Humbug

Arctic Monkeys

2009 Released

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My Propeller

03 : 27

Crying Lightning

03 : 43

Dangerous Animals

03 : 30

Secret Door

03 : 43

Potion Approaching

03 : 32

Fire and the Thud

03 : 57

Cornerstone

03 : 17

Dance Little Liar

04 : 43

Pretty Visitors

03 : 40

The Jeweller’s Hands

06 : 12

I Haven’t Got My Strange

01 : 30

Red Right Hand

04 : 17

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Track Lyrics

My Propeller Lyrics

[Verse 1]

If you can summon the strength, tow me

I can't hold down the urgency

You've got to make your descent slowly

And oil up those sticky keys

[Chorus]

Coax me out my low

And have a spin of my propeller

[Verse 2]

It's a necessary evil

No cause for emergency

Borrowed the beak off a bald eagle

Oh, momentary synergy

[Chorus]

Coax me out my low

Sink into tomorrow

Coax me out my low

And have a spin of my propeller

[Outro]

My propeller won't spin

And I can't get it started on my own

When are you arriving?

Oh, my propeller won't spin

And I can't get it started on my own

When are you arriving?

Oh, my propeller won't spin

And I can't get it started on my own

When are you arriving?

Oh, my propeller

Crying Lightning Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Outside the cafe by the cracker factory

You were practicing a magic trick

And my thoughts got rude as you talked and you chewed

On the last of your pick 'n' mix

Said, "You're mistaken if you're thinking

That I haven't been called cold before"

As you bit into your strawberry lace

And then offered me your attention in the form of a gobstopper

It's all you had left and it was going to waste

[Chorus]

Your pastimes consisted of the strange

And twisted and deranged

And I loved that little game you had called Crying Lightning

And how you'd like to aggravate the ice-cream man

On rainy afternoons

[Verse 2]

The next time that I caught my own reflection

It was on its way to meet you

Thinking of excuses to postpone

You never looked like yourself from the side

But your profile could not hide

The fact you knew I was approaching your throne

With folded arms you occupied the bench like toothache

Stood and puffed your chest out like you'd never lost a war

And though I tried so not to suffer the indignity of reaction

There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw

[Chorus]

And your pastimes consisted of the strange

And twisted and deranged

And I hate that little game you had called Crying Lightning

And how you'd like to aggravate the icky man on rainy afternoons

[Bridge]

Uninviting, but not half as impossible as everyone assumes you are

Crying Lightning

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus]

Your pastimes consisted of the strange

And twisted and deranged

And I hate that little game you had called

Crying Lightning, Crying Lightning

Your pastimes consisted of the strange

And twisted and deranged

And I hate that little game you had called Crying

Dangerous Animals Lyrics

[Intro: Josh Homme]

I'm pinned down by the dark

[Verse 1: Alex Turner]

Been fighting with my sheets

And nearly crying in my sleep

Yes, I'm battling that well-told gripe

The most frustrating type, you should have racing stripes

The way you keep me in pursuit

Sharpen the heel of your boot

And you press it in my chest and you make me wheeze

Then to my knees you do promote me

[Chorus: Alex Turner]

I'm pinned down by the dark

A-N-I-M-A-L

Makes my head pirouette

More than I would be willing to confess

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S

[Verse 2: Alex Turner]

The light it fidgets through

The thoughts'll soon revert to you

About as bashful as a tribal dance

The first and final chance, and course the audience

Of frighteners and fiends

Divided up into two teams

When the acrobat fell off the beam

She broke everyone's heart

[Chorus: Alex Turner]

I'm pinned down by the dark

A-N-I-M-A-L

Makes my head pirouette

More than I would be willing to confess

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S

The most unsuitable pet

It's been long enough now so let's

Make a mess, lioness

[Bridge: Alex Turner]

I'm pinned down by the dark

I'm pinned down by the dark, oh-oh-oh

[Outro: Alex Turner]

