Album: That's the Spirit (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Oli Sykes ruminating on the drug-addled people still going to '90s, Ibiza-style clubs in their late 20s and 30s. The vocalist explained to Kerrang: "'Oh No' is meant to be this anti-dance song. It's about people my age are still trying to live like they did when they were 18. It's meant to sound like walking into a club – I wanted the irony of it sounding like something you'd hear on a night out; when lyrically it's saying that this way of life doesn't make sense to me anymore."
  • The song features an '80s-sounding saxophone solo. Sykes told Kerrang: "The sax-trumpet part was my idea. I wanted it to feel like when the lights come on at a club at the end of a night - that slightly s--tty last song feeling. That's why it felt like a good album ender too, because it's about the fact that all good things come to an end."
  • The music video was directed by Isaac Eastgate, who has previously worked with Spring King and LA Priest. The clip switches between a hostage situation, footage of the band performing a recording studio and a group of producers and engineers behind a mixing board.

    Sykes told Rolling Stone that the visual is the first time he's let the director take full creative control. "At first, I was apprehensive, but when it all came together I was psyched on it," he said. "It's got a good balance of humor and meaning, and it's a video that leaves you with a lot of questions."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Sam Phillips

Sam PhillipsSongwriter Interviews

Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Trucking Songs That Were #1 Hits

Trucking Songs That Were #1 HitsSong Writing

The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Grateful Dead Characters

Grateful Dead CharactersMusic Quiz

Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?