Words by Alex Turner, music by Arctic MonkeysPublished by EMI Music Publishing Ltd

Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 produced by Joshua HommeEngineered by Alain Johannes assisted by Justin SmithRecorded at Pink Duck Studios and Rancho de la Luna

Tracks 2 and 5 additional engineering by Claudius Mittendorfer

Tracks 1, 4 and 7 produced by James FordEngineered by Alain Johannes

Recorded at Mission Sound, Brooklyn

Backing vocals on tracks 1 and 2 by John AshtonAdditional vocals on track 6 by Alison Mosshart

Keys on tracks 1, 2 and 7 by John Ashton

All tracks mixed by Rich Costey at Electric Lady Studios, New York

Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, New York

To Hutch and Dave, thanks for your hospitality

Management: Geoff Barradale and Ian McAndrew for Wildlife Entertainment Ltd

Cover photography by Guy ArochBooklet photography by Guy Aroch, Chapman Baehler, Mark Bull and Justin Smith

Design by Matthew Cooper

DNO 237 p&c2009 Domino Recording Co Ltd 55 Washington Street, Suite 458, Brooklyn NY 11201www.arcticmonkeys.com www.dominorecordco.us

If you can summon the strength tow meI can’t hold down the urgencyYou’ve got to make your descent slowlyAnd oil up those sticky keys

Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller

It’s a necessary evilNo cause for emergencyBorrowed the beak off a bald eagleMomentary synergy

Coax me out my low Sink in to tomorrowCoax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller

My propeller won’t spin and I can’t get it started on my ownWhen are you arriving?My Propeller

I’m pinned down by the dark.

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 pursuitYou sharpen the heel of your boot and you press it in my chestAnd you make me wheeze Then to my knees you promote me.

I’m pinned down by the dark

(A-N-I-M-A-L)She makes my head pirouette more than I would be willing to confess(D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S )

The light it fidgets through, the thoughts will soon revert to you.About as bashful as a tribal dance,the first and final chance And of course the audience of frighteners and fiends, divided up into two teams.When the acrobat fell off the beam she broke everyone’s heart.

I’m pinned down by the dark

(A-N-I-M-A-L)She makes my head pirouette more than I would be willing to confess(D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S )(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

I’m pinned down by the dark

Fools on parade cavort and carry on for waiting eyesOnes you would rather be beside than in front ofShe’s never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares

She swam out of tonight’s phantasm, grabbed my hand and made it very clearThere’s absolutely nothing for us here. It’s a magnolia celebration to be attended on a Wednesday nightIt’s better that than get a reputation as a miserable little tykeAt least that’s the conclusion she came to in this overture.

The secret door swings behind us, She’s saying nothing, she’s just giggling along

Her arms were folded most indignant not looking like she was soon to leave,I had to squint in order to believe.Like a butler pushing on a bookshelf and unveiling the unexpectedI who was earlier reluctant was suddenly embarrassed and correctedHow could such a creature survive in such a habitat?

The secret door swings behind us,She’s saying nothing, she’s just giggling alongEven if they were to find us, I wouldn’t notice, I’m completely occupied As all the Fools on parade cavort and carry on for waiting eyesOnes you would rather be beside than in front ofShe’s never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares.Fools on parade frolic and fuck aboutTo make a gaze turn to a scribble on a page by a picture that holds her absencebut you’re daft to think she’d care

Fools on parade conduct a sing-along

Outside the café by the cracker factory you were practicing a magic trick.And my thoughts got rude as you talked and chewed on the last of your pick and mix.You said “You’re mistaken if you’re thinking that I haven’t been called ‘cold’ before”as you bit into your strawberry lace.Then offered me your attention in the form of a gobstopperit’s all you had left and it was going to waste

Your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and derangedand I loved that little game you had called ‘Crying Lightning’and how you liked to aggravate the ice cream man on rainy afternoons

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 hidethe 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.Although I tried so not to suffer the indignity of a reactionthere was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw

And your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called ‘Crying Lightning’ and how you liked to aggravate the ice cream man on rainy afternoons.Uninviting, but not half as impossible as everyone assumes you are.

I was biting the time zoneand we embellished the banks of our bloodstreams and threw caution to the colourfulThen we fell asleep in the carUntil the bumps woke me up in your grip and the tide took me to your mouthand then swept me back down to your palmsIt’s them that put me inside the reminder that Yours is the only oceanthat I want to swing fromYours is the only oceanthat I want to hang on

I’ve got this ego mechanic She’s always trying to give me vitaminsShe’d be frightened of your reflectionI preferred her as a cartoonIf I could be someone else for a weekI’d still spend it chasing after youShe’s not shattering my attitudesno matter how she folds the potion Yours is the only oceanthat I want to swing fromYours is the only ocean that I want to hang on

Potion ApproachingShield your eyesPotion ApproachingVisualiseHolding a tokenSwollen in sizePotion ApproachingShield your eyes

If we’re going to escape though We really ought to think it throughWould you like me to build you a go kart?

