Franz Ferdinand Examine Past Friendships In New Song 'Billy Goodbye'
By Katrina Nattress
November 3, 2021
Franz Ferdinand recently parted ways with founding drummer Paul Thomson, so it's only fitting that "Billy Goodbye," their first new song without him, is an examination of how friendships change over time.
“I was thinking about the idea of friendship and friendships that I’ve had over my life,” frontman Alex Kapranos told NME about the song. “They all affect all of us in different ways. Most friendships bring wonderful things into our lives, but not all of them stay the same throughout our lives. They evolve, they change and sometimes friendships end. Sometimes they end badly, but usually they don’t. Usually friendships just come to a close."
“Naturally you move in a different direction and you do something different," he added. "I think of who my best friends were when I was eight-years-old or 14-years-old. They’re not necessarily people who I would be best friends with now, but at that age they meant so much to me, they really defined my life and made me who I was. I guess the song is about being able to look at a friendship and say, ‘Ah hey, it’s over – but damn, wasn’t it good? ‘Don’t forget the best bits’. They were pretty incredible.”
"Billy Goodbye" is one of two new tracks that will be featured on Franz Ferdinand's upcoming greatest hits compilation, Hits to the Head, which is slated for a March 11, 2022 release.
Listen to "Billy Goodbye" above and see the Hits to the Head tracklist below.
Hits to the Head Tracklist
1. ‘Darts Of Pleasure’
2. ‘Take Me Out’
3. ‘The Dark Of The Matinée’
4. ‘Michael’
5. ‘This Fire’
6. ‘Do You Want To’
7. ‘Walk Away’
8. ‘The Fallen’
9. ‘Outsiders’
10. ‘Lucid Dreams’
11. ‘Ulysses’
12. ‘No You Girls’
13. ‘Right Action’
14. ‘Evil Eye’
15. ‘Love Illumination’
16. ‘Stand On The Horizon’
17. ‘Always Ascending’
18. ‘Glimpse Of Love’
19. ‘Curious’
20. ‘Billy Goodbye’