"Michael" | ||||
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Single by Franz Ferdinand | ||||
from the album Franz Ferdinand | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 16 August 2004 | |||
Format | ||||
Recorded | 2003 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:21 | |||
Label | Domino | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Tore Johansson | |||
Franz Ferdinand singles chronology | ||||
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"Michael" is a song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the fourth single from their eponymous debut studio album on 16 August 2004 through Domino Records. The song was notable for its homoerotic lyrics such as "stubble on my sticky lips" and "beautiful boys on a beautiful dancefloor". It was released in multiple formats, including a 7" vinyl, two 12" vinyls, and two CDs. The second CD that was released was pulled from stores a day after its release due to chart ineligibility as it had three tracks on it instead of two, which is the allowed amount of tracks for the CD2 format. It was later re-released with only two tracks. The song had significant chart performance as it peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 39 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song has been featured in the soundtracks for the video games Gran Turismo 4, the PlayStation Portable version of World Rally Championship and Dancing Stage Max.
Frontman Alex Kapranos stated in an interview to the UK magazine Boyz 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." 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 "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."