The Darkness were never the most serious band in the world.
Although no one questioned their rock credentials, there was always some tongue in cheek humor whenever Justin Hawkins performed live.
While the band earned their stripes with “I Believe In a Thing Called Love,’ Hawkins says it was written as a goof.
When talking about the song’s origins, guitarist Dan Hawkins mentioned its stupidity saying,
“I can’t remember who said it but we were having a conversation along the lines of: ‘Why don’t we just write the stupidest song ever?’ Justin and Frankie were sparring with that ridiculous chorus line very early on. I came up with the bridge and the back end of the chorus and tried to put it into some sort of semblance of a song.”
While the writing session went well, Hawkins said the rest of the band didn’t love the song yet,
“I expected us all to feel embarrassed playing it. But everyone was singing along to the chorus the second time it came around. We looked at each other and thought: ‘This is it. It’s staying.’ I was like: ‘Oh fuck. It’s staying.”
Although the band wasn’t taking themselves seriously, Justin Hawkins welcomed the novelty factor saying,
“I never craved normality. That’s not something that would excite me musically. I’d rather do something other than music than be asked to do normal music. It probably is novelty in the sense that it’s unusual.”
If it’s not a joke, there’s a fair bit of humor in calling an album One Way Ticket to Hell and Back.
In the eyes of the band, there’s nothing wrong with bringing camp into rock and roll.
As Hawkins put it so eloquently,
“We’ve always wanted to divide people, and being cheesy and positive means that you’re making the choice between having a good time and being a miserable ****.”
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