Songfacts®:

• This was the lead single from English alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys third album, Humbug.
• The track received its worldwide, exclusive first radio play during the evening of the 6th of July, on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show. The single was then made available digitally via iTunes from midnight that night in order to beat piracy. Frontman Alex Turner told Lowe, "this was deemed the best signifier of the record. It was a favourite during recording." When Lowe commented that he thought this track works well as an unconventional pop song, Turner agreed saying, "It's quite strange as far as a pop song goes, the arrangement."
• Humbug was produced by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme in the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles and Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford in Brooklyn.
• Turner explained to the Observer Music Monthly that the album was christened Humbug after the traditional hard-boiled sweet of that name. He said helpfully, "You've got to suck it and see." This song also has a number of confectionery references.
• The B-side to the single includes a cover of "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.