When the Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys song)

"When the Sun Goes Down"
Single by Arctic Monkeys
from the album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
B-side
  • "Stickin to the Floor"
  • "Settle for a Draw"
  • "7"
Released16 January 2006
StudioChapel (Lincolnshire, England)
Genre
Length3:20
LabelDomino
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Alex Turner
Producer(s)Jim Abbiss
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"
(2005) 		"When the Sun Goes Down"
(2006) 		"The View from the Afternoon"
(2006)
Music video
"When the Sun Goes Down" on YouTube

"When the Sun Goes Down" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 16 January 2006 as the second single from their debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). It followed debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" to number one on the UK Singles Chart.

The song is about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield. Originally known as "Scummy", early reports had also suggested its name would be simply "Sun Goes Down", but the full name was confirmed on Arctic Monkeys' website.

Composition and lyrics

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"When the Sun Goes Down" is composed in the key of B major with a time signature of 4
4 (common-time), and follows a tempo of 169 beats per minute.[2]

The song's lyrics tell a story narrated from the point of view of a concerned individual who is approached by a scantily-clad girl, heavily implied to be a prostitute. He then observes a "scummy man" who has been hanging around the neighbourhood; the man is implied to be either the prostitute's pimp or a 'client' who is picking her up for sex. This section of the song musically consists of just vocalist Alex Turner singing accompanied by a pattern of electric guitar chords with a conspicuously clean tone. After the line "I said he's a scumbag don't you know" the song then changes drastically into a heavy rock style with a fast beat and driving guitar riff which is also played identically on the bass guitar. In the song's lyrics, now delivered a lot more venomously, the prostitute propositions the song's narrator and he turns her down politely; he then observes the "scummy man" arriving to pick her up in a Ford Mondeo. The girl is "delighted when she sees him" because "she must be fucking freezing, scantily clad beneath the clear night sky".

The song's chorus consists of the repeated line "they said it changes when the sun goes down around here", noting the stark difference between the appearance of the city at daytime and the dark prostitution trade the narrator observes at night. After the second refrain of the chorus, the song reverts to the style of the introduction. The last line, "I hope you're not involved at all", is either the narrator expressing his disappointment that the girl has turned to prostitution or a warning to the person to whom the narrator is telling the story, who also may be involved with the scummy man – or the listener themselves.

The line "and he told Roxanne to put on her red light" is a reference to the Police song "Roxanne", which is also about prostitution.

Music video

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The song's music video was directed by Paul Fraser and premiered on MTV2 on 21 December 2005. It starred Lauren Socha and Stephen Graham. The video used footage from a longer film, Scummy Man, which used the same actors who appeared in the music video to tell the story of 'Nina', the nameless "that girl there" from the song.

Track listings

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Every track in all formats is written by Alex Turner, except for Stickin to the Floor, as it was written by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.

UK 7-inch single[3]
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down" 
2."Settle for a Draw" 
European CD single[4]
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down" 
2."Stickin to the Floor" 
3."7" 
US 12-inch EP[5]
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down" 
2."Stickin to the Floor" 
3."Settle for a Draw" 
4."7" 

Personnel

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Personnel adapted from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not liner notes[6]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[19] Gold 45,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[20] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] 3× Platinum 1,800,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 16 January 2006
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
 Domino [22]
Australia 8 May 2006 (2006-05-08) CD [23]

References

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  1. ^ "Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "Find the BPM and key for any song | Every song, every tempo | SongBPM | songbpm.com". SongBPM. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. ^ When the Sun Goes Down (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Arctic Monkeys. Domino Recording Company. 2006. RUG216.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ When the Sun Goes Down (European CD single liner notes). Arctic Monkeys. Domino Recording Company. 2006. RUG216CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ When the Sun Goes Down (US 12-inch EP sleeve). Arctic Monkeys. Domino Recording Company. 2006. DNO 080.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (booklet). Arctic Monkeys. London: Domino Recording Company. 2006. WIGCD162.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ "Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  8. ^ "Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  9. ^ "Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in French). Ultratip.
  10. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 5. 4 February 2006. p. 51. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  12. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – When the Sun Goes Down". Irish Singles Chart.
  13. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 10, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  17. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company.
  18. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Danish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  21. ^ "British single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  22. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 14 January 2006. p. 31.
  23. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 8th May 2006" (PDF). ARIA. 8 May 2006. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
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