Tag Archives: lights

#1172: 1990s – See You at the Lights

1990s. A band I’d be surprised anyone would know. If you were to comment and say, “Hey, don’t be so sure”, then, nice. You’re one of the few. I couldn’t say I have much of an opinion on the band though. First time I’d heard of them was back in 2007 or something. That was the ripe time for indie bands in the UK, those mid-2000s. And watching MTV2 in those days, there was always something new around the corner. 1990s showed up occasionally on the channel with the video, ‘You’re Supposed to Be My Friend’. That tune, I thought, was all right. What struck me was how both old and young the band looked, all at the same time. Then a few months down the line, the video for ‘See You at the Lights’ came round and the song became an instant hit to me. Lot of time was spent trying to figure out the usual time slot that the video was usually shown in. But then YouTube became available and I could watch/listen anytime I wanted.

It all begins with that beginning wordless hook. If that doesn’t get you singing along, then there’s not much point listening to the rest of the song. It always come back to it. But when it doesn’t, the song concerns a narrator who’s going out with a lady and basically has nothing to say but good things about her. She could be the one. He sees the light in her. This time in the relationship appears to be taking place around Christmas time too, hence the references to snow, stepping into the ‘white’ and the obviously clue, the mention of a Christmas tree. I’ve always liked the general tone of the music in this too. I’ve always envisioned a busy city centre at nighttime with all these bright lights everywhere when I hear this song, which I think the song is going for. It all comes from the lyrics, brings about a lot of vivid imagery.

The music video in itself is very endearing too. It’s an animated one. Quite dated in today’s world. It looked quite dated back in 2007 too. But there’s no denying it’s a bit of fun to watch. It features an animated version of the band, sitting on the ledge of a giant building in Glasgow, staring at the moon and lip-syncing to the song. With each verse, they get up to slightly different antics, from bobbing to the music in the first verse to singer Jackie McKeown jumping onto the drummer’s heard during the last one. It’s all pretty simple stuff, but has a lot of charm. I never really followed up with 1990s after this, though. I do know that you can find this song the album Cookies, and they released another record a couple years after. If you happen to like both of them, I’m glad I could be of service.

#722: Arctic Monkeys – Leave Before the Lights Come On

I don’t think there wasn’t a time in 2006 when Arctic Monkeys weren’t on everyone’s lips. The band released Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in January of that year after months of online hype, remarkable live performances and two #1 singles to their name. It became the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history. Everyone loved them. They released an EP a few months later which didn’t chart but included some songs that they had recorded in the meantime. Then their original bassist Andy Nicholson left and was replaced by Nick O’Malley who still plays with them today.

Their first single with O’Malley on board was ‘Leave Before the Lights Come On’, a track recorded way after the band’s debut album was done but one that Alex Turner stated could have been on the record because it followed similar themes that many of the album tracks had. I was eleven years old when this track was released. 2006 was one of the greatest times of my life. World Cup ’06, last year of primary school, it was a good summer. I remember ‘Leave Before the Lights” video making its rounds on MTV2 UK on the daily. That’s how I got to know the song. A woman gets a man’s attention by looking like she’s about to jump off a building. The man ‘saves’ her, she gets a bit too attached to him, he gets angry at her, and then she runs back to the building where she sees drummer Matt Helders walking past. The cycle continues. It’s more a little film accompanying the music than your standard band performance.

Very similar to the songs on Whatever People Say, particularly ‘From Ritz to the Rubble’, ‘Leave Before the Lights’ is the song that exploring the mix of feelings that may arise the morning after a one night stand. “How did I get here?” “She didn’t look like that last night…” “I should probably get out of here quickly.” Among others. It’s classic Alex Turner observational lyricism that he was especially good at in that early era of the band. I also feel it’s one of the group’s best musical performances from that time too. Both Turner and Jamie Cook’s guitars interlock with one another, Turner will play some guitar fills while Cook plays rhythm and vice versa, Matt Helders keeps a strong hold on the drums and O’Malley fits into the group dynamic like a glove straight away. The song’s ending instrumental breakdown is one of the best musical moments by the band in their discography, I think.

It was the first single of theirs that didn’t get to #1 in the UK charts. It peaked at #4. And for a song that doesn’t appear on an album of theirs, I think it still holds up very well today.

My iPod #19: Kanye West – All of the Lights

WARNING: This video has been identified by Epilepsy Action to potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.

Please take heed of that warning, seriously.

‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’, the fifth album by Kanye West. The one which received positive reviews from every music magazine and website you could imagine. The one with the controversial artwork. The one which had a film released along with it. The one that gave rise to memes such as ‘Yeezy taught me’, ‘No one man should have all that flour’ and ‘Let’s have a toast to the douchebags’. What made it so good?

Well, it was his first album after 808s & Heartbreak, for a start.

But real talk, it was the return of a Kanye (the rapper) that the world had never witnessed before. Remember what he did to Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs? Yeah, well no one liked him after that. Beyoncé was shocked, Pink was outraged, even the President had a few words to say about him.

So what did Kanye do? He only went into some sort of exile to Hawaii and recorded his, arguably, best work of ALL TIME. ALL TIME.

‘All of the Lights’ is preceded by its short interlude, a cello/violin and a piano play the melody of the intro. Then the main song starts, “ALL OF THE LIGHTS”, triumphant horns set up the scene, a crescendo of strings build up the mood, Rihanna sings the post-chorus, “Turn up the lights in here baby etc etc.” Then the beat kicks in, and it’s just awesome from then on.

The song kicks arse. It’s a highlight for me from the album. It’s just the rapid drums and bass, the horns, Kanye’s rhymes and delivery. It’s such an adrenaline rush, I don’t think anyone could sit calmly in a chair and bob their heads. No! You’re headbanging, you do a forward roll and you flail about when there’s no one else in the room with the lights flickering on and off. That’s what you do!

Another thing that’s great about the song is also the number of guests he gets on it. No, this song doesn’t just feature Rihanna. You’ve got Kid Cudi in the first bridge, “Getting myyyyyyyyyyyyy eh, you should go and get your oowwwwwwwwwwwwn,” Fergie-Ferg from the Black Eyed Peas in the second bridge, Alicia Keys AND Elton John at the end, and even La Roux. La Roux! How? Why? When?

The song just gives off a sense of glory. “Lights, Cop lights, flash lights, spot lights, strobe lights, street lights, ALL OF THE LIGHTS ALL OF THE LIGHTS, fast life, drug life, thug life, Roc life, every night, ALL OF THE LIGHTS.”

If you don’t have ‘MBDTF’, I suggest you get it. It is probably one of the best hip hop albums released in the last five years.

Who even likes Taylor Swift now anyway?

Until next time.

Jamie.