"Around My Head" is the second single and ninth track on American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Cage the Elephant Cage the Elephant is an American rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England, U.K. and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their self-titled first album was released. The band currently consists of Matt Shul ...

's second album, '' Thank You Happy Birthday''. The single was released globally on May 4, 2011. A music video for the single was released on June 7, 2011.

Live performances

The song was performed live on 92 occasions, including

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

2012. It has not been performed live since September 2012.

Background and composition

The song starts on a soft guitar riff, over which lead singer

Matthew Shultz Matthew Ray Shultz (born October 23, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the lead singer and occasional guitarist for the American rock band Cage the Elephant. Early life Matthew Ray Shultz was born on 23 Octobe ...

sings a melody which matches that of the riff. The influence behind the song has been attributed to

the Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

, and Shultz has stated that he wanted his yells to "sound like

Black Francis Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...

", who is the band's lead singer.

Music video

A music video for the song, directed by

Chris Marrs Piliero Chris Marrs Piliero is an American actor, writer, producer, and director of short films and music videos. Piliero directed the 2010 music video for '' Tighten Up'' by The Black Keys, which won the 2010 MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Vide ...

, was released on June 7, 2011. The video features the band attending a funeral for a woman. Later, at night time, lead singer Matthew Shultz, has trouble sleeping. He goes to the graveyard and digs up the woman's grave, and then takes the woman's zombie-like carcass to parties, restaurants and barbecues. His band-mates, friends and other bystanders take great amusement in the slapstick humor that ensues. Throughout the video, Shultz accidentally grills her face and loses her arm. At the end of the video, it is revealed that Shultz was dreaming. After he wakes, he actually goes to the graveyard and digs up the grave. When he presents it to his bandmates at the end of the video, however, they are disgusted; rhythm guitarist Brad Shultz vomits when he sees the carcass, and drummer

Jared Champion Jared Lloyd Champion (born February 27, 1983) is the drummer for American rock band Cage the Elephant. Early life and career Champion was born and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In high school, Champion, with current bandmate Matt Shultz, ...

asks Matthew Shultz "What the fuck is wrong with you, dude?" Matthew then reluctantly states that he would put her back where he found her.

Reception

Reception to the single was generally mixed. Music review site

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

recommended the track as one of the best tracks of the album. However, writer Nikita Miller of music and photography site ''Hive Magazine'' states that "the song doesn’t seem thought about at all, basically just a quick in and out of the studio"., although she goes on to say that "it’s a fun song to listen to, in that they’ve added those “oohs” and “aahs” and used the guitars cleverly enough to convey an almost “

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

-like” happiness in this song." Bradley Ray of ''The Celebrity Cafe'' criticized the video, saying "it fails to be shocking and it isn’t really that funny either." The song was not as commercially successful as the first single from the album, "

Shake Me Down "Shake Me Down" is the first single and fourth track on Cage the Elephant's second album ''Thank You, Happy Birthday''. A music video for the single was released on January 11, 2011. Both the song and the video gained much critical acclaim, and ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles Cage the Elephant songs Music videos directed by Chris Marrs Piliero Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce 2011 songs Relentless Records singles Jive Records singles Songs written by Matt Shultz (singer)