Evil Eye (Franz Ferdinand song)
{{short description|2013 song by Franz Ferdinand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Evil Eye
| cover = Franz Ferdinand Evil Eye Remixes.jpg
| alt = Franz Ferdinand Evil Eye Remixes
| type = single
| artist = Franz Ferdinand
| album = Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
| released = {{Start date|2013|10|28|df=yes}}
| recorded = 2013
| studio = Sausage (London)
| genre =
- Indie rock
- funk punk
- {{nowrap|dance-rock}}
- ska
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=47}}
| label = Domino
| writer =
| producer =
- Alex Kapranos
- Todd Terje
| prev_title = Love Illumination
| prev_year = 2013
| next_title = Bullet
| next_year = 2013
}}
"Evil Eye" is a song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, on 28 October 2013. The song was written by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, recorded during 2013, and produced by Kapranos and Todd Terje.{{cite web|url=http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/09-09-13/franz-ferdinands-evil-eye-plus-uk-tour/ |title=Franz Ferdinand's Evil Eye Plus UK Tour |publisher=Domino Recording Company |date=9 September 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}}
Composition
"Evil Eye" features indie rock, funk punk,{{cite web | url=https://www.avclub.com/review/franz-ferdinand-emright-thoughts-right-words-right-102091 | title=Review: Franz Ferdinand – Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action | publisher=The A.V. Club | date=27 August 2013 | accessdate=23 April 2016 | author=Zaleski, Annie}} dance-rock,{{Cite web|url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=3439091|title = Chorus.fm| date=20 December 2023 }} and ska.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-franz-ferdinand-right-thoughts-right-words-right-action-domino-8783768.html | title=Album: Franz Ferdinand, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (Domino) | work=The Independent | date=24 August 2013 | accessdate=23 April 2016 | author=Montgomery, Hugh}} The song was written by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy and produced by Kapranos and Norwegian DJ Todd Terje.{{cite AV media notes|title=Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action|others=Franz Ferdinand|year=2013|type=album liner notes|publisher=Domino Recording Company}} The song is about the evil eye and all-seeing eye, which were things that Kapranos was very interested about during the recording of Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action.{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/2013/08/24/214476665/franz-ferdinands-alex-kapranos-on-the-importance-of-structure | title=Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos on the Importance of Structure | publisher=NPR | date=24 August 2013 | accessdate=30 December 2015}}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bQTjLlXf3k | title=Franz Ferdinand – Come Home, Practically All, Is Nearly Forgiven | via=YouTube | date=23 August 2013 | accessdate=11 February 2015}}
Music video
A music video for the song was released on 8 September 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIR5vBiC3ig |title=Franz Ferdinand – Evil Eye (Official Video) |via=YouTube |date=8 September 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}} It was directed by Diane Martel, known for her controversial video for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop", as well as her work with artists such as Mariah Carey, The White Stripes, Beyoncé, and others.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/51705-watch-franz-ferdinands-gory-evil-eye-video-directed-by-blurred-lines-director-diane-martel/ |title=Watch Franz Ferdinand's Gory "Evil Eye" Video, Directed by "Blurred Lines" Director Diane Martel |publisher=Pitchfork Media |first1=Evan |last1=Minsker |first2=Jenn |last2=Pelly |date=9 September 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}}
The video is a pastiche of low-budget horror films. In a press statement, Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos called it "a gruesome blood orgy eye stab death romp wide-oh creep necro fest." Pitchfork called the video "repulsive, VHS-style clip", and Kyle McGovern of Spin magazine wrote, "the clip splices together a stomach-turning montage of gross-out footage: Blood spewing from a sink faucet, people getting butchered and dismembered, throats being cut, cannibalism, and frontman Alex Kapranos sporting a dirtbag moustache."{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2013/09/franz-ferdinand-nsfw-torture-porn-evil-eye-video-diane-martel/ |title=Watch Franz Ferdinand's NSFW, Torture-Porny 'Evil Eye' Video |work=Spin |first=Kyle |last=McGovern |date=9 September 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}}
Critical reception
Adam Silverstein of Digital Spy wrote that {{"'}}Evil Eye' soldiers on with the short, snappy stomp and delves into the psyche of a paranoiac ('It looks so clean but I can see the crawling, crawling creatures'), all via a groove that pays homage to Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust'."{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a505324/franz-ferdinand-right-thoughts-right-words-right-action-album-review.html/ |title= Franz Ferdinand: 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action' – Album review |publisher=Digital Spy |first=Adam |last=Silverstein |date=18 August 2013|accessdate=1 November 2013}}
