The Nick Lowe song Alex Turner calls one of his all-time favourites
Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner comes from a tradition of great British songwriters. Whether it be David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies or fellow Sheffield native Jarvis Cocker, he has drawn from many different heroes in his time. In doing so, he has established arguably the most culturally impactful oeuvre of any British artist in the 21st century.
From songs that detailed the idiosyncrasies of Sheffield at the end of Tony Blair’s Britain in the mid-2000s to surreal tales influenced by the Southern Californian desert on 2009’s Humbug and on to the science fiction refinement of 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino – a concept album depicting a luxury hotel at Tranquility Base – Turner has covered a wide range of topics in his art.
Whilst having such a breadth of vision might spread other artists thin and display flaws in their artistry, Turner has continued to improve with each album and push himself into new areas. This is true for both his sonics and his lyricism. With every offering – single or studio length – he and Arctic Monkeys have continued cementing their legacy as one of the finest Britain has ever produced.
It makes sense that Alex Turner should be such an exemplary musician, as alongside his undoubted talent, he takes his cues from some of the best. When speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2022 on the eve of the group releasing their most recent effort, The Car, he discussed the first track he ever wrote and, in doing so, mentioned his love for eminent British songwriter Nick Lowe. He named his track ‘The Beast in Me’ – made famous by his stepfather-in-law Johnny Cash in 1994 – one of his “favourite songs ever”.
Turner said about the first song he ever wrote: “There’s one that springs to mind, but it’s a melody rather than the words. I had a dictaphone — you know the one where you have the little cassette inside — and I found that again recently, a few little scraps of ideas. Do I have songs that haven’t found their way into things yet? Definitely. There’s one that’s tried to get on a couple of records and didn’t make it, and it’s probably coming up on 10 years old now.”
He continued: “One of my favourite songs ever is ‘The Beast in Me’ by Nick Lowe. A friend of mine was lucky enough to bump into him on vacation, and he asked him about it then, and apparently, he said that was [a song] for him that was sticking around for ages. So hopefully, I’ll find a way to get some of [my own] out there at some point.”
Listen to ‘The Beast in Me’ below.