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S

A-N-I-M-A-L

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S

A-N-I-M-A-L

Secret Door Lyrics

[Intro]

Fools on parade cavort and carry on for waiting eyes

That you would rather be beside than in front of

But she's never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares

[Verse 1]

She swam out of tonight's phantasm

Grabbed my hand and made it very clear

There's absolutely nothing for us here

It's a magnolia celebration

To be attended on a Wednesday night

It's better than to get a reputation

As a miserable little tyke

At least that's the conclusion she came to in this overture

[Chorus]

And the secret door swings behind us

She's saying nothing, she's just giggling along

[Verse 2]

Her arms were folded most indignant

Not looking like she was soon to leave

I had to squint in order to believe

Then like a butler pushing on a bookshelf

And unveiling the unexpected

I, who was earlier reluctant

Was suddenly embarrassed and corrected

How could such a creature survive in such a habitat?

[Chorus]

And the secret door swings behind us

She's saying nothing, she's just giggling along

Even if they were to find us

I wouldn't notice, I'm completely occupied

[Bridge]

As all the fools on parade cavort and carry on for waiting eyes

Ones you would rather be beside than in front of

But she's never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares

Fools on parade frolic and fuck about to make her gaze

Turn to a scribble on a page by a picture that holds her absence

But you're daft to think she'd care

[Outro]

Fools on parade

Conduct a sing-along

Potion Approaching Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I was biting the time zone

And we embellished the banks of our bloodstreams

And threw caution to the colourful

Then we fell asleep in the car

Until the bumps woke me up in your grip

And the tide took me to your mouth

And then swept me back down to your palms

It's them that put me inside the reminder

That yours is the only ocean

[Chorus]

Yours is the only ocean

That I wanna swing from

Yours is the only ocean

That I wanna hang on

[Verse 2]

I've got this ego mechanic

She's always trying to give me vitamins

Ah, she'd be frightened of your reflection

I preferred her as a cartoon

If I could be someone else for a week

I'd spend it chasing after you

'Cause she's not shattering my attitudes

No matter how she folds the potion

Yours is the only ocean

[Chorus]

Yours is the only ocean

That I wanna swing from

Yours is the only ocean

That I want to hang on to

[Post-Chorus]

Yours is the only ocean

[Bridge]

Potion approaching, shield your eyes

Potion approaching, visualise

Holding a token, swollen in size

Potion approaching, shield your eyes

[Outro]

Oh, but if we're gonna escape though

We really ought to think it through

Would you like me to build you a go-kart?

Fire and the Thud Lyrics

[Intro]

(Woo, woo

Woo, woo)

[Verse 1]

You showed me my tomorrow beside a box of matches

A welcomed threatening stir

My hopes of being stolen might just ring true

Depends who you prefer

If it's true you're gonna run away

Tell me where, I'll meet you there

[Verse 2]

Am I snapping the excitement

If I pack away the laughter and tell you how it feels?

And does burden come to meet ya

If I've questions of the feature that rolls on your dream reel?

The day after you stole my heart everything I touched

Told me it would be better shared with you, with you

[Bridge]

And now you're hiding in my soup

And this book reveals your face

And you're splashing in my eyelids

As the concentration continually breaks

I did request the mark you cast

Didn't heal as fast

I hear your voice in silences

Will the teasing of the fire be followed by the thud?

[Outro]

In the jostling crowd, you're not allowed to tell the truth

And the photo booth's a liar (Liar)

And there's a sharpened explanation

But there's no screaming reason to inquire (Liar)

I'd like to poke them in their prying eyes with things

They'd never see if it smacked them in their temples

Cornerstone Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I thought I saw you in the Battleship

But it was only a look-a-like

She was nothing but a vision trick

Under the warning light

She was close, close enough to be your ghost

But my chances turned to toast

When I asked her if I could call her your name

[Verse 2]

I thought I saw you in the Rusty Hook

Huddled up in a wicker chair

I wandered over for a closer look

And kissed whoever was sitting there

She was close and she held me very tightly

'Til I asked awfully politely

"Please, can I call you her name?"

