1.‘505’ // Favourite Worst Nightmare
Dare I say it, ‘505’ is the best Arctic Monkeys song, by a country mile
The closing track of the bands sophomore album Favourite Worst Nightmare, Alex Turner described the song as the bands “first proper love song”. The organ at the beginning of the song is sampled from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and the song is beautiful.
Alex Turner describes a girl who he loves, but who he’s far away from and when they meet up (presumably at a hotel room numbered 505), things never go how he wants them to.
“I’d probably still adore you, with your hands around my neck, or I did last time I checked”, remains one of the bands most powerful lyrics and suggests a darker side to their relationship.
The pace of the song is slow as it builds towards the climax of “I crumble completely when you cry”, then the drums and guitar hit like an earthquake. To top it off, the song features Miles Kane as a guest guitarist, what more could you want?
A mainstay in the band’s setlist, I’ll leave you with the above performance from TRNSMT 2018.
Words by Andrew White