I think the song paints a picture of how some people party in a kind of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll style. The idea is that you go completely crazy: drink a lot, use a lot of drugs, bang a lot of girls and, as a result, be awesome ("We tend to see that as a perk").
The drugs may not be necessary, because the lyrics also fit for alcohol, but since I've recently talked to some drug users in my job, I suspect that the song is about drugs as well. Specifically, I suspect that the lyrics are about the moment in which the drug of the person wore off for a moment. Drugs are often taken repeatedly, but when users 'sober up' for a brief moment in between, they may look around and suddenly realize what a mess it is they're in ("This house is a circus, berserk as fuck"). Often users 'cure' this uncomfortable feeling with a next dose and continue this cycle, but even while high, the thought they dread most, is that the feeling will eventually end ("And the last thing that they want is for this feeling to end").
The Arctic Monkeys stress that this lifestyle does not actually bring them closer to happiness: they're looking for fulfillment in the wrong place, as if you were staring into the eyes of a corpse, in order to find out who killed him. They 'can't think why', because all the elements that are supposed to make you feel great (sex, drugs, music) are there.
In the process, partying people become increasingly over-confident (especially if using drugs) ("All the attention is leading me to feel important (completely obnoxious)"), impulsive ("Now that we're here we may as well go to far") and anti-social ("There's certainly some venom in the looks that you collect").
The most beautiful sentence, I think, is "Struggling with the notion that it's life, not film". This illustrates the frustration they feel, because in movies this lifestyle looks awesome, creating the expectation it would make you feel awesome as well, but in reality, the lifestyle is not fulfilling and accompanied by many negative effects.
I think the song paints a picture of how some people party in a kind of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll style. The idea is that you go completely crazy: drink a lot, use a lot of drugs, bang a lot of girls and, as a result, be awesome ("We tend to see that as a perk").
The drugs may not be necessary, because the lyrics also fit for alcohol, but since I've recently talked to some drug users in my job, I suspect that the song is about drugs as well. Specifically, I suspect that the lyrics are about the moment in which the drug of the person wore off for a moment. Drugs are often taken repeatedly, but when users 'sober up' for a brief moment in between, they may look around and suddenly realize what a mess it is they're in ("This house is a circus, berserk as fuck"). Often users 'cure' this uncomfortable feeling with a next dose and continue this cycle, but even while high, the thought they dread most, is that the feeling will eventually end ("And the last thing that they want is for this feeling to end").
The Arctic Monkeys stress that this lifestyle does not actually bring them closer to happiness: they're looking for fulfillment in the wrong place, as if you were staring into the eyes of a corpse, in order to find out who killed him. They 'can't think why', because all the elements that are supposed to make you feel great (sex, drugs, music) are there.
In the process, partying people become increasingly over-confident (especially if using drugs) ("All the attention is leading me to feel important (completely obnoxious)"), impulsive ("Now that we're here we may as well go to far") and anti-social ("There's certainly some venom in the looks that you collect").
The most beautiful sentence, I think, is "Struggling with the notion that it's life, not film". This illustrates the frustration they feel, because in movies this lifestyle looks awesome, creating the expectation it would make you feel awesome as well, but in reality, the lifestyle is not fulfilling and accompanied by many negative effects.