AllMusic's Heather Phares noted that "Evil Eye" is one of the songs on the album that "feel like direct descendants of the band's debut", and said that it "gives the gut-punching beats of 'Take Me Out' a campy twist with mischievous keyboards destined to make it the coolest song on the Halloween party playlist."{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/right-thoughts-right-words-right-action-mw0002553571 |title=Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action |last=Phares |first=Heather |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=1 November 2013}} According to Dan Stubbs of NME magazine, "there's a freshness to the sound" on "Evil Eye", and the song is "essentially Snoop Dogg's 'What's My Name?' via Rockwell's 'Somebody's Watching Me' – creepy, jumpy and as funky as James Brown's ghost."{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/franz-ferdinand/14708 |title=Franz Ferdinand – 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action' |first=Dan |last=Stubbs |work=NME |date=20 August 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}}
Pitchfork{{'}}s Ian Cohen wrote that "The chorus of 'Evil Eye' slinks and skulks enough to recall a time when Franz Ferdinand sounded sleazier and more dancefloor-oriented than your average rock band, but it has to fight through a verse filled with bothersome vocal filters (an indulgent byproduct of their self-production) to do so."{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18429-franz-ferdinand-right-thoughts-right-words-right-action/ |title=Franz Ferdinand: Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action |first=Ian |last=Cohen |publisher=Pitchfork |date= 26 August 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013}} In a similar tone, James Manning of Time Out magazine noted that {{"'}}Evil Eye' matches its big, funky strut with creepy vintage organs, while a heavily reverbed Kapranos cackles like a Hammer Horror villain."{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/music/franz-ferdinand-right-thoughts-right-words-right-action-album-review |title=Franz Ferdinand – 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action' album review |first=James |last=Manning |work=Time Out |date=16 August 2013 |accessdate=1 November 2013 |archive-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102210531/http://www.timeout.com/london/music/franz-ferdinand-right-thoughts-right-words-right-action-album-review |url-status=dead }}
Track listing
=CD=
- Domino – RUG555CDP{{cite web | url=http://www.discogs.com/Franz-Ferdinand-Evil-Eye/release/5047503 | title=Franz Ferdinand – Evil Eye (CD) | publisher=Discogs | accessdate=17 July 2015}}
{{Track listing
| headline =
| total_length =
| title1 = Evil Eye
| note1 = Radio edit
| length1 = 2:47
| title2 = Evil Eye
| note2 = Album version
| length2 = 2:47
}}
=Digital download=
{{Track listing
| headline = Evil Eye Remixes{{cite web |url=http://digital.dominorecordco.com/search/release.php?RELEASE_ID=3875 |title=Domino:Evil Eye Remixes |publisher=Domino Recording Company |accessdate=1 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103064118/http://digital.dominorecordco.com/search/release.php?RELEASE_ID=3875 |archive-date=3 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/evil-eye-remixes-ep/728098439 |title=Evil Eye Remixes – EP by Franz Ferdinand |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=iTunes Store |access-date=1 November 2013}}
| total_length =
| title1 = Evil Eye
| length1 = 2:47
| title2 = Evil Eye
| note2 = Alan Braxe Remix
| length2 = 4:01
| title3 = Evil Eye
| note3 = Alan Braxe Dub
| length3 = 3:54
| title4 = Evil Eye
| note4 = The New Sins FREAK Version
| length4 = 6:15
| title5 = Evil Eye
| note5 = The New Sins FREAK Dub
| length5 = 5:50
| title6 = Evil Eye
| note6 = In Flagranti Rework
| length6 = 6:26
}}
Personnel
Personnel adapted from the album's liner notes
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Franz Ferdinand
- Alex Kapranos – lead vocals, guitar, composing, mixing, pre-production, and production
- Nick McCarthy – backing vocals, rhythm guitar, and keyboards
- Bob Hardy – bass guitar
- Paul Thomson – drums
{{col-2}}
Production personnel
- Ch4in$ – pre-production
- Mark Ralph – engineering
- Alexis Smith – mixing
- Todd Terje – engineering and production
{{col-end}}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Chart performance for "Evil Eye" ! scope="col"| Chart (2013) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{single chart|Flanders Tip|7|song=Evil Eye|artist=Franz Ferdinand|rowheader=true|accessdate=2 December 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Wallonia Tip|37|song=Evil Eye|artist=Franz Ferdinand|rowheader=true|accessdate=10 February 2014}} |
Release history
References
{{reflist}}
{{Franz Ferdinand}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Franz Ferdinand (band) songs
Category:Songs written by Alex Kapranos
Category:Songs written by Nick McCarthy