Released 12 January 2004 Recorded 2003 | Format 7"
12"
CD
DVD | |
B-side "Truck Stop"
"All for You, Sophia"
"Words So Leisured"
Remixes Genre Indie rock
post-punk revival
dance-punk
art rock Length 3:57 (album version)
3:24 (UK radio edit) | ||
"Take Me Out" is a song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the second single from their eponymous debut studio album in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2004 and in the United States on 9 February, both through Domino Records. It was released as 7" vinyl, a CD single, and a DVD single with the music video and a short interview with the band.
Contents
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 number one on the UK Indie Chart. In November 2004, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song was voted the best single of 2004 by the The Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, and number one on Australian youth radio network Triple J's Hottest 100 of the same year. In July 2009, it was voted number 100 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time.
Music video
The music 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.
Honours
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Take Me Out" at number 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, of 100 greatest Indie Anthems, where "Take Me Out" featured on number 6.
In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Take Me Out" on number 16 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, whereas MTV2 placed it on number 7 in their version of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, which was loosely based on NME's list. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 27 on its list of 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years.
Pitchfork ranked the song number 44 of its top 500 tracks of the 2000s.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Take Me Out" number 327 in the 2010 version of their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
In popular culture
"Take Me Out" was featured in the trailer for the 2008 film Hancock and in the soundtracks of the video games Madden NFL 2005, NHL 2005, and Shaun White Skateboarding, being 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. The song is also a downloadable content for the Rock Band series.
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".
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 number 44 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004 while the original version was ranked number one.
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. In 2008, Ryan Lewis produced a mash-up, combining "Take Me Out" with 2Pac's "Crooked Nigga Too".