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And he don't even have to say owt
She's in the stance ready to get picked up Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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The dude in the car doesn’t have to say anything because he’s a regular customer. She already knows what’s going down and she’s ready to get in the car.

“Owt” here means “anything” in the Yorkshire dialect – Turner is from Sheffield in South Yorkshire.

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Look, here comes a Ford Mondeo
Isn't he Mr. Inconspicuous? Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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Most likely also a sarcastic comment about the type of car, given that the Mondeo sold very well in Europe and the UK.

The narrator clearly doesn’t have much respect for the guys buying the girls either, and is taking a shot at this guy’s boring, common choice of vehicle.

The man that just pulled up is trying to stay lowkey, probably because what he’s about to do is illegal and probably because he’s embarrassed of it all.

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100

1 month

This line could be a reference to Steve Wright the ‘Suffolk strangler’, who picked up and murdered 5 sex workers in his Ford Mondeo?

Steven Wright (disambiguation) - Wikipedia — Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Steven Wright (born 1955) is an American comedian and actor.

(serial_killer)#cite_note-8

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10 months

The use of Ford Mondeo may be a reference to the Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright who was nicknamed “Mondeo Man”

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Fred Herbert

1 year

It’s not sarcastic at all. As you said, Mondeos are common cars which makes them inconspicuous.

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Sophie

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2 years

The use of this car model may be a reference (conscious or not) to the car used by serial killer Steve Wright, who was well know at the time the song was released for the murder of five prostitutes in the UK.

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5 years

You could probably also say that a Ford Mondeo is a pretty typical car for that kind of bloke at that time, you would imagine most of the clientele would be pulling up in similar business man-type sedans

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And oh, he must be up to summat
What are the chances? Sure it's more than likely
I've got a feelin' in my stomach
And start to wonder what his story might be
What his story might be, yeah Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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The narrator is wondering if there’s more to the scumbag than just being a scumbag, because he has enough brains to know that nobody’s that two dimensional. Selling women can’t be the only thing he does.

Turner uses the word “summat” here – a Yorkshire version of “something”.

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Although you're trying not to listen
Avert your eyes and starin' at the ground
She makes a subtle proposition
"I'm sorry, love, I'll have to turn you down" Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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He’s not so subtly pretending she’s not there, although that can be hard when someone’s offering you sex. Of course, they have music to make, they don’t have time for that.

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And I've seen him with girls of the night
And he told Roxanne to put on her red light Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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Reference to the track, “Roxanne” by The Police, which is also a song about a prostitute (girl of the night).

The main verse of the song consistently repeats “Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light” – thus, contrasting the two people.

Putting on a red light means to let potential clients know that you’re open for business; whereas the person in the Police song insists that she doesn’t have to put on her red light, the scumbag in the Monkeys' song insists that she does.

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2 years

What has Moulin Rouge got to do with this song?

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6 years

“put on her red light” can also mean to put on a red lipstick to attract potential customers.

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845

8 years

Actually, in the movie, Roxanne is a character from a music that traces a parallel with Satine, the major female role. There is no Roxanne in the movie, per se.

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And what a scummy man
Just give him half a chance, I bet he'll rob you if he can
Can see it in his eyes, yeah, that he's got a drivin' ban
Amongst some other offences Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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This scummy man must be the girl’s pimp. Alex is calling him a scummy man because it’s pretty disgusting for someone to treat women like property and sell them. The driving ban is the least of his shady past…

The song was originally called “Scummy.”

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She don't do major credit cards, I doubt she does receipts
It's all not quite legitimate Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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The status of prostitution in England is a little legally ambiguous, but the first two lines here are pure sarcasm. She’s a prostitute waiting for curb crawlers to pick her up – of course she doesn’t have a card machine. It’s a joke intended to show how dodgy and off-the-books the whole affair is.

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I said, who's that girl there?
I wonder what went wrong so that she had to roam the streets Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down

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This song is narrated from a bystander’s point of view. The narrator sees a girl walk around the streets at night. She’s a prostitute.

For someone to sell their body, they must be really desperate for money. Perhaps she had a drug problem or lost all of her money. Either way, her exact situation is not revealed to us.

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447

5 years

In this line I imagined a guy in a cafe with his friend, looking at a girl with a shaby appearance and saying to his friend, “Who’s that girl there?”, but then having to repeat it because his friend didn’t hear him the first time. That’s why the song starts with “I SAID, who’s that girl there?”. To me, the guy who says this is the singer and YOU are the friend. You were letting your mind wander but he was looking at a girl and thinking: what happened to her? Why does she roam the streets? He cares. Do you?

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Then you would know I've completely lost it
Is he nuts? No, he's insane! Eminem – Insane

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