This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2020) |
"When the Sun Goes Down" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Arctic Monkeys | ||||
from the album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | 16 January 2006 | |||
Studio | Chapel (Lincolnshire, England) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:20 | |||
Label | Domino | |||
Composer(s) |
| |||
Lyricist(s) | Alex Turner | |||
Producer(s) | Jim Abbiss | |||
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"When the Sun Goes Down" on YouTube |
"When the Sun Goes Down" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 16 January 2006 as the second single from their debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). It followed debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" to number one on the UK Singles Chart.
The song is about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield. Originally known as "Scummy", early reports had also suggested its name would be simply "Sun Goes Down", but the full name was confirmed on Arctic Monkeys' website.
"When the Sun Goes Down" is composed in the key of B major with a time signature of 4
4 (common-time), and follows a tempo of 169 beats per minute. [2]
The song's lyrics tell a story narrated from the point of view of a concerned individual who is approached by a scantily-clad girl, heavily implied to be a prostitute. He then observes a "scummy man" who has been hanging around the neighbourhood; the man is implied to be either the prostitute's pimp or a 'client' who is picking her up for sex. This section of the song musically consists of just vocalist Alex Turner singing accompanied by a pattern of electric guitar chords with a conspicuously clean tone. After the line "I said he's a scumbag don't you know" the song then changes drastically into a heavy rock style with a fast beat and driving guitar riff which is also played identically on the bass guitar. In the song's lyrics, now delivered a lot more venomously, the prostitute propositions the song's narrator and he turns her down politely; he then observes the "scummy man" arriving to pick her up in a Ford Mondeo. The girl is "delighted when she sees him" because "she must be fucking freezing, scantily clad beneath the clear night sky".
The song's chorus consists of the repeated line "they said it changes when the sun goes down around here", noting the stark difference between the appearance of the city at daytime and the dark prostitution trade the narrator observes at night. After the second refrain of the chorus, the song reverts to the style of the introduction. The last line, "I hope you're not involved at all", is either the narrator expressing his disappointment that the girl has turned to prostitution or a warning to the person to whom the narrator is telling the story, who also may be involved with the scummy man – or the listener themselves.
The line "and he told Roxanne to put on her red light" is a reference to the Police song "Roxanne", which is also about prostitution.
The song's music video was directed by Paul Fraser and premiered on MTV2 on 21 December 2005. It starred Lauren Socha and Stephen Graham. The video used footage from a longer film, Scummy Man , which used the same actors who appeared in the music video to tell the story of 'Nina', the nameless "that girl there" from the song.
Every track in all formats is written by Alex Turner, except for Stickin to the Floor, as it was written by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "When the Sun Goes Down" | |
2. | "Settle for a Draw" |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "When the Sun Goes Down" | |
2. | "Stickin to the Floor" | |
3. | "7" |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "When the Sun Goes Down" | |
2. | "Stickin to the Floor" | |
3. | "Settle for a Draw" | |
4. | "7" |
Personnel adapted from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not liner notes [6]
Arctic Monkeys
| Technical
|
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [19] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [20] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [21] | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 16 January 2006 |
| Domino | [22] |
Australia | 8 May 2006 | CD | [23] |
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. Former bassist Andy Nicholson left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, was released.
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" is a song by English rock band Arctic Monkeys released on 17 October 2005, through Domino Recording Company. The song was the band's debut single and the first from their debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). Written by frontman Alex Turner and produced by Jim Abbiss, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" is a garage rock, indie rock, and post-punk song. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 23 October 2005, and remains one of the band's best-known songs in the UK.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the debut studio album by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 January 2006 in the United Kingdom and on 21 February 2006 in the United States by Domino Recording Company. Preceded by the chart-topping singles "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down", the album also contains re-recorded versions of both tracks from the band's debut extended play (EP), Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys (2005). It is the only Arctic Monkeys album to feature bassist Andy Nicholson, as he left the band shortly after the album's release.
Scummy Man is a short film, written and directed by Paul Fraser and produced by Mark Herbert and Diarmid Scrimshaw, based on the song "When the Sun Goes Down" by the Arctic Monkeys, and released on DVD on 10 April 2006 by Domino Recording Company. The film, like the song, focuses on prostitution in Sheffield, and uses the same actors as the music video to document a night in the life of the fictional 'Nina', a 15-year-old drug addict who works as a prostitute in the Neepsend district.
