SINGLE PREMIERE: Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young” (+ Lyrics)

Forever “Young”.

New York City’s indie darlings Vampire Weekend are back to take the City by storm. No, they won’t be sucking any blood, just sucking some fans into their new sounds with a brand new studio album and this first single.

“Young” leads off Modern Vampires Of The City, the 12-track album to be released on May 7. The label is listed as XL Records/Beggars Group, which marks a slight change. XL is a sub-label of Beggars Banquet, which the group has been on since their first album, but this is the band’s first release to include Beggars in the label crediting. Just an interesting note; I’m not sure if it means anything substantial.

The title itself is a play on the phrase “dying young”, which has been addressed in a number of songs lately, including a hit single by Ke$ha. The band, as we know, sounds nothing like the goddess of glitter. While the song does remain faithful to their old sound, particularly of their second album, holy pitch shifting! Do I hear shades of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash in the repeated “baby” line? Maybe even a little bit of Yello‘s “Oh Yeah”. It’s an energetic single running at a length of 2:40, similar to some of their older material, and they’re never sounded better. You can tell that the song was influenced by the 1963 single “Wipe Out” by The Safaris with that rolling drum and guitar line in the middle of the song. Considering that summer is just around the corner, I’d say that’s a pretty good sign that you may just be surfing to this one in the next months. It’s very cool track that should do well at Alternative radio, where four of their singles have charted to date. We’ll just have to see if this cousin of “Cousins” can fight its way to the top of the family tree or be the “baby baby baby baby” of the bunch.

Fun fact: Ezra Koenig says the word “baby” 63 times in this song. (At least I think I counted correctly.)

(P.S. I apologize if some of these lyrics are wrong; some just go by really quickly and others could be a word or two off. Let me know if there are any corrections and I’d be happy to fix them. Thanks!)

Listen to the song here. Or here.

“DIANE YOUNG”

You torched a Saab like a pile of leaves
I’d gone to find some better wheels
Four or five meters running ’round the bend
When the government agents surround you again
If Diane Young won’t change your mind
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Out of control but you’re playing a role
You think you can go to the eighteenth hole
Well, you flip-flop the day of the championship
Try to go it alone, you roll for a bit
If Diane Young won’t change your mind
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Baby baby baby baby right on (X2)
Baby baby baby it’s a light on
Baby baby baby it’s a lifetime
Baby baby baby baby right on
Time (x5)
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Let ’em go
If Diane Young won’t change your mind
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Irish and proud baby naturally
But you got the luck of a Kennedy
So grab the wheel, keep holding it tight
‘Til you’re driving off in the black of the night
If Diane Young won’t change your mind
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Baby baby baby baby right on (X2)
Baby baby baby it’s a light on
Baby baby baby it’s a lifetime
Baby baby baby baby right on
Time (x5)
Baby baby baby baby right on time

Nobody knows what the future holds on
Said it’s bad enough just getting old
Live my life, they say it’s too fast
You know I love the past, ’cause I hate suspense
If Diane Young won’t change your mind
Baby baby baby baby right on time