Knee Socks

It's obviously about Alexa. Alex has confirmed that the lyrics on AM center around heartbreak. Arielle was his current girlfriend. Actually the only songs that are clearly inspired by her are R U Mine? and Arabella.

• Alexa used to wear knee socks back when they dated

• Alex broke up with Johanna in january, he met Alexa in april = You cured my january blues

• From middle 2012 to the end of 2013 Alexa co-hosted Fuse News = I got a feeling I might have lit the very fuse (Alex uses the word "fuse" in Fireside too, another song about Alexa)

• His valentine's poem for Alexa reveals they didn't get together right away after they met "The idea that you may kiss it [his mouth] again is stuck in my brain, which hasn’t stopped thinking about you since well BEFORE any kiss." = You were a stranger in my phonebook I was acting like I knew

• Alexa moved to America with Alex because of her show It's On with Alexa Chung, which was cancelled in december 2009 (a winter month) = When the winter is in full swing and your dreams just aren’t coming true

• They are not together anymore = You and me could have been a team

OH MY LORD THIS IS SO ABOUT ALEXA CHUNG

"No one’s bothered if she’s wearing them. That’s what it is about, a girl who walks through your house while wearing knee socks. It’s about a winter love. There’s always songs about summer love, but this one is about winter love."

I really love all the songs on the album, and think that all of them, without exception, can go on as singles...but Knee socks is like a ultimate summing up of all this album is - catchy, rock-n-roll sexy music, after-midnight party/make-out feel, Alex's superb lyrics (especiall the chorus - so brilliant), the bassline the guitars..all, and of course, the outstanding back-vocals work.

I'm too excited 'bout this record, even more than QOTSA's ...Like Clockwork. Definitely Monkey's best album. It's not that simple to getaway with not labelling it INSTANT CLASSIC...but I cannot come up with a reason you shouldn't call it that :) That goes for record of the year too.

I know this isn't what the song is actually about but this is just my interpretation:

I feel like the song could be about the girl in question stalking the singer. It sounds to me like he hooked up with her and she became obsessive so he broke up with her and this song is the aftermath.

In this verse it sounds like it was a depressing winter and the singer is probably not in a good place himself and looks for something to make him feel better ("kissing through the gloom"). And this girl was literally "in the right place at the right time" so the singer starts seeing her and initially thinks it could go somewhere "I thought you might be mine".

"You got the lights on in the afternoon And the nights are drawn out long And you're kissing to cut through the gloom And you were sitting in the corner with the coats all piled high And I thought you might be mine In a small world on an exceptionally rainy Tuesday night In the right place and time"

This verse also backs that up saying "you cured my January blues", she was there and served purpose but he wasn't looking for anything serious with her. The singer was just in a bad place after a crappy winter and she was distraction he needed, but he didn't realise that what was to him just a passing fling to fill the time was much more to her and would trigger her into becoming obsessed with him, maybe as she might have done with someone else in the past? ("I got a feeling I might have lit the very fuse that you were trying not to light") She made the first move contacting him - maybe a friend of a friend or something and he went along with it and hooked up with her because he had "nothing to lose" ("You were a stranger in my phonebook I was acting like I knew 'cause I had nothing to lose") Or maybe she had admired him a long time from a distance and finally plucked up the courage to talk to him. He just wanted something casual but it quickly became clear she wanted more and made it very obvious becoming increasingly more obsessed by him and more possessive ("your dreams just aren't coming true. Ain't it funny what you'll do")

"Well you cured my January blues Yeah you made it all alright I got a feeling I might have lit the very fuse That you were trying not to light You were a stranger in my phonebook I was acting like I knew 'Cause I had nothing to lose When the winter's in full swing and your dreams just aren't coming true Ain't it funny what you'll do"

This verse I think could suggest like I mentioned before that maybe this has happened with someone in the past and in her head she knows that she shouldn't get herself in these situations by having casual sex "knocking boots" because it always means more to her than the guy she's with which is what gets her into these situations. So I think this verse is saying that even though she knows in the back of her mind that she should stop seeing him, she doesn't and continues the relationship without telling him how she feels ("Never stopped you letting me get hold of the sweet spot")

"The late afternoon The ghost in your room that you always thought didn't approve of you knocking boots Never stopped you letting me get hold of the sweet spot by the scruff of your Knee socks"

I think here the singer is saying that there was the potential for something genuine to grow or at least there were the foundations there because initially he said he did like her and that's what he is saying in this verse, but she was too much too fast and the relationship got nasty.

"You and me could have been a team Each had a half of a king and queen seat Like the beginning of mean streets You could be my baby"

I feel like the chorus throughout is a flash-forward to the situation now and the whole point of the song is reflecting on how the singer got to this point.

The chorus talks about how she is constantly calling him all hours of the day and night and he knows it's her even though he has blocked her number. She is still just as obsessed with him even though he has called off the relationship which we can infer from her continuous attempts to contact him and how she still wears his 'sky blue Lacoste" polo shirt all the time, probably unwashed. The irony here is that I believe her "knee socks" are a symbol of her 'innocence' as they are stereotypically associated with young girls. This therefore makes me think that perhaps the singer prayed on a younger girl and played with her emotions hence her becoming obsessive.

Either that or it's a symbol of her innocence taken at face value. She appears to be an innocent young girl and at a glance you would think that it is cute she is wearing her boyfriends top and knee socks but actually it's a symbol of her ownership of him and with context the situation is hostile and singer is the victim.

"When the zeros line up on the 24 hour clock When you know who's calling even though the number is blocked When you walked around your house wearing my sky blue Lacoste And your knee socks"

Either way I think there is a victim of abuse in this. I think this song is really powerful because either one of them could be the real victim which is the case in any story like this - both parties will at least 'act' the victim which makes it difficult for onlookers to choose a side, which is what I think is really clever in these lyrics. Either the relationship is between an older guy and a potentially a school girl and he's prayed on her vulnerability or the domestic abuse is flipped and it is a girl becoming obsessed with and harassing a guy that's made his feelings quite clear.

I don't know but I love this song.

Sounds like how he met, scored, and later lost Alexa.

My assumpotions @jogeLandon 24 oclock military time for midnight

@Nusquik she thought having an affair was bad due to the ""ghost in her room" but it didnt stop her last night. the Ghost could be the holly ghost, or just part of her that didn't think it was right to do such a thing. Sometimes somgwriting just flows out and although the general song has a specific meaning, usually, it doesnt mean every word does. he could have been trying to fill that space and just put ghost. or on the other hand it could have meaning.

I really like the reference to Scorsese’s Mean Streets towards the end of the song. The opening scene of the film is a montage to Be My Baby by the Ronettes. Such a clever reference and they clearly have quality taste in movies.

I don't get this part: "In late afternoon, the ghost in your room That you always thought didn't approve of you knocking boots Never stopped you letting me get hold of the sweet spot By the scruff of your knee socks"

I mean, I don't know its meaning at all... Maybe some english speaker can tell me?

Thanks!

I don't get this part: "When the zeros line up on the 24 hour clock"

Actualy I don't know its meaning at all... Maybe some English-speaker can tell me?

Thanks!