"Leave Before the Lights Come On" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. The song was released on 14 August 2006 as the band's third single in the United Kingdom. The song was not included on the band's debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, though Alex Turner has stated that it could have been on the album as it follows a similar theme to many of the album tracks. It was the band's final release before promotion began for their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare in spring 2007.
English rock band Arctic Monkeys have released seven studio albums, five extended plays, two video albums, 24 music videos and 23 singles. Formed in 2002 by guitarist and vocalist Alex Turner, guitarist and backing vocalist Jamie Cook, bass guitarist and backing vocalist Andy Nicholson and drummer and backing vocalist Matt Helders, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, in May 2005, and signed with London-based Domino Recording Company in June.
Favourite Worst Nightmare is the second studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, first released in Japan on 18 April 2007 and released in their home country of United Kingdom on 23 April 2007 by Domino Recording Company. Recorded in East London's Miloco Studios with producers James Ford and Mike Crossey, the album was preceded by the release of lead single "Brianstorm" on 2 April 2007. It was the band’s first album with new bassist Nick O'Malley, replacing their previous bassist Andy Nicholson, who left the band shortly before the North American tour of the band's debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006).
"Brianstorm" is a song by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys. It is the opening track on their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. The song was released as the first single from the album on 2 April 2007, debuting at number 21 in the UK Singles Chart via downloads alone. The single was released in physical formats on 16 April, the week before the release of the album, and charted at number two on the UK Singles Chart behind Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar". In Scotland, the song became the band's fourth consecutive number-one single on the Scottish Singles Chart. "Brianstorm" is one of the band's most successful singles worldwide, reaching number four in Denmark, number seven in Ireland, and number 10 in Spain. It came in at number 62 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.
"Fluorescent Adolescent" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released as the second single from their second studio album Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007). It was released on 9 July 2007 in the United Kingdom. The lyrics were written by Alex Turner and Johanna Bennett, Turner's girlfriend at the time, in a hotel room prior to the recording of Favourite Worst Nightmare.
"The View from the Afternoon" is a song by Arctic Monkeys originally released as the opening track on the band's first album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in January 2006. It was also the lead track on the Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? EP. This release had an accompanying video. Although never released as a single, the song was a staple of live concerts by the band on their early tours.
"Teddy Picker" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the third single from their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare. It was released on 3 December 2007 in the United Kingdom. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 20.
"Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" is a song by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys, from their 2011 album Suck It and See.
"The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" is a song by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released 15 August 2011 by Domino Recording Company as the second single of their fourth album Suck It and See. Produced by James Ford and written by Alex Turner, the song was recorded at Sound City, Los Angeles in early 2011. The song refers to an unknown place frequented by Turner.
"Suck It and See" is a song by English band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 31 October 2011 by Domino Recording Company as the third single and title track of their fourth studio album Suck It and See. Produced by James Ford and written by Alex Turner it was recorded at Sound City, Los Angeles in early 2011.
"Black Treacle" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the fourth single from their fourth studio album Suck It and See and was released as a digital download and a 7" vinyl on 23 January 2012. The single was limited to only 1,500 copies.
Beneath the Boardwalk refers to a collection of 18 demo recordings by Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys which were burned onto CDs to give away at the band's gigs for free, and which emerged on the Internet in 2004, promptly file-shared amongst fans.
"Arabella" is a song by English rock band Arctic Monkeys from their fifth studio album, AM (2013). The song was confirmed as the album's fifth single by the band and their label Domino and impacted radio in Italy on 28 January 2014 and the United Kingdom on 10 March 2014. A physical 7" vinyl single was also planned for release on 28 March 2014, but was ultimately cancelled.
"Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 23 July 2018 as the second single from their sixth studio album of the same name, along with an accompanying music video. On 16 October 2018, it was announced that a 7-inch vinyl version of the single would be released on 30 November 2018, alongside the previously unreleased B-side "Anyways".
"Four Out of Five" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018), on 13 May 2018, with an accompanying music video.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)