The secret song at the end of Arctic Monkeys ‘All My Own Stunts’
When Arctic Monkeys released their third album Humbug in 2009, their sound shifted and matured. Influenced by the desolate Californian landscapes surrounding the Rancho De La Luna studio in which they recorded, their music took on a grittier desert rock quality, incorporating psychedelic and stoner rock elements.
Furthermore, lead singer Alex Turner moved away from the quintessentially British social realist tales that dominated their earlier efforts and focused his attention on writing highly poetical, metaphorical lyrics. The band’s growth was evident, and fans and critics alike were eager to see which direction the Sheffield lads would take next. Cue Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys’ fourth effort, which was released in 2011. The album moved away from the darker sound crafted on Humbug, instead welcoming jangly guitars and psychedelic pop influence.
Many of Suck It And See’s songs bottle a distinctively summery, warm sound, such as ‘She’s Thunderstorms’, ‘Black Treacle’, ‘That’s Where You’re Wrong’ and ‘Suck It And See’. This is perhaps a reflection of the band recording the album in sunny Los Angeles, where they entered the studio with nothing more than rough sketches of the tracks. Furthermore, Turner stated that the title track was inspired by The Beach Boys, who he had been “listening to a lot” at the time of recording.
However, Arctic Monkeys didn’t entirely abandon the darkness of Humbug on Suck It And See. Some moodier cuts are woven between the breezy love songs, such as ‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ and ‘All My Own Stunts’. On the latter, Turner swaps out his cheery affections for loneliness and pining, finding solace and a newfound sense of determination in watching Westerns, such as High Noon. The fizzling guitar is accompanied by a murky bassline and driving drums, emphasising Turner’s declarations, “Been watching cowboy films/ On gloomy afternoons/ Tinting the solitude.”
Yet, at the end of the track, a snippet of an unrelated song can be heard, punctured by some distant thumps on Matt Helders’ drums. In an interview with NME, Turner revealed that the sound is a short tribute to their hometown, High Green, Sheffield. He explained: “At the end, you hear a little snippet of this song we were making up while we in the studio there called ‘I’m From High Green’, which is where we’re from.”
He continued: “It was summat we were singing quite a lot, the four of us, while we were there. How does it go again? Oh yeah, so you’ve got to do it in a sort of Chris Cornell-style vocal: ‘I lost my accent/I live the dream/but I still like my ale/because I’m from High Green.’ That sort of thing. Look out for it, you get a little snip.”
Listen below.
