Brick by Brick (Arctic Monkeys song)

Suck It and See track listing
"She's Thunderstorms" "Black Treacle" "Brick by Brick" "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" "Library Pictures" "All My Own Stunts" "Reckless Serenade" "Piledriver Waltz" "Love Is a Laserquest" "Suck It and See" "That's Where You're Wrong"

"Brick by Brick" is a song by Arctic Monkeys from the band's fourth album Suck It and See. The song was the first track to be revealed from the album, on 4 March 2011, and was designed as a teaser for the album rather than a lead single.^[1] The lead single was instead "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" which was released digitally on 12 April. A limited-edition white-label seven-inch vinyl version of "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" released on 16 April featured "Brick by Brick" as its B-side.^[2]

Alex Turner explained the story of the song to NME: "We were in Miami on tour once and we just got off a long flight to there and we had an idea for a song called 'Brick By Brick' and so we wrote it that night just sorta in a bar. But it was quite loose, we thought about it as the concept of a song and all these things that you want to do- brick by brick- and we just made a list of them that was probably three times as long as what it ended up over that night and the next few weeks."^[3]

The song is intentionally brief and humorous, with Turner claiming that it was meant to include fewer than 30 words, "since we always do songs with a thousand words",^[4] an approach borrowed from Iggy Pop. "Even though it is dumbed down, we know it, and it's got a sense of humor … (t)here have always been jokes all over our songs; I originally started writing lyrics to make my friends crack a smile, which is difficult."

Music video

Despite not being a single, the song still has a music video. The video features a girl taking a 10-inch Arctic Monkeys gramophone record out of its sleeve and playing it on her gramophone whilst smoking a cigarette. About halfway through the song, the scene switches to a car driving through California at sunset and footage of the band on a beach. As the song reaches its final chorus, the scene changes again to footage of the band recording the song at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. As the song reaches its close, the video cuts back to the girl listening to the record and fades to black as she walks away. The print on the vinyl played in the video is of the Sheffield coat of arms.

Personnel

Matt Helders - lead vocals, drums
Alex Turner - lead guitar, backing vocals
Jamie Cook - rhythm guitar
Nick O'Malley - bass guitar, backing vocals

References

↑ "Arctic Monkeys - "Brick by Brick" Surprise new song". Retrieved 11 March 2011.
↑ Arctic Monkeys Announce First Single From 'Suck it and See' NME. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
↑ Arctic Monkeys - Alex Turner's Guide to 'Suck it and See' NME. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/8832-alex-turner/

External links

"Brick by Brick" Official music video on YouTube

Arctic Monkeys singles

Discography Songs

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not	"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" "When the Sun Goes Down"

Favourite Worst Nightmare	"Brianstorm" "Fluorescent Adolescent" "Teddy Picker"

Humbug	"Crying Lightning" "Cornerstone" "My Propeller"

Suck It and See	"Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" "Suck It and See" "Black Treacle"

AM	"R U Mine?" "Do I Wanna Know?" "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" "One for the Road" "Arabella" "Snap Out of It"

Standalone singles	"Leave Before the Lights Come On" "Matador" "Come Together"

Other songs	"The View from the Afternoon" "Fake Tales of San Francisco" "Brick by Brick"

as Death Ramps	"Bad Woman" (featuring Richard Hawley) "The Death Ramps" "Nettles" "Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Riddler)" (featuring Miles Kane) "You and I" (featuring Richard Hawley)

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