Arctic Monkeys’ “Arabella” Lyrics Meaning
In “Arabella”, the singer, Alex Turner, is praising a particular female, i.e. his romantic interest. And the title is an appellation given to said lady. It is a mix of her real name, Arielle, with that of the fictional character “Barbarella”, who is actually namedropped in the first verse. So basically, what Alex is saying is that his girlfriend has certain similarities to Barbarella or characteristics which remind him of this character. Thus the various references to “outer space”, though they may have been influenced by factors outside of the Barbarella movie, are more or less a shoutout to the character whom herself is an astronaut.
However, some of the references, such as those highlighted in the bridge, are more down-to-earth. For instance, he points out that his lady has an affinity for “Mexican Coke”. And Mexican Coke is basically Coca-Cola manufactured in Mexico (that has a particular taste). She’s also depicted as wearing a “cheetah-print coat”, with there being quite of few pics in existence of Arielle Vandenberg actually rocking such attire.
So basically this is a love song dedicated to the woman in the singer’s life. And he uses a lot of colorful, abstract and in some cases even space-related metaphors to point to the idea that he is indeed fascinated and in love with this lady.
Facts about “Arabella”
“Arabella” is featured on the Arctic Monkeys’ album “AM”. And the song came to us via Domino Records on the date of 28 January 2014.
The first time the Arctic Monkeys performed this song live was during the Zürich Openair festival, held in Switzerland, on 30 August 2013.
And the music video to the track, which had Jake Nava as its director, came out on 2 March 2014.
“Arabella” performed most-impressively in the Arctic Monkeys’ homeland of the United Kingdom. There, it made it onto two Official UK charts in addition to being certified Gold. Likewise the track went Gold in Italy and also charted there as well as in Belgium and the United States.
“Barbarella” is a science-fiction film from 1968 staring a scantily-clad Jane Fonda. The titular character basically dispenses intergalactic justice while wearing a “silver swimsuit”, as is noted in the song.
Another inspiration which Alex Turner, the writer of this “Arabella”, used in penning its lyrics is presentations by physicist Brian Cox via a show he hosted called “Wonders of the Universe”. And Alex personally likened the wording of the song to a 1960 surrealist work of art entitled “Ascending and Descending” by M. C. Escher.
The producers or “Arabella” are James Ford and Ross Orton.
