Line #157 Music/WhateverPeopleSayIAmThatsWhatImNot


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/22e4653ba10499e4a2aa4ae742e9b951.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:"''And what a scummy man/Just give him half a chance, I bet he'll rob ya if he can...''" [[note]]This guy isn't a band member; he's a friend of Alex Turner's, named Chris [=McClure=].[[/note]]]]
3
4	-->''Well, it's ever so funny\
5	'Cause I don't think you're special, I don't think you're cool\
6	You're just probably alright\
7	But under these lights you look beautiful\
8	And I'm struggling, I can't see through your fake tan\
9	Yeah, and you know it for a fact that everybody's eating out of your hands\
10	But what do you know?\
11	Oh, you know nothing\
12	Yeah, but I'll still take you home\
13	Oh, yeah, I'll still take you home\
14	So what do you know?\
15	Said, you don't know nothing''
16	-->-- "'''Still Take You Home'''"
17
18	'''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''' is the first studio album by the British {{indie rock}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006 through Domino Records to near-universal acclaim, and it became the fastest-selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. It has since gone quintuple platinum and quickly established the Monkeys as a mainstream indie act, though the band more or less eschewed this label with their [[NewSoundAlbum constant experimentation]] on later albums such as ''Humbug'' and ''Suck It and See''.
19
20	The album's massive success stems from the fact that the band had a demo album (called ''Beneath the Boardwalk'') that [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay leaked onto the Internet in 2003]], after which fans began widespread file-sharing on websites such as Website/MySpace. The songs "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down" were both released prior to the album, and both hit number one on the UK Singles chart. The band thus became one of the first to emerge through Internet popularity, and the album became a landmark in the TurnOfTheMillennium since they won a widespread audience of millennials in a way almost no other band had done before.
21	----
22	!!Tracklist:
23	# "The View from the Afternoon" (3:38)
24	# "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (2:53)
25	# "Fake Tales of San Francisco" (2:57)
26	# "Dancing Shoes" (2:21)
27	# "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me" (2:10)
28	# "Still Take You Home" (2:53)
29	# "Riot Van" (2:14)
30	# "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" (2:23)
31	# "Mardy Bum" (2:55)
32	# "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..." (4:28)
33	# "When the Sun Goes Down" (3:20)
34	# "From the Ritz to the Rubble" (3:13)
35	# "A Certain Romance" (5:31)
36
37	[[folder: "When the Sun Goes Down" EP]]
38	# "When the Sun Goes Down" (3:20)
39	# "Stickin' to the Floor" (1:18)
40	# "Settle for a Draw" (3:19)
41	# "Seven" (2:10)
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" EP]]
45	# "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (2:53)
46	# "Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts" (2:59)
47	# "Chun-Li's Flying Bird Kick" (instrumental) (4:40)
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" EP]]
51	# "Leave Before the Lights Come On" (3:52)
52	# "Put Your Dukes Up John" (The Little Flames cover) (3:03)
53	# "Baby I'm Yours" (Barbara Lewis cover) (2:32)
54	[[/folder]]
55
56
57	[[folder: "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?" EP]]
58	# "The View from the Afternoon" (3:38)
59	# "Cigarette Smoker Fiona" (2:56)
60	# "Despair in the Departure Lounge" (3:22)
61	# "No Buses" (3:17)
62	# "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?" (5:36)
63	[[/folder]]
64	----
65	!!Principal Members:
66
67	* Alex Turner - lead vocals, lead & rhythm guitar, keyboards
68	* Jamie Cook - lead & rhythm guitar
69	* Andy Nicholson – bass, backing vocals
70	* Matt Helders – drums, percussion, backing vocals
71
72	----
73	!!"I Bet You Trope Good on the Dance Floor":
74
75	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: "No Buses" is about a one-way relationship and how the love may not actually be that unique:
76	--> ''Lady, where has your love gone?\
77	I was looking but can't find it anywhere\
78	They always offer when there's loads of love around\
79	But, when you're short of some, it's nowhere to be found''
80	* AllMenArePerverts: "Dancing Shoes" plays the idea that men are pigs sarcastically toward the end, when the narrator tells a guy to just go up and talk to the girl:
81	--> ''Get on your dancing shoes\
82	You sexy little swine''
83	* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: In "Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts", where Turner describes a boy being played by a girl before he reveals in the end that he was the boy all along.
