Do I Wanna Know?

"Do I Wanna Know?" is a song by British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released as the second single from their fifth studio album, AM (2013), on 18 June 2013. It received a download release through iTunes as well as an accompanying music video.[1][2] A 7-inch vinyl edition of the single was released on 22 July 2013, with a B-side titled "2013".[3] The song was first played live on 22 May 2013 in Ventura, California, at the first concert of the Arctic Monkeys' AM Tour. Throughout the tour, "Do I Wanna Know?" was being played as the opening number.[1]

"Do I Wanna Know?"
Single by Arctic Monkeys
from the album AM
B-side	"2013"
Released	18 June 2013 (2013-06-18)
Studio	Sage & Sound Recording (Los Angeles, California) Rancho De La Luna (Joshua Tree, California)
Genre	Indie rock psychedelic rock stoner rock blues rock
Length	4:33
Label	Domino
Songwriter(s)	Alex Turner
Producer(s)	Ross Orton
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology
"R U Mine?" (2012) "Do I Wanna Know?" (2013) "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" (2013)
Music video
"Do I Wanna Know?" on YouTube

"Do I Wanna Know?" peaked at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, charted in several other countries and was the first Arctic Monkeys song to have ever entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, peaking at number 70 in March 2014. In December 2014, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rock Performance category.[4] In December 2019, the song was ranked No. 3 on Guitar World's list of the 20 best guitar riffs of the decade.[5]

Composition

"Do I Wanna Know?" is performed in the key of G minor.[6] Musically, it has been described as an indie rock song[7] with elements of psychedelic music and strong elements of stoner rock and blues rock.[8][9] The song has a similar aesthetic style and lyrical content to their 2012 song "R U Mine?"; it is more downtempo while having similar guitar riffs. The song also contains the edgier sound found on their previous album Suck It and See (2011).[10] In concert, singer and guitarist Alex Turner uses a Vox 12-string electric guitar.[11]

Structurally, the song follows a common pop music "verse-pre-chorus-chorus" form up until its second chorus; from that point on, it follows what Hit Songs Deconstructed calls "a more unorthodox flow" ending in a "pre-chorus/chorus hybrid section". Falsetto backing vocals are also blended with those of Turner's throughout the song. Moreover, the title encapsulates the entire premise of the story, the narrator wondering whether he wants to remain in doubt or know if his feelings are unrequited or mutual.[12]

Music video

The music video for "Do I Wanna Know?", directed by David Wilson with animation agency Blinkink,[13] was first released onto YouTube on 18 June 2013. As of June 2020, it has been viewed over 1 billion times.[14] The video begins with a black background and simple visuals of white sound waves (similar to the AM cover art) that vibrate in synchronization, first with the percussion and lead guitar, then with the lead singer, Alex Turner. As the band enters with the chorus, colored sound waves illustrate new voices. Simple sound waves then give way to fast-moving, representational line-drawing animations that morph between a variety of female, race car, race car engine, and road racing images. At one point, the undulating white line becomes the "trucker's Mudflap girl", seen in the single's cover art. The line drawings are interrupted several times with flashes of full-color animation, several that recall the surrealistic style of Robert Crumb. The increasingly complex video creates, by turns, a somewhat jarring and psychedelic experience, in a style not unlike the Gary Gutierrez animations that were featured in The Grateful Dead Movie (1977). The video ends with the familiar white line becoming two crossed checkered flags, which join together in a single line with the "AM" initials.[15]

Commercial performance

Despite a midweek on air on sale release, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11,[16] making it the band's highest charting single since "Fluorescent Adolescent" in 2007. This was subsequently outperformed by the next single "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?", which debuted at number eight. "Do I Wanna Know?" has spent 64 weeks in the UK top 100, this being the longest run of any Arctic Monkeys single, to date.[17] The single was awarded a Platinum certification by the BPI on 7 February 2015, indicating shipments in excess of 600,000 units; it is the first Arctic Monkeys single to do so.

The song had moderate success worldwide, charting in countries such as Australia, France, Belgium, Ireland and Israel. In January 2014, the song reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart,[18] the group's first number one single in the United States and their first appearance on that chart since "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" peaked at number seven in 2006.[19] On 28 March, the track became the 30th song to have occupied the Billboard Alternative Songs chart top spot for 10 weeks or more. As of the 25 October 2014 issue of Billboard, it logged 58 weeks on the Alternative Songs list, making it the second-longest running song on the chart. It also became the band's first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 70 in March 2014.[20] On 26 January 2014, the song reached number four on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2013, and, on 14 March 2020, reached number three on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2010s.

In popular culture

"Do I Wanna Know?" was used in a 2013 Bacardi commercial.[21] In September 2014, the song was used in the pilot episode of ABC's TV series Forever,[22][23] and the fifth episode of Israeli series Ish Hashuv Meod[22].

