Crying Lightning

"Crying Lightning"
Single by Arctic Monkeys
from the album Humbug
B-side
Released6 July 2009
Studio
Genre
Length3:43
LabelDomino
Composers
LyricistAlex Turner
ProducerJosh Homme
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology
"Teddy Picker"
(2007)		 "Crying Lightning"
(2009)		 "Cornerstone"
(2009)
Music video
"Crying Lightning" on YouTube

"Crying Lightning" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the first single from their third album Humbug. It was first played on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 on 6 July 2009 and was then made available on iTunes to download the same day. Physical copies of the single were made available on 17 August, one week before the release of the album. The vinyl was made available in Oxfam shops and sold with a download code for fans to get a free MP3 version of the song.

The single debuted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart on 12 July 2009 by downloads alone.

Music video

The music video for the single debuted on Channel 4 in UK on 24 July 2009.

The music video, directed by Richard Ayoade (who worked with the band previously on the video for "Fluorescent Adolescent", as well as their At the Apollo live DVD), shows the band performing the song on a boat on a rough sea. During a short instrumental interlude, a large figure rises up from the sea in the form of frontman, Turner. He falls to his knees where the boat passes between his legs before the other three band members (Cook, Helders and O'Malley) also rise up out from the water.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
BBCStarStarStarStarStar
DIYStarStarStarStar
Pitchfork7/10
Pretty Much Amazing6/10

For the BBC Fraser McAlpine was very complimentary and described the sound of Crying Lightning as "a band who were always older than their years, and greater than the sum of their parts, becoming more mature and getting better into the bargain". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork praised the change in sound from the band's earlier output saying it "excellently turns the Arctics' oftentimes-too-antic blitzkrieg pop into something a tad slower and heavier and more fucked". For Pretty Much Amazing Luis Tovar had similar thoughts "What I see now is a more controlled, matured, hardened band"; nevertheless, he was disappointed by the track on first listen. Lee White of DIY singled out producers Josh Homme and James Ford for managing "to bring out the full rock potential" of the band and thought the song served as a test for "Picking out the true admirers of the bands musical talent and songsmithery from those who simply rode the coat-tails of success to listen to songs about girls and dancefloors".

Track listing

10", MP3 digital download
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Crying Lightning"Alex TurnerArctic Monkeys3:43
2."Red Right Hand"Nick Cave
4:19
3."I Haven't Got My Strange"Alex TurnerArctic Monkeys1:29
7"
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Crying Lightning"Alex TurnerArctic Monkeys3:43
2."Red Right Hand"Nick Cave
  • Nick Cave
  • Mick Harvey
  • Conway Savage
  • Thomas Wydler
4:19

Personnel

Personnel taken from Humbug liner notes.

Arctic Monkeys

Additional musician

Technical

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 70
Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders) 63
Belgium Singles Chart (Wallonia) 49
Canadian Singles Chart 15
French Singles Chart 23
Japan Hot 100 (Billboard) 44
Switzerland Airplay (Swiss Hitparade) 86
UK Indie Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 12

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 40,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "Album Review: Arctic Monkeys – Humbug". Consequence. 31 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2026. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  2. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (29 August 2009). "Arctic Monkeys: 'Humbug'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 Humbug (CD liner notes). Arctic Monkeys. Domino. 2009.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning – Download on itunes
  5. ↑ "Monkeys to release Oxfam single". BBC News. 5 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Matthew (16 August 2009). "Arctic Monkeys charity single to include random 'golden tickets'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "Arctic Monkeys' Crying Lightning by Richard Ayoade". Promonews. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 McAlpine, Fraser (11 August 2009). "Arctic Monkeys: "Crying Lightning"". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 Lee, White (29 July 2009). "Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning". DIY. Archived from the original on 27 January 2026. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  10. 1 2 Dombal, Ryan (14 July 2009). "Arctic Monkeys: "Crying Lightning" Track Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 Tovar, Luis (6 July 2009). "Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning". Pretty Much Amazing. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Austrian Singles Chart
  13. ↑ Belgium Flanders Singles Chart
  14. ↑ Belgium Wallonia Singles Chart
  15. ↑ French Singles Chart
  16. ↑ "Arctic Monkeys - Artist - Billboard Japan". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  17. ↑ "Schweizer Airplay Charts 35/2009 – hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  18. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning". Music Canada. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning". Radioscope. Retrieved 18 September 2026. Type Crying Lightning in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  20. ↑ "British single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 October 2024. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Crying Lightning Arctic Monkeys in the "Search:" field.
  21. ↑ "American single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 4 October 2025.