"Monster" is a song by American alternative rock band Paramore. It was released on June 7, 2011 for digital download. It is also the second single from the Transformers: Dark of the Moon OST, which was released on June 14, 2011. It is the first song to not feature former band members Josh and Zac Farro, who separated from the band in 2010.
A sneak peek of the song surfaced when lead singer Hayley Williams posted lyrics on the band's Official Fan Club. An audio video for the song was posted on YouTube on June 2, 2011. The video itself achieved over 1,000,000 views in the first three days of posting. The song won Best Rock Track at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards.
The song was the 3rd best selling rock song of 2011 in the UK, behind My Chemical Romance's "Sing" and Foo Fighters "Rope".
Composition and release
James Montgomery of MTV, noted the number of times that the word "you" is used in the lyrics of "Monster" because of its subjectivity. He suggested that the song is about the former members of the group Josh Farro, since he and his brother Zac Farro left the band in 2010 and is the first track without them. According to Jon Blistein editor of Billboard, the song has elements of grunge, such as loud-soft dynamics, big vocals, and loud, crunchy guitars.Around the release of "Monster," Williams commented on: "We are fighting back and excited to be the album of Transformers. Tell your friends ... Paramore is back!" A video companion to "Monster" was recorded in Los Angeles and was uploaded to YouTube on July 18th . The single cover was described by Becky Bain, as containing the three members of Paramore, Hayley Williams, Jeremy Davis and Taylor York, standing in a dark tunnel where a light at the end faces the band.
Music video
The music video was directed by Shane Drake, who has directed some of Paramore's previous music videos. On July 15, the band's official website posted a video via YouTube of a 19 second clip previewing the music video. It was premiered on MTV.com July 18 at 12:00 Midnight and at 6am on MTV 2. The video opens with Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy unconscious and floating on water. Hayley opens her eyes and begins to sing as the video cuts to the band performing in a concrete room while kicking and punching the wall. Another scene shows each of the band members alone and wandering through an abandoned hospital building. The kicking and punching from the band performing causes violent explosions around the members wandering around and all three proceed to run away. The three eventually meet up in a foyer and continue running away together before ducking into the concrete room in which they were performing earlier.Chart performance
Its first appearance was week 24/2011 in the UK Singles Top 75 and New Zealand Top 40. Its peak position was number 21, on the UK Singles Top 75, it stayed there for 1 week, and 23 in New Zealand Top 40. "Monster" also debuted and peaked at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100) | 55 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ) | 23 |
| Scotland (Official Charts Company) | 13 |
| UK Rock Singles Chart | 35 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 21 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 36 |
| US Alternative Songs (Billboard) | 23 |
| US Billboard Rock Songs | 38 |