"R U Mine?" is a song by the English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

. It features lyrics written by frontman

Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician. He is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. Turner is known for his Songwriter, lyricism ranging from kitchen sink realism to surrealism, surreal ...

, as well as music composed by the entire band. The song was released as a digital download in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 27 February 2012 and was released physically for the

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on 21 April 2012 on a limited edition double A-side purple 7" vinyl along with new song "Electricity". The vinyl was limited to a run of only 1,750 copies. "R U Mine?" debuted at number twenty-three on the UK Singles Chart; the band's highest charting single since "

Crying Lightning "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 iT ...

" reached number twelve (12) in July 2009. Despite originally being released as a standalone single, the song was later included as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

of their fifth studio album, '' AM'' (2013), albeit slightly remixed. It was later certified platinum in the UK, making it one of the Arctic Monkeys' best-selling songs. The song was also featured in the video games ''

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'' and ''

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''. It was also featured in the video game ''

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''. It was released as a downloadable song for the rhythm game ''

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'' on January 13, 2015; one of the first three downloadable songs released for ''Rock Band 3'' in almost two years.

Inspiration

said that the band drew inspiration from recent relationships, saying "There's a few references for people to pick up on in there – '

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', Tracy Island. That particular bit is like the thing

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and

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do. ..I like that thing they do where they talk about something backwards, so they talk about it but then say what it actually is on the next line. ..So I say, 'I'm a puppet on a string', just before mentioning Tracy Island. That's what it's about – uncertainty." Turner also described the track as "Kind of a lift from an Ashanti tune. We like the scales and the melodies on some of those records. The way the backing vocals might come right to the front and disappear again". The main riff of the song was written by bassist Nick O'Malley, while the band were recording the B-side "

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Reception

Music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked the song at number 49 among 100 greatest songs of 2010s.

Music videos

A music video to accompany the release of "R U Mine?" was first released onto YouTube on 27 February 2012 at a total length of three minutes and forty-four seconds and features radio DJ, musician and former

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

guitarist Steve Jones debuting the song on his show on American modern rock radio station

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

while

Matt Helders Matthew Helders (born 7 May 1986) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, who is the drummer and occasional singer of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. He has also released a studio album and collaborated with artists such as Dean Fertita, ...

and Nick O'Malley lip-sync the song in a car. In 2013, the video won the

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for Best Video. Drummer

, who came up with the idea for the video, revealed it was directed by Focus Creeps, who 'gave he banda camera and told us to film'. A second video was released onto YouTube on 29 March 2012, following their live show in Mexico City one day earlier. The video depicts a live performance of the song and shots of the excited crowd. It ends with an image of Turner's microphone with two bras hanging from it. Both videos feature Helders wearing a

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Lucifer jacket, a reference to

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's '' Lucifer Rising''. The jacket also appears in the "

Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" is a song by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released as the lead single from their fourth album ''Suck It and See'' on 12 April 2011 through digital download. A "limited-edition white-label s ...

" music video.

Track listing

Personnel

;Arctic Monkeys *

– lead vocals, lead guitar * Jamie Cook – rhythm guitar * Nick O'Malley – bass guitar, backing vocals *

– drums, backing vocals

Charts

"R U Mine?"

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

"Electricity"

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles 2012 songs Arctic Monkeys songs Domino Recording Company singles Songs written by Jamie Cook Songs written by Matt Helders Songs written by Nick O'Malley Songs written by Alex Turner (musician)