[Chorus]

And I elongated my lift home

Yeah, I let him go the long way round

I smelt your scent on the seatbelt

And kept my shortcuts to myself

[Verse 3]

I thought I saw you in the Parrot's Beak

Messing with the smoke alarm

It was too loud for me to hear her speak

And she had a broken arm

It was close, so close that the walls were wet

And she wrote it out in Letraset

"No, you can't call me her name"

[Bridge]

And tell me, where's your hiding place?

I'm worried I'll forget your face

And I've asked everyone

I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along

[Chorus]

I elongated my lift home

Yeah, I let him go the long way round

I smelt your scent on the seatbelt

And kept my shortcuts to myself

[Outro]

I saw your sister in the Cornerstone

On the phone to the middle man

When I saw that she was on her own

I thought she might understand

She was close, well, you couldn't get much closer

She said, "I'm really not supposed to, but yes

You can call me anything you want"

Dance Little Liar Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I heard the truth was built to bend

A mechanism to suspend

The guilt is what you will require

And still you've got to dance little liar

Just like those fibs to pop and fizz

And you'll be forced to take that awful quiz

And you're bound to trip and she'll detect the fiction

On your lips and dig a contradiction up

[Chorus]

And the clean coming will hurt

And you can never get it spotless

When there's dirt beneath the dirt

The liar takes a lot less time

[Verse 2]

I'm sure it's clear and plain to read

It's not an alibi you need just yet

Oh, no, it's something for those beads of sweat

Yes, that will get you back to normal

And after you have dabbed the patch

You'll breathe and then proceed to scratch

The varnish off that newly added calmness

So as not to raise any alarms too soon

[Chorus]

And the clean coming will hurt

And you can never get it spotless

When there's dirt beneath the dirt

[Bridge]

The liar takes a lot less time to decide on the saunter

Have you got itchy bones? And in all your time alone

Can you hack your mind being riddled

With the wrong memories?

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus]

And the clean coming will hurt

And you can never get it spotless

When there's dirt between the dirt

Pretty Visitors Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Trudging through the morning

The tramp with the trampoline under his arm

Shifts past your whiskers, so stark is the charm

But the barking alarm waits coiled 'til the corner is turned

And the bicycle wheels all struggle to move 'round

In your muddy mind, blatantly caked and

Unwilling to wind uncooperative time

So he sits on the springs 'til the muck goes dry

[Chorus]

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the

[Verse 2]

What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?

Split sleep reaps rewards from ill-fitting thoughts

And twilight forced you to go on a walk

Your legs start running and your head gets caught

Canopy 19 is perfectly placed

For the reasonably frightening fall from the aftertaste

You'll have to slip away, I am unhappy to say

Behold as the crook in the hammock plays

[Chorus]

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

[Bridge]

Behold as a crook in the hammock plays

Cruelly with the base and the scales

And fiddles with her feet on a balancing act

Gagged, bound, and crafting a tale

Trailing wrapped in a gasp

Cruelly with the base and the scales

And fucking fiddles with her feet on a balancing act

She was gagged, bound, and crafting a tale

Trailing wrapped in a gasp

[Chorus]

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

And cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

The Jeweller’s Hands Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Fiendish wonder in the carnival's wake

Dull caresses once again irritate

Tread softly, stranger

Move over toward the danger that you seek

You think excitement has receded then the mirror distracts

Logic of the trance quickly reaches and grasps

Handsome and faceless and weightless

Your imagination roams

[Chorus]

And now it's no one's fault but yours

At the foot of the house of cards

You thought you'd never get obsessed

You thought the wolves would be impressed

And you're a sinking stone

But you know what it's like to hold the jeweller's hands

That procession of pioneers all drowned

[Verse 2]

