Maya Hawke’s favourite Arctic Monkeys song
Maya Hawke may be an increasingly accomplished actor, a budding indie folk favourite, and the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, but just like many of us, she grew up listening to the lovesick lyrics and memorable riffs of Arctic Monkeys.
Hawke’s hometown, New York City, is a far cry from the streets that birthed one of indie rock’s most well-known bands, but that didn’t stop her from being drawn into the sounds of Sheffield. The future Stranger Things star first stumbled across Arctic Monkeys via a shared pair of earbuds en route to a Halloween party.
As the actor and singer recalled to The Line of Best Fit, Hawke and her high school best friend dressed up as “‘sluts’ in masks” for the occasion, donning masquerade masks and “push-up bras, black slips and thigh-high tights with the grip on your thigh, and heels.”
“I don’t think I ever looked better!” she joked, “I mean, obviously, it was wildly inappropriate, but I think I looked fantastic.” It was also fitting attire for the Arctic Monkeys song her friend took the time to introduce her to once they realised they were too early for the party – their 2007 single, ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ – which begins with a reference to fishnet tights.
“We were walking to the pre-party, and we stopped on a stoop, because we were too early,” Hawke recalled, “We started playing each other music, sharing an earphone, and then we listened to ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’. I don’t know, it felt like some kind of sexual awakening to me – and an awakening to adulthood.”
“It felt like I’d been living in these places of sadness and melancholy, and then it was like, ‘Whoa… ‘She used to get it in her fishnets / Now she only gets it in her nightdress?’ Well, I guess I’m in the ‘she used to’ part, and here I am wearing fishnets, so let’s fucking go!’” she enthused.
The track featured on Arctic Monkeys’ sophomore record, Favourite Worst Nightmare, and has become one of their most well-loved tracks. Fittingly, or perhaps ironically, it’s an ode to youth. Turner tells the tale of a former rascal woman who once donned fishnets and drank Tabasco-drenched Bloody Marys, now resigned to a life of niceness.
Though the song may be focused on a longing and nostalgia for those reckless youthful days, it served as an introduction to them for a young Hawke. Her own musical output may have strayed further into blues and folk territory, but it still contains that same nostalgic quality.
