Fluorescent Adolescent

"Fluorescent Adolescent" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released as the second single from their second studio album Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007).^[5] It was released on 9 July 2007 in the United Kingdom. The lyrics were written by Alex Turner and Johanna Bennett, Turner's girlfriend at the time, in a hotel room prior to the recording of Favourite Worst Nightmare.^[6]

"Fluorescent Adolescent"
Single by Arctic Monkeys
from the album Favourite Worst Nightmare
B-side	"The Bakery" "Plastic Tramp" "Too Much to Ask"
Released	9 July 2007 (2007-07-09)[1]
Studio	Miloco (London, England)
Genre	Garage rock[2] pop rock[3]
Length	2:57
Label	Domino
Composer(s)	Jamie Cook Matt Helders Nick O'Malley Alex Turner[4]
Lyricist(s)	Johanna Bennett Alex Turner
Producer(s)	Mike Crossey James Ford
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology
"Matador" / "Da Frame 2R" (2007) "Fluorescent Adolescent" (2007) "Teddy Picker" (2007)
Music video
"Fluorescent Adolescent" on YouTube

"Fluorescent Adolescent" has been described as a ballad about sex, ageing and nostalgia for youth. It describes a woman who dreams of her youth while her current sex life is unsatisfying and boring. The song peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and was the 83rd best-selling song of 2007 in the United Kingdom. "Fluorescent Adolescent" is one of the band's most popular songs, and is frequently performed as a closer to their concerts. Kate Nash performed a cover of the song on 5 October 2007.^[7] It appears on Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 3.

The song is often synonymous with the E4 British comedy series The Inbetweeners, frequently being heard during the first series.

Origin

In an interview with The Guardian, Johanna Bennett said about the song:

We were on holiday and had cut ourselves off from everything. We were in a really quiet hotel and didn't watch TV or listen to that much music. So as not to drive each other mad we started messing around with these words like a game, singing them to each other. It's great to think that it came from something we did for fun on holiday. It'll always be a good memory for Alex and I. He doesn't usually write lyrics with other people, though I think he enjoyed it.^[6]

Critical reception

The song has received a 9/10 rating from Planet Sound, becoming Arctic Monkeys' first single to do so since "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor".^[8] In 2023, Rolling Stone and Paste ranked the song number twelve and number nine, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Arctic Monkeys songs.^[9][3]

Music video

The music video showcases a fight between clowns and non-clowns.

The music video was filmed in late April 2007 and was directed by The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade. It features actor Stephen Graham (who previously appeared on the Scummy Man DVD and the "When the Sun Goes Down" video) as a clown.^[10][11][12] The music video premiered in the UK on 5 June 2007 on Channel 4, and was available online the next day.^[13]

The music video is based around a fight between a group of clowns and a group of non-clowns at an abandoned warehouse. The presumed leaders of the two groups have a flashback showing that they were friends when they were young children. During the flashback, photos of the band as young children are shown. Throughout the fight, each group leader attempts to kill the other. As the music video climaxes, the non-clown leader tries to run over the clown leader. However the clown leader notices that the non-clown leader's car (with the non-clown leader inside) has been leaking fuel and drops his cigarette lighter. The car quickly catches fire and the clown leader looks on as his former friend burns and the music video ends.

The video was loosely inspired by the poem "Out of Control Fairground" by John Cooper Clarke. Turner says he is a fan of Clarke and describes him as a lyrical inspiration; Arctic Monkeys would later adapt Clarke's poem "I Wanna Be Yours" into a song on their 2013 album AM. The poem is also printed inside the CD release of "Fluorescent Adolescent." The lines such as "out of control fairground" and "homicidal clowns" support this. The video was preceded by a warning of violent images.^[14] In an MTV interview, Turner stated that the music video "is the best thing we've ever done" while Jamie Cook hailed it as "...probably one of the best videos in the last, like, 10 years".^[15]

During a live performance of the song on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the band played the song dressed as clowns, with Alex Turner dressing with the same make-up and clothing as the main clown in the video.

During a performance of the song on the Late Show with David Letterman, Letterman introduced the band by joking that his vinyl copy of "Favourite Worst Nightmare" had been stolen due to its popularity.