This song was used in the second season's final episode of the hit BBC series Peaky Blinders.[24]

The song has been covered by artists such as MS MR, Sam Smith, Chvrches, Hozier, Dua Lipa, and Christina Grimmie.[25][26][27][28][29]

The song was also present in Ubisoft's 2014 game, The Crew as one of the songs in the in-game radio.

This song is also used by O2 in the UK as a hold music.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alex Turner.

Download single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Do I Wanna Know?"	4:33

7-inch single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Do I Wanna Know?"	4:33
2.	"2013"	2:26

Personnel

Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner – lead vocals, twelve-string electric guitar Jamie Cook – lead guitar Nick O'Malley – bass guitar, backing vocals Matt Helders – drums, electronic drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel James Ford – production; keyboards (track 2) Ross Orton – production Ian Shea – engineering Tchad Blake – mixing (at Full Mongrel Studios, Wales) Brian Lucey – mastering (at Magic Garden Mastering)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2013–2014) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[30] 37 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[31] 33 Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[32] 33 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[33] 48 Canada Rock (Billboard)[34] 3 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[35] 75 France (SNEP)[36] 45 Ireland (IRMA)[37] 14 Israel (Media Forest)[38] 10 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[39] 62 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[40] 12 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[41] 63 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 66 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[43] 11 UK Indie (Official Charts Company)[44] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[20] 70 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[45] 11 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[18] 1 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[46] 10 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[47] 12 US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[48] 1 Chart (2016) Peak position Portugal (AFP)[49] 80

Year-end charts Chart (2013) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[50] 55 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[51] 52 Chart (2014) Position US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[52] 41 US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[53] 1 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[54] 20 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[55] 46 US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[56] 1 Chart (2018) Position Portugal (AFP)[57] 151 Chart (2019) Position Portugal (AFP)[58] 206 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[59] 93

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[60]	Gold	35,000^^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[61]	Platinum	90,000
Germany (BVMI)[62]	Gold	150,000^^
Italy (FIMI)[63]	2× Platinum	100,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[64]	2× Platinum	1,200,000
United States (RIAA)[65]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
Venezuela (APFV)[66]	Gold	5,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
United Kingdom[67][68]	19 June 2013	Digital download	Domino
	22 July 2013	7" vinyl
United States[69]	10 September 2013	Modern rock radio

References

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2. "Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? A..." 19 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
3. "Do I Wanna Know?". arcticmonkeys.com. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 12 July 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
4. Grebey, James (5 December 2014). "Grammys 2015 Nominees: Sam Smith, HAIM, Iggy Azalea, and More". Spin. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
5. Horsley, Jonathan (12 December 2019). "The 20 best guitar riffs of the decade". Guitar World.
6. "Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys @ Song Key Finder".
7. "The Top 100 Indie Love Songs of All Time". Radio X. Global Radio. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
8. Barry Lenser (9 October 2013). "The Top Ten Arctic Monkeys Songs". PopMatters. Retrieved 9 October 2015. A moody stoner-rock cocktail of midnight lust and slow-burning sonics.
9. Chris DeVille (15 September 2014). "Hozier – "Do I Wanna Know?" (Arctic Monkeys Cover)". Stereogum. SpinMedia. Retrieved 9 October 2015. but Hozier drains it of its blues-rock swagger and converts it into an emotional folk-pop ballad
10. "Arctic Monkeys' new single 'Do I Wanna Know' gets (mostly) good reaction". Gigwise. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
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12. "Do I Wanna Know? Deconstructed". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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26. "MS MR cover Arctic Monkeys' 'Do I Wanna Know?' – watch". NME. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
27. Lobenfeld, Claire (24 October 2013). "Sam Smith – "Do I Wanna Know?" (Arctic Monkeys Cover)". Stereogum. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
28. "Chvrches - Do I Wanna Know? (Arctic Monkeys cover)". ABC Online. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
29. Deville, Chris (15 September 2014). "Hozier - "Do I Wanna Know?" (Arctic Monkeys Cover)". Stereogum. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
30. "Australian-charts.com – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
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42. "Swisscharts.com – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
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47. "Arctic Monkeys Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
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49. "Portuguesecharts.com – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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51. "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
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56. "Rock Airplay Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
57. "Top AFP - Audiogest - Top 200 Singles 2018" (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
58. "Top AFP - Audiogest - Top 3000 Singles + EPs Digitais" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
59. Copsey, Rob (11 December 2019). "The UK's Official Top 100 biggest songs of the decade". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
60. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
61. "Danish single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 15 April 2020. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2020 to obtain certification.
62. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Arctic Monkeys; 'Do I Wanna Know')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
63. "Italian single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 2 January 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Do I Wanna Know" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
64. "British single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Do I Wanna Know in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
65. "American single certifications – Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 9 April 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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