I saw the video for this track the first time on TV a long time ago. Wasn’t through MTV2, but through some other channel. I think The Amp, if anyone out there remembers it. There was no message or sign showing the band name or the song name, so I remember being confused as to whether this was a music video or a really long advert for a dramatic music television show or something. I was quite young when this happened, so forgive me. Wasn’t until a bit later that it was revealed to me. ‘Maps’ was a very much a real song by a real band, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Could do with a new song by them.

The track’s quite an emotional one. The music video even more so. Lead singer Karen O’s boyfriend at-the-time was meant to show up the shoot, but he was very late and she was about to go on tour and didn’t think he was going to show. During the performances, the tears start falling from her eyes while all these warm lights of fluorescent colours are glaring in the camera and she sings, “They don’t love you like I love you.” Sometimes I go on about songs that can be made so much more emphatic with the right music video. This is another of those instances.

Amidst Brian Chase’s rolling drum pattern and O’s silky vocals is Nick Zinner’s guitars which really keep the track moving. The one note loop is the first thing you hear and the last as the song fades out. In between, he provides that staccato line during the verses and those twinkling high notes in the choruses. I guess he also provides the bassline in those sections, even though the band don’t use a bass guitar. His playing is a highlight for me on this one. ‘Maps’ is a bit of an indie classic, and its cultural legacy cant be understated. Beyoncé took the chorus’ main lyric and used it in one of her songs. So there you go, I guess.