Michael (Franz Ferdinand song)

"Michael"
Song

"Michael" is a song by Franz Ferdinand and was the fourth single released from their debut self-titled album. The song was notable for its homoerotic lyrics such as "stubble on my sticky lips" and "beautiful boys on a beautiful dancefloor".

The singer, Alex Kapranos, stated in an interview that the song was written about two friends of his — "It was one night when me and the band were out with friends from Glasgow, and we went to this warehouse dance party thing called Disco X. It was a very debauched night and these two friends got it together in a very sexy way."[1] The song was released as a single in the UK on August 16 2004. Due to a breach of UK chart rules by generously providing three tracks on the CD1 format instead of two (in what the band described in a press statement as a "silly schoolboy error") sales of the CD1 format were disqualified. Despite this, the single still reached a respectable #17.

The band usually performs a slightly different version of the song at concerts, most notably with the final "Come and dance with me" replaced by the more risqué "Come all over me" (this alternative lyric is in the liner notes, but crossed out and with the recorded lyric written beside it.) Also, "stubble on my sticky lips" is occasionally replaced with "stubble on my sticky hips."

Michael was also included as part of the soundtrack for the Playstation 2 game, Gran Turismo 4.

Secret Message

The song contains a secret message from 1:35 to 1:39 saying, "She's worried about you, call your mother", if played backwards. According to "franzferdinand.net," bassist Bob Hardy was getting a bit worried about calling his mother back home, so the band added the backwards lyrics in as an homage. But Bob Hardy has said that he has no knowledge of the lyrics being there and he thought it was just a positive message to put on the track.

Alternative Version

The song was recorded alternatively in May 2004 in Hamburg, Germany as a duet and originally intended for release as a single. Without changing the lyrics, the reworked track was meant to take the perspective of a male love interest and female love interest fighting over Michael. Catriona Shaw of the band Queen of Japan provided the female vocals of this version of the track. In the end the band felt that the homoerotic undertones of the song became too diluted, so decided not to use it for the release of the track as a single and stuck with the original album version.

Track listing

UK release

Lead vocals performed by Alex Kapranos, except where noted.

CD1

1. "Michael" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
2. "Love and Destroy" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
3. "Missing You" (Alex Kapranos)

CD2 (deleted on day of release)

1. "Michael" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
2. "Don't Start" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
3. "Tell Her Tonight" (Paul Sings) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
   • Lead vocals performed by Paul Thomson

CD3

1. "Michael" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
2. "Don't Start" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)

7"

1. "Michael" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
2. "Michael" (Simon Bookish Remix) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
   • Lead vocals performed by Simon Bookish

12"

1. "Michael" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
2. "Love And Destroy" (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
3. "Don't Start" (Alex Kapranos)

US release

12"

1. "Michael" (Album Version) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
   • Lead vocals: Alex Kapranos
2. "Dark of the Matinée" (Headman Remix) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy/Bob Hardy)
   • Lead vocals: Alex Kapranos
3. "This Fire" (Playgroup Remix) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
   • Lead vocals: Alex Kapranos
4. "Michael" (Thomas Eriksen Mix) (Alex Kapranos/Nick McCarthy)
   • Lead vocals: Alex Kapranos

External links

• Michael lyrics