The Hellcat Spangles Shalalala Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Alistair1 

Cover art for The Hellcat Spangles Shalalala lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

Just when things are getting complicated in the eye of the storm She flicks a red hot revelation, off the tip of her tongue It does a dozen somersaults and leaves you supercharged It makes me wanna blow the candles out just to see if you glow in the dark

The first stanza is a couple having an argument (the argument being the storm) Red hot revelation is self explanatory and the "dozen somersaults" are just there to exaggerate the effect and impact of what she said to him (probably revelation of an affair). The glow in the dark part is referring to the constant feeling of discontent in their relationship. There's no escaping the issue; even in the dark. The shalalala between the verses is the persona trying to block everything out and pretend he's ok by humming/singing a tune.

Home sweet home, home sweet home, home sweet bobby trap I took the batteries out my mysticism and put'em in my thinking cap She's got a telescopic hallelujah hanging up on the wall For when it gets too complicated in the eye of the storm

This stanza is slightly more opaque. The 3rd and 4th lines are about a point on the wall that she stares at during a stressful argument (storm).

And in a hellcat spangled cavern, when you're judgement's on the run And your acting like a stranger, cos you thought it looked like fun And did you ever get the feeling that these were things she said before Her steady hands may well have done the devil's pedicure So what you waiting for? Sing another fucking shalalalala

This stanza is quite tricky. The 3rd line is about inconsistencies in her stories (again hinting at an affair). I think the "devil" in this stanza is the man she's had an affair with. "Sing another fucking shalalala " -keep pretending nothing is wrong

I think this song is about being in a sort of argumental deadlock. Dealing with a problematic/complicated relationship slowly breaking apart and how it is dealt with through trying to avoid the truth and singing to block out thinking about it and having to realise and deal with the true state of the situation. Pretending and hoping everything is OK when it's not.

Analysis:

Just when things are getting complicated in the eye of the storm She flicks a red hot revelation, off the tip of her tongue It does a dozen somersaults and leaves you supercharged It makes me wanna blow...

I agree with you in that I think it's about an argument he's had with Alexa about an affair/one night stand she's had but I do disagree slightly on a few things:

To me the Shalala bit is her talking to him, not the other way round - she's told him about an affair but she's swearing that "this is the last time, it didn't mean anything,etc".He's heard it all before so her words just become meaningless noise to him, or shalala if you will.

The "acting like a stranger" line to me is that...