"Club Foot" is a song by English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and second vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karloff ...

, featured on their 2004 debut album, ''

''. It was released on 10 May 2004 in the UK. The video of this song, directed by W.I.Z., is dedicated to Czech student

Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...

who in 1969 set himself on fire in protest against renewed Soviet suppression of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. The video also refers to the

Soviet government The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 199 ...

's intervention in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

on a banner showing the text in Hungarian (''Szabad Európa Rádió''), which translates as "

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

". The scene with the inspector girl who stands before the tank harks back to the young man who stood in front of the line of tanks in 1989 in Tiananmen Square, which itself has become an icon for resistance. In October 2011, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' placed it at number 108 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The song was used in the 2012 video game Alan Wake's American Nightmare.

Background

Bassist Chris Edwards said, "It's about love and life. At the time n 2002, the war in Iraq had just kicked off and the lyrics aren't about pushing you in one way or another, but just about what was going on at the time, what you'd read in the paper about soldiers being petrol bombed." Guitarist Serge Pizzorno said the song is about "revenge and having it out."

Composition

Serge Pizzorno said, "We were watching a

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

documentary and saw they had a great kind of approach to making '

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...

.' We wanted to approach 'Club Foot' the same way, to mess with the landscape and give the listener something to hold on to." MTV.com described the song as "a quilt of relentless beats, hissing electronic noises, a buzzing guitar riff and Meighan's breathless, menacing vocals." ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' said it "piles layers and layers of synths atop tight guitar work before coming to a fluttering, flutey end."

Track listing

CD

*PARADISE08 # Club Foot – 2:52 # Club Foot (Jagz Kooner Vocal Mix) – 4:53 # Trash Can – 2:53 # Sand Clit – 3:53 #

Personnel

* Tom Meighan – lead vocals * Sergio Pizzorno – guitar, synths, backing vocals * Christopher Karloff – guitar, bass, synths

Reissue

"Club Foot" is a reissued single from

. The single entered the UK Chart at No. 19 in 2004, and at No. 21 in 2005. In 2005 it also peaked No. 27 in US

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

, the same position in the same chart reached in 2011 with the single version contained in '' Live!'', recorded at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...

in London on 15 December 2011. The Maxi CD includes two new B-sides and a remix of "Club Foot", while the 2-track CD contains a live version of non-album track "55".

Track listing

Maxi CD

*PARADISE30 # Club Foot – 2:51 # The Duke – 3:35 # Bang – 3:05 # Club Foot (Jimmy Douglass Remix) – 3:21 # CD-rom with Club Foot promo video + Club Foot Live @ Brixton Academy video

Mini CD

*PARADISE29 # Club Foot – 2:51 # 55 (Live @ Brixton Academy) – 4:23

10" Vinyl

*PARADISE31 # Club Foot – 2:51 # 55 (Live @ Brixton Academy) – 4:23 # Club Foot (Jimmy Douglass Remix) – 3:21

Australian EP

*82876659622 # Club Foot – 2:51 # Reason Is Treason – 3:44 # Trash Can – 2:53 otes: Red Digipak

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{authority control 2004 singles 2005 singles Kasabian songs 2004 songs Songs written by Sergio Pizzorno Music videos directed by W.I.Z. Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Jim Abbiss Songs written by Christopher Karloff