Take Me Out (song)

"Take Me Out"
Single by Franz Ferdinand
from the album Franz Ferdinand
B-side	"Truck Stop" "All for You, Sophia" "Words So Leisured" Remixes
Released	12 January 2004
Format	7" 12" CD DVD
Recorded	2003
Genre	Indie rock post-punk revival dance-punk
Length	3:57 (album version) 3:24 (UK radio edit)[1]
Label	Domino
Writer(s)	Alex Kapranos Nicholas McCarthy
Producer(s)	Tore Johansson
Franz Ferdinand singles chronology
"Darts of Pleasure" (2003) "Take Me Out" (2004) "The Dark of the Matinée" (2004)
Audio sample file info · help

"Take Me Out" is a song by the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the second single from their debut album Franz Ferdinand in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2004 and in the United States on 9 February, both through Domino Records. It was released on CD, 7" vinyl, and as a DVD single with the video promo and a short interview with the band.

The single reached number three in the UK Singles Chart. In the U.S., it reached number three on Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a number-seven hit on the Canadian Singles Chart, and also reached #1 on the UK Indie Chart. The song was voted the best single of 2004 by the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, and number one on Australian youth radio network Triple J's Hottest 100 of the same year.^[2] In July 2009, it was voted number 100 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time.

In November 2004, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[3]

Video

The promotional video for the song was directed by Jonas Odell. It includes the band in the midst of a Dadaist and somewhat Pythonesque (surreal Terry Gilliam style) animation involving quirky vintage figures and machinery. The video is a blend of the live action band superimposed into a 3D environment with animated 2D elements. Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos named Dada, the films of Busby Berkeley, and Soviet propaganda as influences, and praised Odell's direction. Kapranos commented:

Basically it's a pop video and it should entertain you, but not just once – there're certain things you stare at in life that is just fascinating to look at like a fish tank or an open fire, they're actually quite simple things but there's something fascinating about them. And I think pop videos should be like that too. There should be something there that just makes you want to come back and look at it.^[4]

Artwork

The artwork from the single was inspired by a 1923 poster for "One-Sixth Part of the World", by Rodchenko.

Use in popular media

"Take Me Out" was featured in the soundtracks of the video games Madden NFL 2005,^[5] NHL 2005,^[6] and Shaun White Skateboarding,^[7] and is playable in Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, the U.S. version of SingStar Pop, Just Dance 2, Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2, and Rocksmith.^[8] The song is also downloadable content for the Rock Band series.

The song was used in the fifth season of the British reality show Strictly Come Dancing in which the Scottish rugby player Kenny Logan and his professional dance partner, Ola Jordan, danced a paso doble to it. Beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy also performed a paso doble to "Take Me Out" in the American seventh season of Dancing with the Stars.

The song was also featured in the trailer for the 2008 film Hancock.^[9]

Honours

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Take Me Out" at #41 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In September 2005, the same magazine named it the 34th greatest track ever performed by a British band. Q made another list for their television channel, also named Q, they made a list of 100 greatest Indie Anthems where "Take Me Out" featured on #6.

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Take Me Out" on #16 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, whereas MTV2 placed it on #7 in their version of the 50 greatest Indie Anthems ever, which was loosely based on NME's list.

Pitchfork Media gave it a four and a half star rating stating "For once, the NME could be spot-on. There's a reason, after all, that this track shot to #3 on the UK pop charts within a week of its release." Pitchfork Media later ranked the song #44 of its top 500 tracks of the 2000s.^[10]

Rolling Stone magazine also placed "Take Me Out" at number 327 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010 updated list.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 27 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[11]

Other versions

In 2006, an acoustic version of "Take Me Out" was recorded in Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States. This version of the song would appear as a B-side to the exclusive fan club release of "Swallow, Smile"^[12]

The song was covered by the Scissor Sisters in 2004 on the B-side to their single "Mary" and "Filthy/Gorgeous". In Australia, the song received substantial airplay and was ranked #44 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004 while the original version was ranked #1.^[2]

The Magic Numbers and Guillemots both covered the song for BBC Radio 1's The Jo Whiley Show. Biffy Clyro also recorded a very different take for Zane Lowe's show. Finger Eleven are known for playing "Take Me Out" live, usually in a medley of their "Paralyzer", Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot" and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2".

"Weird Al" Yankovic used a portion of the song for the polka medley "Polkarama!", from his 2006 album Straight Outta Lynwood.^[13] In 2008 Ryan Lewis produced a mash-up combining "Take Me Out" with 2Pac's "Crooked Nigga Too."^[14]

Formats and track listings

Charts and certifications

References

External links

• The School of Rock, John Sutherland An interpretation of the song in the Guardian.
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics