A-Punk

Album: Vampire Weekend (2008)
Charted: 55
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Vampire Weekend first appeared to a coast to coast American audience when they performed this song, dressed in sweaters, on the February 1, 2008 Late Show with David Letterman.
  • Garth Jennings directed the song's video and Nick Goldsmith produced it. Working under the pseudonym of Hammer and Tongs, they are best known for directing the promo for Blur's "Coffee & TV," which won the 1999 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video. The duo also directed and produced the 2005 film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
  • Frontman Ezra Koenig told the Daily Mail May 23, 2008: "We had a riff that sounded like a Punk song, but we played it on the high notes to make it sound more interesting."
  • Vampire Weekend performed the song three times in a row during their March 23, 2019 gig at the Islington Assembly Hall gig in London.

    After their first attempt, Koenig said: "Hmmmm that song is too short." After the second, he added: "These shows are essentially attended rehearsals, we've got a lot of shows to play this year. I'm sorry, but..." The band then played the song for a third time.

Comments: 6

  • Nady from Adelaide, Australia"cut his teeth on turquoise harmonica..." just wanted to know if it was a reference to something. settle down. it can make as much sense as you like..thats why it's so good:D
  • Reta from Frisco, Tx...is this song supposed to make sense?
  • Kelsey from Rustburg, VaHow can someone not know what a harmonica is for god's sake?
  • Joe from Phoenix, AzA turquoise harmonica is a free reed wind instrument that's colored an opaque, blue-to-green color.
  • Alex from Pompton Plains, Nji love this song, vampire weekend have such a unique sound it's great! and yeah what is a turquise harmonica? haha
  • Nady from Adelaide, AustraliaWhats a turquoise harmonica??bah who cares its a goooooood song
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

John Parr

John ParrSongwriter Interviews

John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.