Arctic Monkeys: 10 Hidden Song Meanings
8. A Jeer At Celebrity Culture
In an arcade, a teddy picker is a machine with a robotic arm that you control in order to pick up prizes. You know the one I mean.
In Turner's mind, the "Teddy Picker" is the hand of fame reaching to pull someone up to the top. It's a jeer at the malicious world of celebrity culture in the 2000s; pointing the finger at shows like Big Brother and at the people who rise to the media pressure, all hoping to be pulled up by the claw themselves.
Arctic Monkeys have never struck anyone as famous people rather than musicians. Aside from the odd interview they don't involved in that side of the music industry, and we're grateful for that. Alex Turner has spiced many of his songs with his views on celebrity culture and the media but "Teddy Picker" may his most cynical.
A tangle on the television and the magazine. Do you reckon that they do it for a joke?
In an era where the band never took themselves seriously, dressing up as Wizard the Oz characters for award shows, they were at their most cutting towards the industry.