Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Take Me Out (2004)
Some songs just bowl you over on first listen. They just grab your attention immediately and don't let go. It was that way with "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand, an epic post-punk stomper that was everywhere in early 2004.
The Scottish band was formed in 2001 by singer-guitarist Alex Kapranos and drummer Paul Thomson; they were soon joined by Bob Hardy on bass and Nick McCarthy on rhythm guitar. They got the idea for the band name after a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand won a race in the U.K. In 2003, the band signed to indie Domino Recording Company and started working on their debut album in Sweden with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson.
Franz Ferdinand released its first single, "Darts of Pleasure," in September 2003, but it came and went fairly quickly, hitting #44 on the U.K. Singles chart. "Take Me Out" was released in January 2004 and made an instant impact. Kapranos came up with the idea for the song while watching the WWII movie Enemy at the Gates, which featured a scene with a standoff between two snipers. Although he wrote the song about two snipers, he could have just as easily written it about a romantic situation.
The song begins with an intro section before the main riff kicks in. "So if you're lonely/You know I'm here waiting for you/I'm just a cross-hair/I'm just a shot away from you/And if you leave here/You leave me broken, shattered I lie/I'm just a cross-hair/I'm just a shot, then we can die/I know I won't be leaving here/With you."
The band was trying to parody big "jock jam" riffs when it came up with the next section, not having any idea that what they came up with would end up being played in stadiums across Europe.
"I say, 'Don't you know?'/You say, 'You don't know'/I say/'Take me out'/I say, 'You don't show'/Don't move, time is slow/I say/'Take me out'/I say, 'You don't know'/You say, 'You don't know'/I say/'Take me out'/If I move, this could die/If eyes move, this could die/I want you/To take me out."
"Take Me Out" has a dance-rock feel like classic Gang of Four, although the call-and-response riff and vocal melody were inspired by Howlin' Wolf.
The song blew up, hitting #3 on the U.K. Singles Chart and #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and #66 on the Hot 100. It was voted Best Single of 2004 by the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll. It was all over MTV, which was still playing videos regularly at that point. The self-titled album was also a hit, going to #3 in the U.K. and #32 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band also scored hits in the U.K. with "The Dark of the Matinee" and "Michael."
This was prime MP3 blog era and I downloaded a bootleg of a French radio concert simulcast of the band that was excellent, including great introductions of the songs by the French DJ. Franz Ferdinand followed up their debut with 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better, which entered the U.K. chart at #1 and the U.S. one at #8. It didn't have a hit like "Take Me Out," but it was a strong album. They've had a solid career, although they've only released three studio albums since 2009, plus a collaboration with Sparks called FFS.
It's tough for an artist to top such a killer song so early in their career, and honestly, Franz Ferdinand hasn't been able to and probably never will. It's not a criticism. They'll always have "Take Me Out," and that's not a bad thing.
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