‘Under Cover of Darkness’: The Strokes song inspired by Clarence Clemons
No band typifies 2000s indie quite like The Strokes. Spawning out of New York City, they paired impossibly catchy guitar riffs with tales of desperation and youth. Their debut record, Is This It, remains an absolute staple in the genre, and budding guitar bands still look to them as a reference point. But for a brand new sound for a brand new millennium, The Strokes were not afraid to look backwards.
The landmark offered up a chance at modernity, but Julian Casablancas and the band were not scared of borrowing from their alternative predecessors like The Doors and New York-born The Velvet Underground. Those names might seem like direct links to the New Yorkers, but the group also looked towards the pop end of the musical spectrum.
As The Strokes and the world grew into their sound, they became even more interested in finding unique sounds in different places on the musical chart. On one track, they even took inspiration from a duet between rock icon Jackson Browne and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
In 2011, The Strokes released their fourth record, Angles. The lead single for the release came in the form of ‘Under Cover of Darkness’. A squealing guitar intro delves into the tale of a military man leaving his girlfriend. Explaining the track’s meaning to NME, Casablancas surmised, “It’s cheesy, I guess, but it’s about having to leave a loved one behind.”
It might come as a surprise to The Strokes fans, but the track took its instrumental inspiration from Browne and Clemons’ 1985 track ‘You’re a Friend of Mine’. The song is a stark contrast to the effortless cool of The Strokes, but Casablancas found himself taken in by the bridge and chorus the duo had created.
“I weirdly like the bridge and the chorus of that Clarence Clemons song. So that was the vibe we were going for,” he admitted, “I shouldn’t confess to these things!” It’s a connection that would have been impossible to make had the frontman not divulged it. The songs sit in entirely different spheres.
Clemons’ track is pure cheese, something Casablancas had already leant into in the lyrics for the song. Apparently, he was willing to do his instrumentation too. The final product wouldn’t come close to the cheesiness of Clemons’ number, ensuring to maintain that sense of cool that pervades the entirety of The Strokes’ catalogue and image, but it was still an undeniable influence.
Fusing this peculiar inspiration with Casablancas’ distinctive vocals and The Strokes’ characteristically catchy riffs, they created an indie staple for the ages. Over a decade after it was first released, ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ still stands up as one of the band’s most revisited and revered songs and a far cooler way of enjoying the vibe of ‘You’re a Friend of Mine’.
Listen to the Clemons song that inspired The Strokes’ ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ below.
