on my article! It really means a lot to me x
This is a great article and i have learnt lots of new things about the artic monkeys. It is very well written and well researched
I personally don’t listen to arctic monkeys very much but this is such an informative article I might give them a go, keep the good work up 🙂