After 12 years of success as one of the more visible dance-rock acts in mainstream music, Franz Ferdinand may be reaching the pinnacle of their career. Longevity and continued relevance are elusive for any artist and, following mixed reviews of their long awaited 2013 album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, they must surely be grappling with the tough questions about what their career has meant, what life holds in store for them, and whether any of it has any real significance. To that end, “Fresh Strawberries” is a meditation on making sense out of life once you’ve hit your peak in terms of “ripeness” — whether as an artist or a person. Despite the catchy chorus, the lyrics address some of these heavy existential questions about religion and the meaning of life, reminding us that “we will soon be rotten” and “we will all be forgotten.” As frontman Alex Kapranos asks us, “wouldn’t it be easy with something to believe in that could give us more than ‘here’s my work, so where’s my pay’ to buy what I don’t need?” It would, Alex. It would. So what’s Franz Ferdinand’s guide to the meaning of life?
The video for “Fresh Strawberries” basically tells us that it’s up to us to construct our own meaning from experience. And with that in mind, director Margarita Louca presents us with an absurdist black and white video that leaves us no choice but to do exactly that. Kapranos paces back and forth on a sidewalk outside of a building that could be a home but resembles more of a gallery. Meanwhile the other members of the band occupy themselves by each pensively fretting about the contents of an old book, impatiently rocking back and forth in a chair, or experimenting with a lighter until the result is a human hand melting like wax. There is no clear narrative, no logical story. Just seemingly familiar human behavior up for varying interpretation, no single version of which can be proven to be “correct.” The video ends with Kapranos eyeing a noose that drops down and dangles in front of his face. Does any of it even matter? Although Kapranos sings “I believe there’s nothing to believe,” he does admit that he would “love the instruction manual.” Wouldn’t we all. Watch below.
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is out now on Domino Records.