84	* {{Bouncer}}: The narrator gets into a fight with one in "From the Ritz to the Rubble".
85	* BreakUpSong: "Mardy Bum", which is about the narrator and his girlfriend fighting over minor things, with the narrator pining for the more [[LoveNostalgiaSong romantic, simpler times in their relationship]] despite its impending end.
86	* ClingyJealousGirl: The video for the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On" is about a girl who attempts to jump off of a building before being saved by man. When he takes her to a cafe afterward, she tries to seduce him, but he maintains that he already has a fiance/wife, but she continues to pursue him. In the end, [[spoiler: after he firmly tells her to stop following him around, she goes back to the building, before revealing that the whole suicide act was a ruse all along to win men's attention]].
87	* ConceptAlbum: Alex Turner maintains that he didn't intend for most of the songs to have a similar theme, but concedes that the album is mostly an introspective reflection about the troubles he caused while partying.
88	* ConceptVideo: "The View from the Afternoon", and "Leave Before the Lights Come On", in which the band doesn't make an appearance (Although Matt Helders, the drummer, does [[TheCameo a cameo]] at the very end).
89	* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor"
90	--> ''I bet that you look good on the dance floor''
91	--> ''Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984''
92	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The black-and-white album cover.
93	* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: The band actually began to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes encourage the circulation of their bootlegged material]] after it began to spread on Website/MySpace and other sites, which led to the debut's massive success.
94	* DoubleStandard: Lampshaded InUniverse in "Settle for a Draw":
95	--> ''Well you're right it is one set of rules for her\
96	And then another set for you\
97	But that's just the way it is I suppose\
98	And there's nowt you can do''
99	* DrowningMySorrows:
100	** "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me" is about a guy so desperate to hook up with a girl that when she ignores him, he goes and drinks a few.
101	** Also "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured", which is about how the narrator, in his drunken stupor, pretends to be macho while still feeling depressed about the night.
102	* EpicRocking: "A Certain Romance" and "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..." both feature long, if contrasting, rock jams. The former is more gentle and tinny while the latter is more intense.
103	* FemmeFatale: The girl in "Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts" is one.
104	--> ''Now you don't know what she's up to you can only assume\
105	If she's not in the front of the shops then they've gone to his room\
106	Bet she's gone 'round in her school stuff, bet that’s what he likes\
107	I know you thought she were different and you thought she were nice''
108	* {{Instrumental}}: "Chun-Li's Flying Bird Kick", which was even nominated for a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward.
109	* InVinoVeritas: Deconstructed in songs such as "From the Ritz to the Rubble", which shows the lack of authenticity in love during drunken nights out and one night stands.
110	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The album title itself is a reference to a line from Alan Sillitoe's novel and film ''Film/SaturdayNightAndSundayMorning'', which are about a working-class AntiHero.
111	* LoveNostalgiaSong: "Mardy Bum" and "Baby I'm Yours".
112	* LyricalColdOpen: "Chun-Li's Flying Bird Kick" begins with Turner saying "''Show us your special move!''" followed by some laughter.
113	** "From The Ritz To The Rubble", "Dancing Shoes", and "Riot Van" also qualify.
114	* MinisculeRocking: "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights But...", "Seven", "Stickin' to the Floor", "Dancing Shoes", "Riot Van", and "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured"
115	* NonAppearingTitle: "The View from the Afternoon", "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me", "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "A Certain Romance", and "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But...".
116	* OneWomanSong: "Cigarette Smoker Fiona", about a FemmeFatale of that name.
