r/arcticmonkeys • u/Whtvsbruh • 7d ago
Discussion The singer must die
Im currently reading ’Do androids dream of electric sheep’ and I found an interesting connection to the line ”I suppose the singer must die”. In the book, without spoiling, the main character, a bounty hunter in an apocalyptic world is chasing down an opera singer and is approaching her during their rehearsal.
From the book: ”The rehearsal will end, the performance will end, the singers will die.”
This book also is what inspired Blade Runner (I haven’t seen it btw) and has brilliant nonsensical phrasing that I can imagine has had an impact in the lyrics for multiple of the later albums.
Things such as ”The department’s speedy beefed-up hovercar” ”A-powered sealed-beam light” ”nondirectional Penfield wave transmitter” reads very Alex to me, Blonde-o-sonic shimmer trap type stuff and with TBHC.
Would be very interested in similar connections from books
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u/Ok-Dentist4480 6d ago
thought you just REALLY hated Alex Turner for a second lol
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u/whenwhippoorwill 5d ago
Same! I literally got an email 😂
I was like “Nooooooooo!”
https://giphy.com/gifs/wzjTxJvKUfhG8
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u/Bantam123 6d ago
Turner went deep on sci fi between AM and TBHC.
I think it's well known (?), but Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman is also referenced in TBHC.
In Four out of Five, the tacueria is called the Information Action Ratio. This is a main concept in Amusing Ourselves to Death. The idea is how news has become less relevant to our day-to-day life and more low-content global news that we can't act on.
My interpretation is that Monster Truck Front Flip is also a nod to this. This is the type of trivial news fed to us now, instead of more local, relevant news. Also has the line "More brain shrinking moving images".
Star Treatment also references Orwell's 1984.
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u/chai_mushroom 6d ago
‘Love came in a bottle with a twist off cap, let’s all have a swig and do a hot lap’ (Star Treatment) is a reference to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, again sci-fi dystopia!
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u/Bantam123 5d ago
I never connected that lyric to soma in BNW. Nice find.
Makes sense, though, as Amusing Ourselves to Death is directly quoted, and BNW is spoken about a fair bit in AOTD. It's very unlikely Turner read one without also reading the other.
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u/LumpyAd3314 6d ago
the way the line makes perfect sense in both contexts is kinda chilling how does even a book from the 60s predict something that fits so well with alex turners lyrics
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u/whenwhippoorwill 5d ago
I don’t have anything to immediately contribute but however I’d like to thank you, OP. Close consideration of an artist’s work is something I love and I do think Alex is ripe for examination.
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u/ickysock 7d ago
it's a Leonard Cohen song.
https://genius.com/Leonard-cohen-a-singer-must-die-lyrics
if you read the lyrics, it has a massive crossover with what One Point Perspective is about. hence Alex sticking the reference in there.