Songfacts®:

• This daydreamer was inspired by an original of the same name written by Alan Smyth - the Sheffield producer who helmed the Monkeys' early material - in the early 1980s. Vocalist Alex Turner first came across the tune around 2004 and he recalled to NME: "We'd always listen to it and I always remembered this bit coming in - [sings] 'mad sounds, in your ear...' - so we built this one around it."
• The AM album title was inspired by the Velvet Underground's 1985 compilation album VU and this tune has been compared to Lou Reed's solo work. Turner told NME that he gets the Lou Reed comparison. "I actually wanted the whole record to have a bit of a Transformer thing about it," he said, "like you'd need to have a shower after it... For me, that tune brings you back to life. That tune's a song about songs, you know? So it's about when you've got those sort of tunes that energize you somehow, or evoke something from inside you [like]... 'Walk On The Wild Side."'
• The Monkeys debuted the song at the Hultsfred festival in Sweden in June 2013.
• Elvis Costello's drummer Pete Thomas stepped in to play percussion on this track after Matt Helders broke his hand during the recording sessions.