When the Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys song)

"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.

"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
RecordedJune – September 2005
StudioChapel Studios, Lincolnshire, England
Length3:20
LabelDomino
Songwriter(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

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.

Content

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

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 listing

All tracks are written by Alex Turner.

CD single
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down"3:20
2."Stickin' to the Floor"1:18
3."7"2:10
7-inch single
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down"3:20
2."Settle for a Draw"3:19
US 10-inch single
No.TitleLength
1."When the Sun Goes Down"3:20
2."Stickin' to the Floor"1:18
3."Settle for a Draw"3:19
4."7"2:10

Personnel

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[13] Gold 45,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Country Date
United Kingdom 16 January 2006
United States 14 February 2006

References
  1. "Australian-charts.com – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  2. "Ultratop.be – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  3. "Ultratop.be – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in French). Ultratip.
  4. "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 118 no. 5. 4 February 2006. p. 51. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  5. "Offiziellecharts.de – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  6. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – When the Sun Goes Down". Irish Singles Chart.
  7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  8. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  10. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company.
  11. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  12. "Top AFP – Audiogest – Top 3000 Singles + EPs Digitais" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  13. "Danish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  14. "British single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
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