117	* OopNorth:
118	** Alex Turner's strong Sheffield accent is very prominent on this album. Most non-Englanders can't really understand a word that he's saying.
119	** Defied InUniverse in "Fake Tales of San Francisco", which is about a guy putting on an American accent while pretending to be from UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco. The narrator can easily see through his PaperThinDisguise, and can recognize his Sheffield accent.
120	* PrecisionFStrike: Quite a few, from "Stickin' to the Floor" to "Fake Tales of San Francisco".
121	* QuestioningTitle: "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?", which lampshades the fact that the band blew up in popularity thanks to the Internet and file-sharing services.
122	* SerenadeYourLover: "Dancing Shoes"
123	--> ''The only reason that you came\
124	So what you scared for?\
125	don't you always do the same\
126	It's what you there for''
127	* ShoutOut: "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor" references the chorus to "Rio" by Music/DuranDuran:
128	--> ''Your name isn't Rio, and I don't care for sand''
129	** From "When the Sun Goes Down":
130	--> And I've seen him with girls of the night\
131	[[Music/ThePolice And he told Roxanne to put on her red light]]
132	* ShoutOutToShakespeare: "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor":
133	--> ''Oh there ain't no love no, [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Montagues or Capulets]]\
134	Just banging tunes and DJ sets''
135	* SillyLoveSongs: "Baby I'm Yours", though it is a cover of a classic '60s song.
136	* SmokingIsCool: Chris [=McClure=], a friend of the band, taking a drag from his cigarette on the album cover. The band had to repeatedly stress that the cover wasn't supposed to encourage smoking, but that didn't stop some distributors from removing the cigarette from the cover altogether.
137	* SmokingIsGlamorous: "Cigarette Smoker Fiona" subverts this, saying that even an attractive girl at a party can't play off her drunkenness with a cigarette in her mouth:
138	--> ''Cigarette Smoker\
139	Cigarette smoke doesn't hide\
140	As well as you think\
141	And you'd think that it oughta\
142	Act as the perfect disguise''
143	* StopAndGo:
144	** In the middle of "The View From The Afternoon", before it picks up speed again.
145	** Also in "Vampires", where the aforementioned jam stops for a moment before one of the band members screams, "All you people are vampires!" and the song starts up again.
146	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Mardy Bum", "Riot Van", and "A Certain Romance" are all gentle songs amid the more loud and rocking tracks on the rest of the album. "Mardy Bum" is a romantic song, "Riot Van" is a Nostalgia Song, and "A Certain Romance" is a reflective summation about how the narrator should accept his friends.
147	* TakeAThirdOption: "Settle for a Draw", about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin settling for a compromise]] within a relationship.
148	--> ''And let's not fall in the trap of answering back\
149	I am just a beginner but she'll be the only winner\
150	That's for sure\
151	So take the draw, if it's available''
152	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: "Riot Van", for the most part, since it is built around a three-chord riff until the guitar solo.
153	* UpperClassTwit:
154	** Turner pokes fun at these guys in "Red Light", where he describes a preppy townie chatting up a girl while drinking a Smirnoff, which is a fruity drink light in alcohol content (as opposed to the harder beers that middle-class kids like Turner drink).
155	** He continues to mock them in "A Certain Romance", citing their Converses and tacky bottoms they wear to appear hip and cool. However, he appears to vindicate them by the end of the song, saying that despite all their show, they're still his friends and he just can't get angry at them.
156	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured", and "Leave Before the Lights Come On" follow a theme in many Arctic Monkeys songs about being unable to remember or reconcile your actions following an intense night out.
157	----
158	-->''Well, over there, there's friends of mine\
159	What can I say? I've known 'em for a long long time\
160	And, yeah, they might overstep the line\
161	But you just cannot get angry in the same way\
162	No, not in the same way\
163	Said, not in the same way\

Context Music / WhateverPeopleSayIAmThatsWhatImNot