A Grand Don't Come for Free
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| A Grand Don't Come for Free | ||
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| Studio album by The Streets | ||
| Released | May 18, 2004 | |
| Genre | Electronica, Garage, Hip Hop | |
| Length | 50:36 | |
| Label | Vice, Atlantic | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Skinner | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| The Streets chronology | ||
| Original Pirate Material (2002) |
A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004) |
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (2006) |
A Grand Don't Come for Free is the second album for UK garage musician Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, released on May 18, 2004.
[edit] Track listing
- "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy"
- "Could Well Be In"
- "Not Addicted"
- "Blinded by the Lights"
- "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way"
- "Get Out of My House"
- "Fit But You Know It"
- "Such a Twat"
- "What Is He Thinking?"
- "Dry Your Eyes"
- "Empty Cans"
[edit] The story
A Grand Don't Come for Free is a concept album. In the story, the protagonist loses £1000. In the first track on the album, "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy", he realizes he has lost the money after coming back from returning a rented DVD and attempting to withdraw money from a cash machine. In the process of trying to recover the money, he:
- Conquers a girl ("Could Well Be In")
- Attempts to win money via gambling ("Not Addicted")
- Finds himself high on Ecstasy, cocaine, and alcohol in a nightclub, when his girlfriend fails to show up to the date ("Blinded By the Lights")
- Weighs up the pros and cons of being in a relationship (and refers to his broken Television which becomes relevant later in the story) ("Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way")
- Argues with his girlfriend ("Get Out of My House")
- Poses to impress a girl ("Fit But You Know It") in a take away restaurant during a heavy night drinking on holiday
- Remorsefully reviews the events of the previous night during a phone call to a friend ("Such a Twat")
- Suspects a friend of stealing his coat and £1000. Discovers that his girlfriend is having an affair ("What is He Thinking?")
- Tries to cope with his girlfriend breaking up with him ("Dry Your Eyes").
- The final track, "Empty Cans", features two endings to the plot, a bitter ending and a happy ending (the former where he and a TV repairman get into a fight after he finds something valuable in the TV, and the latter in which he finds the thousand pounds hidden in his TV) with matching music for both. In the happy version he appears to have an epiphany, however Skinner suggests it may not be very deep as the inspirational music continues to swell while the lyrics begin to return to mundane details about his life.
- The B-Side to the UK single release of 'Fit But You Know It' contains the song 'Soaked By The Ale'. The story of this song takes place between the events of 'Fit But You Know It' and 'Such A Twat'. It documents one of Skinner's mates being annoyed at Mike for stealing a tub of ice cream whilst on holiday in Spain as a result of his excessive drinking. The chronological order is identified in 'Such A Twat' where Skinner raps "And that incident with the ice cream I forgot, it all ended in our vodka".
[edit] Singles
The second single, "Dry Your Eyes", entered the UK chart at No. 1. The album itself reached No. 1 in the UK albums charts, No. 11 in Australia and No. 82 in the US. Two other singles - "Blinded by the Lights" and "Could Well Be In" - were released, but failed to earn much recongnition like the previous two. "Fit But You Know It" and "Dry Your Eyes" both featured in the 2004 Triple J Hottest 100 in Australia placing #18 and #19 respectively.
