Friday Song: “Last Nite”
A 2001 song channeling a classic rock staple actually helps two artists connect
“Last Nite” is a 2001 song by the Strokes. It was released as the second single from their album Is This It.
The song’s opening guitar riff and overall structure is based on “American Girl” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. When some listeners pointed out the similarity, lead singer and songwrite Julian Casablancas explained how it happened:
Yeah, we ripped it off.
In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Petty was nonplussed:
The Strokes took “American Girl,” there was an interview that took place with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, “OK, good for you.” It doesn’t bother me.
The Strokes were invited to open for several dates Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 2006 tour as a result.
“Last Nite” is about a guy who leaves his girlfriend after she tells him she’s upset because he doesn’t care about her. He then starts to wonder if he did the right thing.
Casablancas told their producer he wanted the song to sound “like a band from the past that took a time-trip into the future.”
The song’s video was directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola and a frequent collaborator with Wes Anderson.
Since its release, the song has only grown in renown, and is routinely listed among the top songs of the 2000s.
Enjoy!