Songfacts®:

• Little Boot's birth name is Victoria Heskith. The Blackpool singer-songwriter took the English translation of the name of the deranged Roman emperor Caligula as her stage moniker. Little Boots explained to The Sun January 2, 2009: "It was a nickname from a friend - and Victoria Hesketh just isn't catchy."
• This was Little Boots' first widely released single. When she appeared on the BBC TV Breakfast news program in May 2009, Victoria Hesketh explained she had written this song about her time in Los Angeles. The apparently faltering opening bars is a deliberate effect to emphasize hesitation. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England
• Prior to going solo, Little Boots was the lead singer in an indie electro punk trio called Dead Disco, who were based in England. After a studio trip to LA, where the band were working with producer Greg Kurstin (Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen), the guitarist and bassist returned home leaving Victoria on her own. She stayed on for three weeks and this song is about that experience when she had no one to go out with and spent her time getting lost and encountering strange people. Victoria explained to Digital Spy: "I've only been living in London for a year so I only really know my immediate surroundings. My normal night out is going to my local and eating pie and doing karaoke. You get free pie if you sing, so it's always a good bet! I actually wrote the song when I was in Los Angeles. I was there for the first time and didn't really know anyone and was going a bit mad. I started going out on my own and met quite a few weirdos. I guess it focuses on the seedy side of life in LA and how isolating it can be."
• Little Boots told Digital Spy: "The tempo is actually quite weird because we nicked the beat from a Flo Rida song. I don't think it really sounds like anything else, which is why I wanted to do it. It's quite a good, bold introduction for people who've never heard of me. I've wanted it to be the first single for ages so I'm pretty pleased it is."
• The Roman emperor Caligua's birth name was Gaius. When he was a toddler, Gaius became the mascot of his father's army. The Roman soldiers were amused whenever his mother put a miniature soldier costume on young Gaius, and he was soon given his nickname "Caligula" (or Caligulae), because of the military boots he wore as part of the costume.
• Little Boots told Pop Justice about the video, which was directed by Jake Nava (Britney Spears, Beyonce, Kelis): "I wanted to do something ambitious and I wanted to do something big, so Jake was a good choice for that. I think if we'd had a week to shoot that video it could have been absolutely incredible but we had a day. Maybe it was too American. It felt to me like it went with the song. Whether it works or not is questionable."