I Say, Don't You Know?

sebby called it! When the 2004 lists began drifting in and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" sat near the top, if not at the top, of most of them, I wasn't surprised. This song more than any other made 2004 for me. When I finally got my hands on FF's debut in March, it was immediately clear to me that "Take Me Out" was the stand-out. And it seemed 1000% unlikely that any other song would come along and knock it from the top spot. Nine months later the initial reaction still stands: "Take Me Out" is not only far and away the best song of 2004, but perhaps the best since the turn of the century. Haters can hate, let them miss the thrill of it all because they're too busy arguing over whether it's disco or not, at the end of the day it's a winner: a brilliant and infectious four minutes of sass and stomp.

My favorite "Take Me Out" moment is near the first minute mark, when a second song of new energy and urgency starts to slowly break free from the shell of the first. It's as if the song is taking over, forcing Franz Ferdinand to play something they hadn't intended. Or something like that.

There's probably little reason for me to post this song, seeing as anyone who's bothering to read an mp3 blog has surely heard it, but I'm posting it anyway: its ubiquity has done nothing to diminish its power.

Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"