Track listing

CD, 10-inch

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Fluorescent Adolescent"	Alex Turner Johanna Bennett	Arctic Monkeys	3:03
2.	"The Bakery"	Alex Turner	Arctic Monkeys Miles Kane	2:56
3.	"Plastic Tramp"	Alex Turner	Arctic Monkeys Miles Kane	2:53
4.	"Too Much to Ask"	Alex Turner	Arctic Monkeys	3:05

7-inch

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Fluorescent Adolescent"	Alex Turner Johanna Bennett	Arctic Monkeys	3:03
2.	"The Bakery"	Alex Turner	Arctic Monkeys Miles Kane	2:56

Personnel

Personnel adapted from album liner notes^[4]

Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner - lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar Jamie Cook - lead guitar Nick O'Malley - bass, backing vocals Matt Helders - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Technical Personnel Mike Crossey - production James Ford - production George Marino - mastering Alan Moulder - mixing

Chart performance

On downloads alone, "Fluorescent Adolescent" charted in the UK Singles Chart at number 55 for the week commencing 25 June 2007. The song charted at number five upon release of the single on CD for the week commencing 16 July 2007. On 27 June 2007, "Fluorescent Adolescent" began receiving significant BBC Radio 1 airplay as the first song on "The A List" Playlist. The song's three B-sides—"Plastic Tramp", "The Bakery" and "Too Much to Ask"—appeared on the UK Singles Chart the week of the single's physical release at number 153, number 161 and number 178, respectively.

Weekly charts Chart (2007) Peak position Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[16] 7 Denmark (Tracklisten)[17] 9 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[18] 18 France (SNEP)[19] 88 Germany (GfK)[20] 86 Ireland (IRMA)[21] 12 Scotland (OCC)[22] 4 Switzerland Airplay (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 39 UK Singles (OCC)[24] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position UK Singles (OCC)[25] 83

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[26]	Gold	45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[27]	Gold	25,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[28]	Platinum	60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[29]	4× Platinum	2,400,000‡
Streaming
Greece (IFPI Greece)[30]	Gold	1,000,000†
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 7 July 2007. p. 23.
2. Trendell, Andrew (12 February 2014). "Arctic Monkeys' singles: Their 20 hits ranked from worst to best". Gigwise. Retrieved 27 July 2018. Fluorescent Adolescent: Epitomising their choppy garage rock sound from the last decade
3. Mitchell, Matt (1 September 2023). "The 40 Greatest Arctic Monkeys Songs". Paste. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
4. Favourite Worst Nightmare (booklet). Arctic Monkeys. London: Domino Recording Company. 2007. WIGCD188. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
5. "Radio X".
6. Hodgson, Jaimie (15 July 2007). "Ex-girlfriend helps Arctic Monkeys to a hit". The Guardian.
7. casablancasro (2007). "kate nash - fluorescent adolescent". YouTube. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
8. Planet Sound Archived 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
9. "The 30 Best Arctic Monkeys Songs". Rolling Stone. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
10. "Domino - News".
11. "Arctic Monkeys Forum Fan Site - Arctic-Monkeys.com • View topic - Fluorescent Adolescent Update". arctic-monkeys.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
12. "EXCLUSIVE: Arctics Reveal New Tune". Archived from the original on 28 March 2007.
13. "Arctic-Monkeys".^{[permanent dead link‍]}
14. "Arctic Monkeys Forum Fan Site - Arctic-Monkeys.com • View topic - Fluorescent Adolescent Video". arctic-monkeys.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
15. "Arctic Monkeys Say 'Fluorescent' Clip Is Their Favourite Video Yet". MTV. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007.
16. "Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
17. "Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent". Tracklisten. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
18. "The ARIA Report: European Top 20 Charts – Week Commencing 23rd July 2007" (PDF). ARIA. 23 July 2007. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
19. "Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
20. "Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Fluorescent Adolescent". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
22. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
23. "Schweizer Airplay Charts 30/2007". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
25. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
26. "Danish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
27. "Italian single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
28. "Spanish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
29. "British single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
30. "IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Εβδομάδα: 29/2023" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Retrieved 1 August 2023.

External links

• "Fluorescent Adolescent" music video at YouTube
• "Fluorescent Adolescent" mini-site