I thought I saw you in The Battleship but it was only a look alike
She was nothing but a vision trick under the warning light
She was close, close enough to be your ghost
But my chances turned to toast when I asked her if I could call her your name
I thought I saw you in The Rusty Hook, huddled up in a wicker chair
I wandered over for a closer look and kissed whoever was sitting there
She was close and she held me very tightly until I asked awfully politely
“Please, can I call you her name?”
And I elongated my lift home
Yeah I let him go the long way round
I smelt your scent on the seat belt and kept my short cuts to myself
I thought I saw you in The Parrot’s Beak messing with the smoke alarm
It was too loud for me to hear her speak and she had a broken arm
It was close, so close that the walls were wet
And she wrote it out in Letraset
“No, you can’t call me her name”
Tell me where’s your hiding place
I’m worried I’ll forget your face
And I’ve asked everyone
I’m beginning to think I imagined you all along
I elongated my lift home
Yeah I let him go the long way round
I smelt your scent on the seat belt and kept my short cuts to myself
I saw your sister in The Cornerstone on the phone to the middle man
When I saw that she was on her own I thought she might understand
She was close, well you couldn’t get much closer
She said, “I’m really not supposed to, but, yes, you can call me anything you want”
Searching for Shadows of the Past
“Cornerstone” by Arctic Monkeys delicately explores the lingering ache of lost love and the desperate search for a familiar connection in unfamiliar faces. The narrator haunts various pubs, convinced he sees his former lover everywhere, only to encounter lookalikes and strangers. Each encounter is tinged with yearning and awkwardness, as he asks others if he can call them by his ex’s name, highlighting his inability to move on. The repeated motif of elongated journeys home and the scent that lingers on a seat belt intensify the sense of longing and memory. Ultimately, the song paints a portrait of someone haunted by the past, grappling with the line between reality and imagination, and seeking solace in fleeting, mistaken encounters.
Song Credits
- Songwriters: Alex Turner
- Release Year: 2009
- Label: Domino Recording Company