Four Letter Word (Beady Eye song)

"Four Letter Word" is a song by English band Beady Eye, released on Beady Eye Records as "BEADY3". The track is also featured on the band's 2011 debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding as the opening track. The song was first unveiled through its music video, which premièred on the NME website and the band's official website on 26 December 2010; a limited-edition 7" vinyl issue followed on 17 January 2011, backed with the new song "World Outside My Room".^[3][4]

"Four Letter Word" was recorded during the sessions for Different Gear, Still Speeding at RAK Studios in London with producer Steve Lillywhite. In a January 2011 interview, the band said that the album's songs had initially been written individually before being developed collectively, and that much of the material was recorded live in order to preserve immediacy and energy.^[5]

Liam Gallagher discussed the song directly in an interview with OOR, where he was asked whether its opening line and title functioned as a mission statement. Gallagher replied that the phrase could mean "anything", then described it as "a great opener" and said that one of the things he wanted from Beady Eye was a return to more forceful rock songs rather than an over-reliance on ballads.^[6] In another interview, Andy Bell agreed with the suggestion that "Four Letter Word" sounded "cinematic", noting that other listeners had similarly described parts of the album in those terms.^[7]

In critical writing, the song was frequently described as a forceful, riff-heavy opener. The Arts Desk characterised it as having a "jackbooted psychedelic rock attitude",^[2] while Drowned in Sound compared it to a rough, noisy strain of pub rock.^[8]

At the time of the song's première, Beady Eye announced that the 7" edition of "Four Letter Word" would be issued as a heavyweight, numbered vinyl single.^[3][4] The track served as the second early preview from Different Gear, Still Speeding after "Bring the Light", before "The Roller" was announced as the band's first "official single proper".^[9][10]

All songs written by Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, and Andy Bell.

1. "Four Letter Word" – 4:15
2. "World Outside My Room" – 4:25

The music video for the song, directed by Julian House and Julian Gibbs,^[9] was released exclusively on the NME website on 26 December 2010,^[3] and features the band, along with live members Jeff Wootton and Matt Jones, performing before an audience in an undisclosed London location with psychedelic imagery interspersed throughout.^[9] The release of the video also marked the song's first public airing.^[9]

"Four Letter Word" received a generally positive, though not unanimous, critical response, and was often treated as a statement opener for Beady Eye's debut album. Reviewing Different Gear, Still Speeding for The Independent, Andy Gill highlighted the song's "bullish assertiveness" and triumphalist feel as an opening track.^[11] The Arts Desk likewise singled it out as a strong start, describing the song as pounding in with a heavy psychedelic-rock attack.^[2]

Other reviewers were more reserved. Drowned in Sound wrote that the song opened the album noisily and with clear intent, but felt it did not fully realise its promise.^[8] Slant Magazine was more critical, describing it as a "vacuous exercise in stomping orchestral rock".^[12] In a later retrospective on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and Beady Eye, The Line of Best Fit referred to "Four Letter Word" as a "lost gem".^[13]

In the United Kingdom, "Four Letter Word" reached number 114 on the main singles chart, number 13 on the UK Independent Singles Chart, number 2 on the UK Indie Breakers Chart and number 2 on the Official Physical Singles Chart.^[14][15] In January 2012, the Official Charts Company listed it at number 8 in its year-end rundown of the best-selling 7-inch vinyl singles of 2011.^[16]