My iPod #285: Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To

After a year and a bit of waiting, "Do You Want To" was Franz Ferdinand's 'we're back' single in 2005, their first one from their then upcoming second album "You Could Have It So Much Better" with Franz Ferdinand. The band went on to shorten the name.

I remember the first time I watched the "Do You Want To" video well. And the second time.... and the third. And so on. That's because (after, again, premiering the day before on Channel 4) it was repeated every hour on MTV2. The band pretend to be drunk, or just act really stupidly, at a casual gathering. It seemed that they were pleased that everybody's favourite Scottish band had returned, after what seemed like a long, long... long year and a bit. It was very hard to hear the same thing over and over without getting a bit sick of it; fortunately it isn't an annoying track.

The anticipation towards a night out is the subject of many songs. Take this one, for example. That is what "Do You Want To" is about too. But in this case, Alex has his eyes on someone that he wants to take out for a night in the town. That someone is the listener... and we are very lucky to be chosen. With the infectious "doo doo doos" and the memorable chorus, it's very hard to refuse Alex's offer.

My iPod #242: Franz Ferdinand - Darts of Pleasure

This is no mistake. I have no song by another artist between this one and yesterday's, so here's Franz Ferdinand again. This time with "Darts of Pleasure", another track from their debut album. It was actually their first single, months before anyone would know about "Take Me Out", and just missed out on a Top 40 place reaching #44 in the UK singles chart. The song itself is about the use of words to seduce somebody. The words are the darts of pleasure.

I can't exactly remember when I first saw the video for "Darts", but I have a feeling that the other singles from the album had already been released before I saw it on MTV2. It seems to be on a low budget compared to their later videos which is standard as it was their first single. In it, the viewer sees life from the point of view of Alex Kapranos' mouth where various antics occur. It's funny or icky depending on how you look at it.


The best part is definitely the coda with the German lyrics during the final minute, why the band chose to use it we'll never know but I'm not complaining.

My iPod #241: Franz Ferdinand - The Dark of the Matinée

"The Dark of the Matinée" was the second single from Franz Ferdinand's debut album, released in February 2004.

According to Kapranos, or what I could make from him before he introduced this song at a festival, the track is about skiving off school and hiding away in the shadows of the matinée. Every music channel showed the song as simply "Matinée" which is (I'm guressing) what everybody generally calls it. Maybe even some Franz Ferdinand fans if they're too occupied to say the full title. Either way it is the same song, but it is the darkness of the matinée which is being specified that is being established as the hiding place, and not just the building itself.

Whatever.

It is remarkable to think it has been ten years since I first heard this. This was one of my favourite songs at the time. I thought the video made the song even better. The 'robotic' choreography, Alex Kapranos' fringe and the huge painting of Terry Wogan during the final verse. I had daydreams of being in a band and making a video like it. I wanted Looking at it now makes me want to that eight years old who would wake up early in the morning to watch MTV2, actually watch music videos and discover bands for the first time all over again.

It wasn't as successful as "Take Me Out", which I'll get on to ages from now, but to me it certainly brings back some good memories.