"The Fallen" is a song by Scottish

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, ''

You Could Have It So Much Better ''You Could Have It So Much Better'' is the second studio album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was first released on 28 September 2005 in Japan, and later on 3 October in the UK, through the Domino Recording Company. Recorded i ...

'' (2005), on 20 February 2006 in Australia and on 3 April 2006 in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with new song "L. Wells". The single peaked at number four on the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

and number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Composition

The lyrics for "The Fallen" borrow heavily from

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

miracles; with references to the feeding of the five-thousand, the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, Mary Magdalene and the turning of water into wine. Biblical references can also be seen in the song "Auf Achse", from Franz Ferdinand's first album, which references crucifixion; this interest in the Bible and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

appear to stem from Kapranos' brief study of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

before he dropped out.

Track listings

All tracks were written by

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and author. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the ...

and

Nick McCarthy Nicholas John McCarthy (born 13 December 1974 in Blackpool, England) is an English-German musician. His main focus is on songwriting and song production. He is also a guitarist, singer and keyboard player. McCarthy was the guitarist, backing/ ...

except where noted. * 7-inch 1 # "The Fallen" (album version) – 3:42 # "L. Wells" (Alex Kapranos) – 3:31 * 7-inch 2 # "The Fallen" (Remixed by

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

) – 3:55 # "L. Wells" (Alex Kapranos) – 3:31 # "Brown Onions" (Franz Ferdinand) – 3:02 #* Instrumental * CD # "The Fallen" (radio edit) – 2:49 # "The Fallen" (Remixed by

) – 3:55 # "L. Wells" (Alex Kapranos) – 3:31 # "

Jeremy Fraser "The Fallen" is a song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, '' You Could Have It So Much Better'' (2005), on 20 February 2006 in Australia and on 3 April 2006 in the Uni ...

" (Nick McCarthy) – 3:57 #* Vocals performed by Nick McCarthy. # "The Fallen" (video) – 2:49 * 12-inch # "The Fallen" (Remixed by

) – 3:55 # "The Fallen" (album version) – 3:42 # "Do You Want To" (

Max Tundra Ben Jacobs (born 7 June 1974), more commonly known by the stage name Max Tundra, is an English multi-instrumental musician, singer and music producer. His work is noted for its maximalist approach, which is predominantly electronic music but inc ...

remix) – 4:35 # "Do You Want To" (Max Tundra remix – instrumental) – 4:22 * Australian CD # "The Fallen" (album version) – 3:42 # "Sexy Boy" (

Jean-Benoît Dunckel Jean-Benoît Dunckel (born 7 September 1969) is a French musician best known for being one half of the French music duo Air, along with Nicolas Godin. In the 1980s, he formed the band Orange with Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet ...

Nicolas Godin Nicolas Godin (born 25 December 1969) is a French musician best known for being half of the music duo Air. Early life Godin was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture ...

) – 3:40 #*

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

cover, released in the UK on the " Walk Away" single. # "The Fallen" (acoustic version) – 2:44 # "Do You Want To" (Erol Alkan remix) – 7:41 #* Errors in the liner notes stating that all tracks were written by Franz Ferdinand and omitting that track number three is an acoustic version.

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fallen, The Franz Ferdinand (band) songs 2006 singles Song recordings produced by Rich Costey Songs written by Alex Kapranos Songs written by Nick McCarthy