See the moon See the stars From your lonely seat In your lonely car You can be oh so mean I just can’t see no in-between You know what the sun’s all about When the lights go out.”
A couple of things – today is Martin Luther King Day, it is inauguration day and this song has nothing to do with either of those. When the Lights Go Out led the Black Keys‘ 2004 album Rubber Factory. It received even more press when it was featured in that weird, captured nympho movie Black Snake Moan. The track exudes those soulful guitar riffs and pain-driven lyrics that a staples of the Keys’ music. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have spent the last 12 years crafting their sound and exploring new heights for their music. Something about When the Lights Go Out is so classic, though. It’s powerful blues rock, the sound created in the midst of a vacated tire factory. Weird, but true.