"The First Big Weekend" is a song by Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 post-

Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 indie

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Arab Strap

Arab Strap (band)

Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...

. It was first released as a 7" single limited to 700 copies, then later on Arab Strap's debut album, The Week Never Starts Round Here

The Week Never Starts Round Here

The Week Never Starts Round Here is the debut studio album by Arab Strap, released on November 25, 1996, on Chemikal Underground. During a 2009 interview, Malcolm Middleton stated that The Week Never Starts Round Here is his favourite Arab Strap release: "it’s completely undiluted and free from any...

, both released in 1996 on Chemikal Underground

Chemikal Underground

Chemikal Underground is an independent record label set up in 1994 by Glasgow, Scotland rock band The Delgados. It was set up to release their first single, "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" and went on to break many new Scottish bands in the nineties....

.

The song received a large amount of airplay on BBC Radio One's Evening Session show. The show's host, DJ Steve Lamacq

Steve Lamacq

Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...

 has described the song as the 'best of the decade and also 'the most perfect pop song ever'. The song was used in a commercial

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 for the drink Guinness

Guinness

Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...

.

The First Big Weekend is, for the most part, a monologue

Monologue

In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...

 spoken by Aidan Moffat

Aidan Moffat

Aidan John Moffat is a Scottish vocalist and musician, best known for his work with Malcolm Middleton in Arab Strap.-Early life:...

 while bandmate Malcolm Middleton

Malcolm Middleton

Malcolm Bruce Middleton is a Scottish musician best known for his work with Aidan Moffat in post-folk indie band Arab Strap as well as his solo career writing and producing...

 plays guitar and a drum machine

Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...

 accompanies. The lyrics revolve around the events of a weekend, including going out to clubs and bars

Bar (establishment)

A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

, watching international football

International football

International football generally refers to association football matches between representative national teams carried out under the regulation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association...

 and The Simpsons

Another Simpsons Clip Show

"Another Simpsons Clip Show" is the third episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 25, 1994...

 and trying to pick up girls. Towards the end of the song Malcolm begins to sing the lines "Went out for the weekend, it lasted forever/got high with our friends, it's officially summer"; these are the only sung words in the song.

Track listing

Songs and lyrics by Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton.

• 7" (CHEM009)

1. "The First Big Weekend" – 4:52
2. "Gilded" – 2:40

Personnel

• Aidan Moffat – vocals, drums
• Malcolm Middleton – guitar
• Paul Savage – producer

External links

• "The First Big Weekend" on Last.fm
  Last.fm
  Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....