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When the Sun Goes Down

The second single, a story of prostitution in Sheffield's Neepsend district.
Arctic Monkeys, from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

Written by
Alex Turner
Released
2006
Album
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Released on 16 January 2006, the song followed the first single to number one on the UK chart. It had earlier been called Scummy. Turner wrote about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield, near the band's practice room, and a line about Roxanne putting on her red light refers to the Police song. The verses are quiet and clean-toned, then the music turns into a heavy riff before it settles back.

Alexis Petridis described it in the Guardian as a witty, poignant song about prostitution in Neepsend, sung in a broad South Yorkshire accent. Pitchfork's Scott Plagenhoef called it the only track on the album that is three-dimensional structurally as well as lyrically. The video, directed by Paul Fraser and starring Lauren Socha and Stephen Graham, used footage from the longer film Scummy Man. It was then knocked off the top by Notorious BIG, Diddy and Nelly's Nasty Girl.

More songs by Arctic Monkeys

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, A Certain Romance, Mardy Bum, Fluorescent Adolescent, Do I Wanna Know?

Sources

  1. When the Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys song), Wikipedia
  2. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, The Guardian (2006-01-13)
  3. Arctic Monkeys album breaks UK chart record, BBC News (2006)