History
Initially it was reported that the album would simply be eponymous like the debut album, 2004's Franz Ferdinand. Singer Alex Kapranos explained, "The whole point is that the album doesn’t have a title. We decided quite a while ago that we didn’t want to give any of the albums titles, they were just going to be called 'Franz Ferdinand'."
He added, "The albums are going to be identified by their colour schemes rather than a title. The contrast of different colours creates a different mood. We experimented with different combinations of colours and this one stuck. At one level they looked good together, and they capture the mood of this record quite well."
However, on 1 August it was revealed that the band had changed their minds and decided to give the album a name. At first they revealed that the title Outsiders was considered before the current title was decided upon.
As drummer Paul Thomson explained, "I was thinking something similar, but that 'You Could Have It So Much Better' would have been even greater. We talked about how we liked that idea a lot and that it was a real shame that the album wasn't going to have a title. Then we started laughing when we realized that the album hadn't been manufactured yet and we could change it after all." The title was also initially reported as the lengthy You Could Have It So Much Better... With Franz Ferdinand.
The song "You're the Reason I'm Leaving" is believed to be a dual-meaning track; it can be read as a typical relationship-centered song, but also as being a lighthearted political commentary on the rivalry between former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former UK Prime Minister (then-Chancellor of the Exchequer) Gordon Brown. The song contains the lyric: I'd no idea that in four years I'd be hanging from a beam behind the door of number ten, singing "fare thee well, I am leaving, yes I leave it all to you". "Number ten" here refers to 10 Downing Street, the address of the UK Prime Minister. Four years is the typical length of a Parliament.
Read more about this topic: You Could Have It So Much Better
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