Cornerstone (song)

Turner mentioned having different approaches to lyric writing, with one based "on an idea for a tune, like a story or a format" and the other focusing on "the sound of something phonetically".^[4] For "Cornerstone" he followed the former, as he knew he wanted "each verse to be the same format and then you sort of know exactly where it is going, and the humor can get in there", likening it to Jake Thackray's "Lah di Dah" (1967)^[4] Alex Turner told Uncut magazine that he wrote this song, "one morning, quite quickly." He added: "There's something to be said for writing in the morning. At other points in the day you're a bit more defensive. I saw it as a challenge to write something in a major key, but that wasn't cheesy."^[5] "Cornerstone" is performed in the key of A major.

The track is about a man who goes around to different pubs and bars in hopes of finding his ex-girlfriend. He is, however, only able to find look-alikes in each location. He approaches them anyway and is rejected by them in turn when he asks them if he can call them her name.^[6]

In each verse, the lyrics reference different made-up pubs (the Battleship, the Rusty Hook, the Parrot's Beak), with the last verse taking place in "the Cornerstone". It is here that he comes across his ex's sister, who finishes the song by saying "you can call me anything you want".

Some have speculated that "the Cornerstone" is a reference to a counselling centre in Sheffield, the home town of Arctic Monkeys.^[5][7]

The music video for the single debuted on Channel 4 in the UK on 15 October 2009.

The music video, directed by Richard Ayoade, who worked on the videos of "Fluorescent Adolescent", "Crying Lightning" and their At the Apollo DVD, shows frontman Alex Turner singing the song alone in a white room holding a cassette recorder and microphone during the whole video.^[8] The other members of the band (Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley) are not present in the video.

"Cornerstone" is widely considered to be one of the band's best songs. In 2023, Rolling Stone and Paste ranked the song number two and number one, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Arctic Monkeys songs.^[9][10]

Personnel taken from Humbug liner notes.^[2]

Arctic Monkeys

• Alex Turner
• Jamie Cook
• Nick O'Malley
• Matt Helders

Additional musician

• John Ashton – keyboards

Technical

• James Ford – production
• Alain Johannes – engineering
• Rich Costey – mixing
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

Being released as an EP in Oxfam shops, the single charted at number 94 in the UK charts and charted at number seven on the UK indie charts. It also debuted at number seven on the SoundScan singles charts for sales in Canada. One of the single's B-sides, "Sketchead", peaked at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart, fourteen places higher than "Cornerstone"'s peak position.^[11]