"Brick by Brick"
Song by Arctic Monkeys
from the album Suck It and See
PublishedEMI Music
Released
  • 4 March 2011 (2011-03-04) (video)
  • 6 June 2011 (album)
Recorded7 February 2011
Genre
Length2:58
LabelDomino
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Alex Turner
Producer(s)James Ford

"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.[4] 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.[5]

Writing and production

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.[6]

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",[7] 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." "Brick By Brick" was the first track done for the album, with a demo being recorded by Turner and drummer Matt Helders after touring ended in 2010.[8]

Style

The song's vocals were compared to the work of Nick Cave in bands like Bad Seeds and Grinderman.[8]

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

References

  1. ↑ Mulholland, Garry (31 May 2011). "Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See". UNCUT. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Oliver, Will (4 March 2011). "[new] Arctic Monkeys – Brick By Brick | We All Want Someone To Shout For". weallwantsomeone.org. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Suck It and See (liner notes). Arctic Monkeys. Domino. 2011.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ "Arctic Monkeys – "Brick by Brick" Surprise new song". 8 March 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Arctic Monkeys Announce First Single From 'Suck it and See' NME. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  6. ↑ Arctic Monkeys – Alex Turner's Guide to 'Suck it and See' NME. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Alex Turner". Pitchfork. 10 May 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Alex and Matt's track by track guide on 'Suck It and See'". X-Posure (Interview). Interviewed by John Kennedy. London: Radio X. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
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