Alex Turner's Best Lyrics
Rachael Anderson
Without any doubt, Alex Turner is one of our greatest living songwriters, maybe even the best songwriter of his generation? His bewildered mind allows him to create some of the most imaginative, evocative and beautiful lyrics to have ever graced our ears. Turner is an incredible songwriter and unmistakably a very intelligent man, proven time and again through his charming lyricism and clever use of poetic techniques such as rhythm, similes and personification.
Library Pictures
“Give me an eenie, meanie, minie, mo or an ip, dip, dog shit, rock and roll”
This line is so attention grabbing and it leads perfectly to the short guitar solo which closes the song.
Teddy Picker
“The kids all dream of making it, whatever that means”
“Sorry sunshine it doesn’t exist, it wasn’t in the top 100 list”
This line captures the open and imaginative mindset of younger people as they all have big and bewildering plans of what they dream of doing. However the older you get sometimes the more the dreams do just become a dream and a distance from reality. The second line shows how obsessed people are with popular culture, if it isn’t raved about then no one wants to know about it.
Suck It and See
“You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock and those other girls are just post-mix lemonade”
Only Alex Turner could compare the girl he fancies to a type of beverage and succeed in making it sound romantic.
The Ultracheese
“I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have done but I haven’t stopped loving you once”
I hardly understand any lyric from ‘TBH+C’ but this lyric is delivered so beautifully it deserves a mention.
Used To Be My Girl
“Gimme all your love so I can fill you up with hate”
Here Alex is basically saying how you can love someone so much throughout a relationship but that person can break your heart and all the love turns to hate, that’s what Alex Turner is implying that he’s going to do.
Mardy Bum
“I’ve seen your frown and it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun”
The girl Alex is with can be hard work, if she’s upset or angry you’ll know all about it as she ‘goes off’.
Do Me A Favour
“Perhaps ‘fuck off’ might be too kind”
This is a backwards compliment to the girl he’s broken up with and regrets as he still loves her but he’s broken her heart and feels terrible about it, he feels he needs a stronger punishment that getting told to fuck off.
Cornerstone
“Tell me where’s your hiding space, I’m worried I’ll forget your face”
This whole song is one of Alex Turners best however this particular line sums up the entirety of the story line behind it as he’s looking for a girl he used to be with and hasn’t seen her in so long but he’s only meeting her lookalikes, thinking they may be her.
Love Is A Laserquest
“I can’t think of air without thinking of you”
Turners mind is completely infatuated with this girl, everything reminds him of her, he can’t get her off his mind.
Fire and the Thud
“The day after you stole my heart told, everything I touched told me it’d be better shared with you”
Turner captures the feeling of completely falling head over heels for someone and wanting to share your world with someone.
Leave Before the Lights Come on
“How can you wake up with someone you don’t love, and not be slightly fazed by it?”
Turner is challenging the idea of a one night stand as he implies it’s only an awkward and regrettable decision, wouldn’t you rather sleep with someone you loved?
Honourable Mentions:
‘Would a kiss be too much to ask’
– Too Much To Ask
‘What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?’
– Pretty Visitors
‘There’s absolutely nothing for us here’
– Secret Door
‘I crumble completely when you cry’
– 505
‘I just want you to do me no good and you look like you could’
– No.1 Party Anthem
‘Just banging tunes and DJ sets’
– I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance-floor
‘How he longs for you to long for him once more, just once more’
– No Buses
‘They made it far too easy to believe, that true romance can’t be achieved these days’
– Only Ones Who Know
‘Forever isn’t for everyone, is forever for you?’
– Snap Out Of It
‘Hokey cokey with the opposite sex the things you try to forget, doesn’t time fly’
– Four out of Five
‘I’m just a bad girl trying to be good’
– The Worlds First Ever Monster Truck Front-Flip
