Songfacts®:

• This song is about what it's like to feel detached from those around you, as if your spirit cannot be free. It may be a commentary on how life in the city can suck your soul. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• The video, which shows the band in odd positions around New York City, was directed by Samuel Bayer, who also did their "You Only Live Once" clip.
• This almost ended up on The Strokes' previous album, Room On Fire, under the title "Private Dick." Julian told Rolling Stone Australia: "We didn't have time to put it together and do it in a way that felt totally comfortable. In other words, we liked it too much to rush it, so we made sure it was one of the first tracks we recorded this time."
• Nick Valensi, the band's lead guitarist, thinks the lyrics reflect Julian's preference to sum things up rather than over-explain. He told Julian during the band's interview with Rolling Stone Australia: "That shows in the lyrics: You don't dig around, you just sum it up. You're basically going; 'That's what it is,' there's nothing extraneous there. Not everyone would start a song with a line, 'I don't feel good when I'm f--king around."
• Bluegrass musician Chris Thile and his band The Punch Brothers recorded this with a bluegrass arrangement on the 2006 album How To Grow A Woman From The Ground.