You showed me my tomorrowBeside a box of matchesA welcomed threatening stir

My hopes of being stolen Might just ring trueDepends who you prefer

If it’s true you are going to run awayTell me where, I’ll meet you there

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

And does burden come to meet you 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

And you’re hiding in my soupAnd the book reveals your faceAnd you’re splashing in my eyelidsAs the concentration continually breaksI did request the mark you cast didn’t heal as fastI hear your voice in silencesWill the teasing of the fire be followed by the thud?

In the jostling crowd You’re not allowed To tell the truthAnd the photo booth’s a liar!

There’s a sharpened explanationBut there’s no screaming reason to enquire

I’d like to poke them in their prying eyes with thingsThey’d never see if it smacked them in their temples

I thought I saw you in The Battleship but it was only a lookalikeShe was nothing but a vision trick under the warning lightShe was close, close enough to be your ghostBut my chances turned to toast when I asked her if I could call her your name

I thought I saw you in The Rusty Hook, huddled up in a wicker chairI wandered over for a closer look and kissed whoever was sitting thereShe was close and she held me very tightly until I asked awfully politely“Please can I call you her name?”

I elongated my lift homeI let him go the long way roundI smelt your scent on the seat belt and kept my short cuts to myself

I thought I saw you in The Parrot’s Beak messing with the smoke alarmIt was too loud for me to hear her speak and she had a broken armIt was close, so close that the walls were wetAnd she wrote it out in Letraset“No, you can’t call me her name”

Tell me where’s your hiding placeI’m worried I’ll forget your faceI’ve asked everyoneI’m beginning to think I imagined you all along

I saw your sister in The Cornerstone on the phone to the middle manWhen I saw that she was on her own I thought she might understandShe was close, well you couldn’t get much closerShe said “I’m really not supposed to but yes, you can call me anything you want”

I heard the truth was built to bend.A mechanism to suspend the guilt is what you will requireand still you’ve got to dance little liar

It’s just like those fibs to pop and fizzand you’ll be forced to take that awful quiz and you’re bound to trip and she’ll detect the fiction on your lipsdig a contradiction up

The clean coming will hurtand you can never get it spotlesswhen there’s dirt beneath the dirtThe liar takes a lot less time

I’m sure it’s clear and plain to readIt’s not an alibi you need just yetOh no, it’s something for those beads of sweat, yes that will get you back to normal

And after you have dabbed the patchyou’ll breathe and then proceed to scratch the varnish off that newlyadded calmness so as not to raise any alarms too soon

The liar takes a lot less time to decide on the saunterHave you got itchy bones and in all your time alonecan you hack your mind being riddled with the wrong memories?

The clean coming will hurtand you can never get it spotlessWhen there’s dirt in between the dirt

Trudging through the morning and the tramp with the trampoline under his arm, shifts pastyour whiskers so stark is the charm but the barking alarm waits coiled until the corner is turned

And the bicycle wheels all struggle to move round in your muddy mind blatantly cakedand unwilling to wind uncooperative time so he sits on the springs until the muck goes dry

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms and cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

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 aftertasteYou’ll have to slip away I am unhappy to say, behold is the crook in the hammock plays

All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms and cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

Behold there’s a crook in the hammock plays cruelly with the base of the scales And fiddles with the feet on a balancing actGagged, bound and crafting a tale Trailing wrapped in a gaspCruelly with the base and the scales And fucking fiddles with the feet on a balancing actGagged, bound and crafting a taleTrailing wrapped in a gasp

Fiendish wonder in the carnival’s wakeDull caresses once again irritateTread softly stranger Move over toward the danger that you seek

You think excitement has receded then the mirror distractsThe logic of the trance quickly reaches and graspsHandsome and faceless and weightless your imagination runs

And now it’s no ones fault but yours, at the foot of the house of cardsYou thought you’d never get obsessed You thought the wolves would be impressedAnd you’re a sinking stoneBut you know what it’s like to hold the jeweller’s handsThat procession of pioneers all drowned

In the moonlight they’re more thrilling those things that he knowsAs he leads you through the grinning bubble blowers in the snowWatching his exit was like falling off the ferry in the night

The inevitables gather to push you aroundAny other voice makes such a punishing soundIt became laughter’s assassin shortly after he showed you what it was

And now it’s no ones fault but yours, at the foot of the house of cardsYou thought you’d never get obsessedYou thought the wolves would be impressedAnd you’re a sinking stone, But you know what it’s like to hold the jeweller’s handsThat procession of pioneers all drowned

If you’ve a lesson to teach me I’m listening, ready to learnThere’s no one here to police me I’m sinking in until the returnIf 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 engraved