Who is the real “Arabella” from the Arctic Monkeys song?

While Turner and Matt Helders were promoting the group’s US tour in early 2014, the subject naturally came up in their interview with Q104 3 Classic Rock Radio in New York. Host DJ Jonathan Clarke asked Turner directly: “Who is Arabella?”

The songwriter’s response, in its nervous incoherence, said more than words could have. “I don’t know… I guess I mean… I mean,” he stammered. “I don’t really want to give you her number or anything.” Arabella was apparently a real person. “She’s… er… yeah… she’s quite remarkable,” he continued.

Turner then attempted to distract listeners from his muse’s true identity by claiming the song’s subject matter was actually more abstract. “I suppose it’s trying to describe this kind of impossible object,” he explained. “I just got carried away and started painting outside the lines.”

But he couldn’t convince anyone. Especially not when he asked Clarke worriedly: “Could I have been more cryptic?”

A woman from LA?

The song’s composer had hit the nail on the head and confirmed what many fans already knew. Arabella was a not-so-subtle pseudonym for Turner’s then-girlfriend Arielle Vandenberg. If you take the “B” out of the song’s title, it sounds almost identical to Vandenberg’s first name.

She and Turner met when the singer moved into an apartment in Los Angeles with Arctic Monkeys drummer Helders. Vandenberg was a native of the city and was developing her career as an actress at the time, starring in sitcoms Greek And Meet the Browns.

The couple were the same age and apparently moved in many of the same circles. They dated for three years between 2011 and 2014, and Vandenberg was associated with most of the love songs that Turner wrote for AM.

When he moved on to his next project, the second album by The Last Shadow Puppets, Everything you expectthe indie rocker from Sheffield had found a new muse. “Arabella” was a thing of the past and made way for “Sweet Dreams, TN”, aka the American model Taylor Bagley.

However, Arielle Vandenberg will always have her song, which has become a staple in the setlists of Arctic Monkeys live performances and has surely touched Turner’s mind and soul forever.

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