In the moonlight they're more thrilling, those things that he knows

As he leads you through the grinning bubble blowers in the snow

Watching his exit

Was like falling off the ferry in the night

The inevitables gather to push you around

Any other voice makes such a punishing sound

He became laughter's assassin

Shortly after he showed you what it was

[Chorus]

And now it's no one's fault but yours

At the foot of the house of cards

You thought you'd never get obsessed

You thought the wolves would be impressed

And you're a sinking stone

But you know what it's like to hold the jeweller's hands

That procession of pioneers all drowned

[Outro]

If you've a lesson to teach me

I'm listening, and ready to learn

There's no one here to police me

I'm sinking in until the return

If you've a lesson to teach

Please, don't deviate, don't be afraid

Without the last corner piece

I can't calibrate, let's get it ingrained

If you've a lesson to teach me

I'm listening, and ready to learn

There's no one here to police me

I'm sinking in until the return

If you've a lesson to teach

Please, don't deviate, don't be afraid

Without the last corner piece

I can't calibrate, let's get it ingrained

If you've a lesson to teach me

I'm listening, and ready to learn

There's no one here to police me

I'm sinking in until the return

If you've a lesson to teach

Please, don't deviate, don't be afraid

Without the last corner piece

I can't calibrate, let's get it ingrained

I Haven’t Got My Strange Lyrics

[Verse 1]

When I got back from fixing my hair

You were directing the traffic

Letting your story slip on the snow

As if the transmission was automatic

It's arguable that I shouldn't've been there

It was fortunate timing

I had a hole in the pocket of my favourite coat

And my love dropped into the lining

[Chorus]

(Have you got your strange?) Not on me

I haven't got my strange

(Have you got your strange?) Not on me

[Verse 2]

You can't sleep until you've sat on the steps

To weep 'til you feel like you've wept, yeah

(As long as you don't forget your strange)

[Chorus]

(Have you got your strange?) No, not on me

I haven't got my strange

(Have you got your strange?) Not on me

I haven't got my strange

I've better fetch my strange

I haven't got my strange

Red Right Hand Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Take a little walk to the edge of town and go across the tracks

Where the viaduct looms like a bird of doom as it shifts and cracks

Where secrets lie in the border fires and the humming wires

Well, you know you're never coming back

Past the square, past the bridge, past the mills, past the stacks

[Chorus]

On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man

In a dusty black coat with a red right hand

[Verse 2]

He'll wrap you in his arms and tell ya that you've been a good boy

He'll rekindle all of those dreams it took you a lifetime to destroy

He'll reach deep into the hole, heal your shrinking soul

And there won't be a single thing that you can do

He's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru

[Chorus]

They're whispering his name 'cross this disappearing land

But hidden in his coat is a red right hand

[Verse 3]

You don't have no money? He'll get you some

If you haven't got no car, he'll get you one

You've got no self-respect, you feel like an insect

Well, don't you worry, buddy, 'cause here he comes

Through the ghetto and the barrows

And the Bowery and the slums

[Chorus]

A shadow is cast wherever he stands

Stacks of green paper in his red right hand

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]

You'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams

He'll appear out of nowhere, but he's not what he seems

You'll see him in your head and on the TV screen

Hey, buddy, I'm warning you to turn it off

He's a ghost, he's a god, he's a man, he's a guru

[Chorus]

You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan

Designed and directed by his red right hand

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Humbug

Arctic Monkeys

Upvote Your Favorite Album Today!

Digging into Humbug - what's your favorite track or standout moment? 🤘

Track Lyrics

My Propeller Lyrics

Crying Lightning Lyrics

Dangerous Animals Lyrics

Secret Door Lyrics

Potion Approaching Lyrics

Fire and the Thud Lyrics

Cornerstone Lyrics

Dance Little Liar Lyrics

Pretty Visitors Lyrics

The Jeweller’s Hands Lyrics

I Haven’t Got My Strange Lyrics

Red Right Hand Lyrics