The Black Keys on Their Tighten Up Single
Not to be confused with the 1968 hit of the same title by the Archie Bell and Billy Buttier, ‘Tighten Up’ of Akron, Ohio’s very own The Black Keys is by far the band’s most successful song to date. Tighten Up is the first single from the latest album released by the Black Keys on May 2010. The lyrics to Tighten Up by the Black Keys were written by the band members themselves which consists of the vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The single was recorded in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, produced by Danger Mouse, released by Nonesuch Records, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.
In an interview by The Sun, Dan Auerbach told how the Tighten Up song came about. According to Dan, ‘That was the last song we did for the record. We had a couple of days off and so did Brian (Danger Mouse) and since we are friends and like hanging out with each other we thought it would be fun to go into the studio and see if we could come up with a tune. We always have a blast when the three of us get together.’ The song was licensed to be featured on the FIFA 11, television series Gossip Girl, Subaru commercial, and in the movies I Am Number Four and Bad Teacher. It was The Black Keys most successful single as it is their first single to reach no. 1 on the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts in the United States.
As with the lyrics to Tighten Up by The Black Keys, the video of the song is now out for every Black Keys fans out there. The original music video for the song was just a low budget clip which stars a puppet dinosaur standing beside a plant. On the video, the puppet named Frank was dancing and miming the words. The official music video for Tighten UP was released on May 18, 2010. In the video, it shows Dan walking with his fictitious son towards the park. Dan then sits next to Patrick on the bench. Their fictitious sons playing with their toys and when Dan’s son sees a little girl, he starts lip syncing the lyrics to Tighten Up by the Black Keys. He climbs on the play ground to kiss the girl, but to his surprise, the girl was gone, lured away by Patrick’s son. Dan’s son fights with Patrick’s son and when Dan and Patrick try to break up the fight between their sons, they see the mother of the girl and begin fighting like their sons. The two hit each other using the drum set of Patrick. The woman walked away upon seeing them fighting.
The single debuted at no. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 6, 2010 and re-entered at no. 87 on January 22, 2011. It stayed at no. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart for ten weeks, while staying for twelve weeks on the Rock Songs chart. Auerbach and Carney are known for promoting their own brand of songwriting. The lyrics to Tighten Up by the Black Keys truly shows the duo’s talent in writing and composing songs, but although Tighten Up is the band’s most recognized song, the Brothers album has so much more to offer the fans. The Black Keys tickets are sold out for now, but we expect them back on tour again soon.
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