Scottish band Franz Ferdinand's iconic hit "Take Me Out" is renowned for its brilliant opening, most notably the shift in rhythm. The song begins with a dramatic atmosphere created by guitar plucking, followed by lead singer Alex Kapranos inviting listeners: "So if you're lonely." Depicting a provocative sense of desire in the lyrics, just as most songs are about to explode, Franz Ferdinand suddenly slows the tempo.
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02-04, 2025At 55 seconds, the song decelerates into an energetic disco beat, like a piston driving the song's signature riff. This surprising tempo change, even after listening hundreds of times, still excites like the first listen and became a cornerstone of 2000s indie rock.
"Take Me Out" is one of Franz Ferdinand's earliest singles and also their most successful. Released in 2004, the song swept the globe, not only topping various charts but also dominating student club nights and helping the band's self-titled debut album win two Brit Awards, a Mercury Prize, an Ivor Novello Award, and three Grammy nominations.
The song also topped triple j's Hottest 100 of 2004, making Franz Ferdinand the first (and so far only) Scottish band to reach the top of the annual countdown. This victory was also decisive in the history of the Hottest 100, with more than double the votes of the second-place song, Missy Higgins' "Scar." "I remember we were number one that year, but I didn't realize it was by that much," Alex Kapranos told Double J's Karen Leng. "That's pretty amazing!"
After playing the winning song, triple j also played a live version of "Take Me Out" (recorded at the Splendour In The Grass festival) to close out the 2004 broadcast, and began the tradition, still upheld today, of playing the winning song twice. Kapranos said that coming to Australia for the Splendour In The Grass festival was "one of the most profound memories of that year."
"I remember when we played 'Take Me Out' during the show, the whole audience jumped up, and it was completely synchronized. The amount of dust that was generated was just incredible," Kapranos recalled. "I'm talking about it now and I still get goosebumps. It was a truly extraordinary experience!"
That day, listeners heard "Take Me Out" for the third time in the Hottest 100 countdown. A cover version by the Scissor Sisters—reimagining the song as a lounge cabaret performance by Elton John—also made it to number 44. "Wow, that song was on the list too. I love that version," Kapranos commented. "I forgot they covered it, and it was cool."
"I like it when bands cover songs and they sound like their own song, not your song. I'm glad our version beat their version. It would have been embarrassing the other way around!" Franz Ferdinand's original version of "Take Me Out", with its memorable angular guitar and powerful vocals, dominated indie dance floors and extended its lifespan through remixes (including one by Daft Punk).
For many, "Take Me Out" can instantly evoke nostalgia, but its popularity has endured for over two decades. Earlier this month, Franz celebrated the song reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify, just days after they released their sixth studio album (and Double J's feature album), "The Human Fear." Not bad for a song conceived in a dilapidated apartment in the East End of Glasgow.
In 2003, Kapranos shared an apartment with guitarist Nick McCarthy and drummer Paul Thomson, with Thomson sleeping on a mattress in the hallway. One day, the lead singer heard McCarthy fiddling with a small keyboard preset in his room. "Nick was just playing with the 'Bluegrass' setting," Kapranos previously told triple j in 2018. They quickly came up with the chords and signature riff, then returned to Kapranos' bedroom (dubbed "the sad cave...because it had no windows") to record a demo with their old PC.
Kapranos' lyrics were inspired by a World War II movie he had watched the night before, 1999's "Enemy at the Gates," starring Jude Law and Ed Harris as Russian and German snipers, respectively. "It's not a bad movie, but it's not the best movie ever. It's about the Battle of Stalingrad and two snipers who are stalking each other," Kapranos said, "just waiting for the other one to make a move...[and] when they do, they can take them out."
"It became a metaphor for a romantic situation. [Or] Jude Law as a sniper." Lyrics such as "I'm just a crosshair/I'm only one shot away from you" also suggest that the song is about the assassination of the band's namesake, Archduke Ferdinand, whose death is believed to have triggered World War I.
As for the song's unconventional structure, it was formed through constant adjustments during rehearsals and early performances. "Originally, the opening chorus and verse were swapped," Kapranos explained. "But the verse sounded really good at a slightly faster tempo, and the chorus sounded good at a slower tempo." The solution? Move all the verses to the beginning, then change the speed, turning the chorus into a verse. "So that's why we wrote another part—'I know I won't leave here...' because we needed another new chorus."
"They are my favorite moments in pop music, those songs that shouldn't work—a bit obscure but also very direct." The final version was finalized when Franz Ferdinand recorded their self-titled debut album with Swedish producer Tore Johansson. The song's signature tempo change didn't involve any studio tricks. "They had already played it live so many times that they could actually slow down in the same way," Johansson told Sound On Sound in 2004.
"I put almost all the instruments through a couple of echoes to get that marching, mechanical, industrial feel. It was very natural, but we wanted it to sound like you were in a big workshop." The memorable music video also highlighted this feeling. Directed by Jonas Odell, the video, influenced by Soviet propaganda and Dada art philosophy, used animation to depict the band as automatons manufacturing bizarre industrial inventions in an abstract factory.
The final result sounded "Superfantastich!" (as Franz's debut single, "Darts of Pleasure" put it) and made Kapranos think the song would sound great on the radio. "It was just a joke. Obviously, people like us wouldn't be played on the radio," he recalled. "We were just a bunch of idiots from Glasgow," Thomson interjected.
Kapranos often says that Franz Ferdinand creates "music to make girls dance," but "Take Me Out" has universal appeal. It is both raw enough to appeal to rock die-hards and has an extremely catchy melody to attract casual listeners, all presented with a stylish art-rock packaging and an elegant dress code (skinny pants and even skinnier ties).
A key feature of the song is that when the guitar ignites over the indie disco beat, it's a defining moment—seamlessly reflecting the shift from the early 2000s garage rock revival to the dance styles that followed. Franz Ferdinand, jokingly dubbed "the Scottish Strokes" online, were a crucial link in the natural evolutionary chain from New York Y2K darlings The Strokes, Interpol, and The Rapture to a new wave of British bands (drawing on similar post-punk influences such as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Josef K, and the early Cure) that used sharp riffs and rhythms in their own way.
Kaiser Chiefs incorporated elements of Britpop; The Futureheads had excellent harmonies; and Bloc Party (originally Franz Ferdinand's opening act) brought social and political commentary. The post-Franz wave popularized the idea that indie rock could sound and look great on the dance floor; Arctic Monkeys, of course, adopted this concept and launched their own explosive and influential career.
In all, this sound, spirit, and attitude helped The Killers (and future Hottest 100 winners) Kings of Leon and Muse become stadium-level bands, competing with mainstream pop heavyweights. When "Take Me Out" topped triple j's Hottest 100, Kapranos was chatting backstage at an NME-curated gig at Glasgow College with a bunch of wild bands: The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, and The Futureheads.
"It was a great bunch of bands," Kapranos told Double J, "They were all great, and they all performed really well." Was there a sense of camaraderie or competition? "I felt a sense of camaraderie. I knew Kaiser Chiefs, not all of them, but a couple of them were quite competitive, and I didn't feel that so much from the other bands."
"I think I'm still in touch with all of those bands," he mused, "I actually saw The Killers the other day. I met members of Bloc Party a few years ago. I've always just liked those bands and been glad they made good music." For Franz Ferdinand and their fans, "Take Me Out" triggers fond memories of good times, a unique era of sound, and their victory on the Hottest 100, cementing their place in Australian music history.
"It's so cool to have done that," Kapranos concluded happily, "Thanks for reminding me!"
