Aberdeen (song)

"Aberdeen" is a song by American rock band Cage the Elephant. It is the third single from their second studio album, Thank You, Happy Birthday (2011). The song was originally named "Maybelline", but was later changed to "Aberdeen" because Cage the Elephant's lead singer Matt Shultz found himself repeatedly singing the latter city's name while rehearsing in Aberdeen, Scotland.[1]

"Aberdeen"
Single by Cage the Elephant
from the album Thank You, Happy Birthday
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2011
RecordedTragedy Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length3:12
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Jared Champion
  • Lincoln Parish
  • Brad Shultz
  • Matt Schultz
  • Daniel Tichenor
Producer(s)Jay Joyce
Cage the Elephant singles chronology
"Around My Head"
(2011)		 "Aberdeen"
(2011)		 "Always Something"
(2012)

Music video

The music video is a clay animation video and does not feature the band. It is about a clumsy, lonely dragon-like monster who travels to a busy city at night trying to make friends. Instead, he indirectly causes the deaths of 3 people and a dog, much to his shock. He quickly retreats to his lair and watches the news, where he begins to sob as he finds that the city has demonized him. Throughout the video he is seen creating a replica city. When he returns to the city, he holds a statue he made of himself and another human holding hands, with "FRIENDS" engraved on the bottom. As he walks through the city a second time, police shine a spotlight in his eyes, causing him to drop the statue. When the police inspect the statue, which is now broken, they see the monster trying to eat a person and the engraving of "FRIENDS" is smashed and says "DIE". Subsequently the police officers open fire on the dragon, and the dragon kicks one of them.

Once again he hurries back to his lair, to later be intruded upon by soldiers and a tank. All of the soldiers open fire on the dragon with automatic weapons, and one fires consecutive rockets at him, causing the beast to lose an arm and leg. The tank then fires a shell directly at his head, causing it to explode. One of the monster's eyes rolls over toward the General, prompting him to casually shoot the eye. With the beast subdued, the General lights a cigar and walks over to a statue of the creature and a human smiling together, and a look of surprise washes over him as he realizes that the dragon wanted to be friends.

Track listing

Track written by Cage the Elephant.

No.TitleLength
1."Aberdeen"3:12
2."Doctor Doctor Doctor Help Me Help Me Help Me"2:14

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Canada Rock (Billboard)[2] 24
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[3] 22

Year-end charts
Chart (2012) Position
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[4] 71

References
  1. "r/IAmA - Comment by u/jchamp0227 on "Hello reddit! It's Jared Champion (drummer of Cage the Elephant). I had so much fun with the last AMA that I have to do this again. This time I brought my friend Matt Shultz (singer of Cage the Elephant) to answer your questions with me. Ask us anything!"". Reddit.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  2. "Cage the Elephant Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  3. "Cage the Elephant Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  4. "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2012". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.


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