107 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Q&A
Video

Fluorescent Adolescent Lyrics

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking a Tabasco
Remember when he used to be a rascal?

Oh, that boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Not as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love, when you dream them up

Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now, when she tells she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging to not getting sentimental
Said, she wasn't going, but she went, still
Likes her gentlemen to not be gentle
Was it a Mecca dauber or a betting pencil?

Oh, that boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory, and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love, when you dream them up
Oh, where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where did you go? Whoa

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You just sounded it out
You're not coming back again

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You just sounded it out
You're not coming back again

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Started all the naughty nights with niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Everything was pretty in the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when he used to be a rascal?
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Sony/atv Music Publishing Llc
Writer
Johanna Bennett, Alex Turner
Duration
2:53
Producer
James Ford, Mike Crossey
Release date
Apr 30, 2007
Sentiment
Positive
Submitted by
sedders On Apr 02, 2007
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

107 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

Anyone else think its about a relationship getting old? And then the woman in the relation ship cheats on the man in order to gain back some excitement in her life. (Love the song by the way and ive analysed the CORRECT lyrics below.)

You used to get it in your fishnets (Which is sexy)

Now you only get it in your night dress (Typical and boring)

Discarded the naughty nights with niceness (Less sex more jsut being nice, perhaps having tea with the neighbours or something shit like that.)

Landed in a very common crisis (This happens to most relationships)

Everything's in order in a black hole (Relationship is comapred to a black hole its in order but its lifeless and dull and sucks everything that ever was into it)

Nothing seems as pretty as the past though (It was better in the past)

That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco (Looking for more kicks in life than the same old boring relationship like adding more tabasco to the bloody mary)

Remember when he used to be a rascal? (thats what he used to be like)

Oh that boy's a slag The best you ever had The best you ever had

(This is the woman looking back on the man and waht he used to be like this is apprent because of the last line of the first verse which tells the woman to remember.)

Is just a memory and those dreams Not as daft as they seem Not as daft as they seem My love when you dream them up...

(What he used to be like is just a memory and she dreams that he'll be the same again there not that daft but shes just making them up.)

Flicking through a little book of sex tips (Trying to spice things up)

Remember when the boys were all electric? (When she used to get all the boys)

Now when she tells she's gonna get it (she thinks hses going to get sex)

I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget i (sarcastic comment by the narrator she dosent want to forget it she wants to live it)

Clinging to not getting sentimental (she dosent want to cling on for someone, settle down, she wants to relive the hayday when she was a 'fluroscent adolescent'.)

Said she wasn't going but she went still (Perhaps she goes to cheat on her fella?)

Likes her gentlemen to not be gentle (Everything in this relationship is just too comfy she wants excitement)

Was it a megadobber or a betting pencil? (Ha don't know what this is about. But the first thing i thought of was that it was some sort of sex game or something and i dont know here the megadobebr or the betting pencil are going. Maybe shes comparing the size of her partners dick to this new fellas. No idea)

Falling about (Shes drunk)

You took a left off Last Laugh Lane (Turns down the road and laughs. She's ahd the last laugh at her boring fella)

You just sounded it out (She just got it all out of her by having a bit of excitment with another guy not leading the boring drab lifestyle)

You're not coming back again. (However she's not doing again... she dosen't need to shes had her fun its back to her normal life.)

Remember when the boys were all electric? (When she used to get all the boys)

he's talking about a vibrator.

Not Valid

Was it a megadobber or a betting pencil? (Ha don't know what this is about. But the first thing i thought of was that it was some sort of sex game or something and i dont know here the megadobebr or the betting pencil are going. Maybe shes comparing the size of her partners dick to this new fellas. No idea)

mecca daubber or a betting pencil.

it's a sexual reference to a mans penis. a meccadobber is a marker used to mark spots in bingo.

Not Valid

I definetly think that that whole analysis thing is pretty accurate. You pretty much explained the songs and showed the correct lyrics. nicely done.

Not Valid
Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

I can see people are feeling very different messages from this song. But I really just see it as a song about getting older, about excitement dying down and basically getting to the time in your life when the spice of your life is gone. Excitement and fun are replaced with a regular suburban life, thats all I see in it.

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

im sure it's about a woman who used to be a 'fluorescent adolescent', but is now going through menopause 'That Bloody Mary's lacking a Tabasco'. She is remembering her days as a younger, more sexually attractive girl. 'You used to get it in your fishnets/ Now you only get it in your night dress' i.e she used to have sex when she went out in her fishnets, now only has sex in her nightdress (with herself...) she is remembering all her one night stands and how boys used to fall at her feet 'Remember when he used to be a rascal?' She wishes she was still like that, and was a bit naughty 'Likes her gentlemen to not be gentle/ Was it a mega-dobber or a betting pencil?' Shes recently had sex with a man, maybe a male prostitute (slag is the english version for slut, usually used for girls but can be for boys too) Oh, that boy's a slag, the best you ever had (its the best she's had in ages, with the male prositute) The best you ever had is just a memory (she remembers being younger, the best of her life is gone) that's what i've always thought!

It's about a young woman who is losing her lustre.. and knows it. There's nothing else to be read into it, would you like to deconstruct the lyrics of "New Amsterdam" by Elvis Costella while you're at it?

Song Meaning
Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

Just a spelling fix, as I think the meaning has been nailed.

Megadobber = mecca dauber

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

I don't understand how some people think this is about a relationship. I just think this is such a straight-forward tale of a woman who's out of her sexual youth and is looking back on how things used to be. The lyrics, the title... all pretty evident.

But, regardless, brilliant lyrics. The entire album is great.

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

Alex said this song is basically about growing up. "you used to get it in your fishnets now you only get it in your nightdress..."

fishnet resembles being young and now your older you go out to clubs and parties and where a nightdress.

"Nothing seems as the past though" to being young and looking back at the good times "Remember when he used to a rascal?" remember him being Juvenile

I agree. And I love the song AND the band. Just not comfortable with the attitude that life stops once you leave behind (or curtail...better word) certain behaviors that one usually exhibits in their teens and early 20's. Life doesn't end as we age. If you are young at heart and have similar-minded friends, you can still have a ball! I have a good friend named Mitzi who attends every music concert in the state (if she can take time off); she goes to clubs with her girlfriends to dance; she loves to eat out and drink; and she does...

Not Valid
Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

It's about a girl who used to be crazy. Absolutely wild, going to parties, clubs and dressing trashy to get attention from boys. She craves sex and therefore is just known by the girl who will do whatever and whenever. Now, she has settled down after she got pregnant, "that bloody mary's lacking her tabasco" means that she skipped her period. It's unclear whether she ends up with the guy (slag) who impregnated her, but it is clear that whoever the guy was, was inadequate. She felt the need to settle and settled the guy who was easiest to get and now is just getting action in her nightdress, reminiscing on being young and free. Trying her best to be happy with such a guy, and her conditions.

Song Meaning

@ghosty17 I commented something kinda like this explanation too

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

I'm pretty sure this is about a woman growing older and less physically attractive, and realizing she has to sort of settle for whatever she gets, instead of having her pick. It's sort of funny they would write a song like this.

Cover art for Fluorescent Adolescent lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

Yes bakismaki you are right, not the above comments. I think it is a woman who is hitting her forties, she used to be dripping wet, now she's just dripping (ie. everything went down south). They pity her really, but she loves to think she's young and mad (hence the title), so she sleeps with young men to make herself feel special and attractive