Several members of the band are ardent fans of the English football team Leeds United (as the band originates from Leeds). The band are named after the South African Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the former team of long-serving former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe.
The band's main musical influences include The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Blur, Eric Burdon, The Jam, and other new wave bands. Andrew White (b. England; guitar), Ricky Wilson (b. Charles Richard Wilson, 17 January 1975, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England; vocals), Nick Baines (keyboards), Nick Hodgson (b. Nicholas Hodgson, 20 October 1977, England; drums) and Simon Rix (b. James Simon Rix, 18 October 1977, England; bass) formed the band in early 2003, having originally played garage rock under the Parva moniker. Their energetic brand of post-millennial guitar rock, which would have been branded "indie" in previous decades, quickly found favour on the local gig circuit. The quintet issued their debut, the XTC-soundalike Oh My God, before they had even signed a proper recording contract, teaming up with the Drowned In Sound website in May 2004 for a limited edition release. A contract with the B-Unique label followed and the band began to attract wider interest at the end of 2004 with the release of their storming I Predict A Riot. The topical lyrics, concerning alcohol-fuelled violence in small English towns, attracted as much attention as the band's anarchic update on late 70s new wave.
The band's explosion onto the global music scene in early 2005 was epitomised when they had their first single I Predict A Riot off their debut album Employment played on the radio around the world and opened Live8 in Philadelphia. Several years prior to 2003 the members of the band had been a garage rock group called Parva (before that they had been known as Runston Parva). However, after their label Mantra Records went bust in late 2002, the band went back to their roots and adopted a more britpop sound, helping the band reach their current popularity within the UK and beyond as a consequence.
The band re-released the single Oh My God on 21 February, which charted at #6. The debut album Employment was released on 7 March 2005 and entered the charts at #3 that week. Despite becoming favourite after being shortlisted, the album failed to win the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. They covered the Marvin Gaye classic, Heard it Through the Grapevine for the War Child album Help! A Day in the Life, giving a whole new slant on the song.
A DVD, entitled Enjoyment, was released in November 2005. The basis of the DVD is a (semi-false) documentary about the band narrated by Bill Nighy. It also includes all the promo videos, live performances and more.
An internet-only (so far) music video for their song Sink that Ship has been released in September 2005. The video appears on Electronic Arts' website as a promotional tool for their game Burnout Revenge but is completely unbranded.
Wilson auctioned off his red tambourine to radio show Xfm in late 2005 to raise money for the homeless charity Shelter. The winning bid was £375.00.
On February 5th, The Kaiser Chiefs Released their next single, Ruby, which was a major success reaching #1 in the singles charts.
The Kaiser Chiefs released their new album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob on February 23, 2007 in The Netherlands and Belgium, February 26, 2007 in the United Kingdom and on March 27, 2007 in North America. A double disc edition is also available, the second disc being a DVD.
It is known that three of the band members went to a school near Highroyd, Leeds. Also, Nick (drummer) announced during a gig in Newcastle Upon Tyne that his dad went to a school called St. Cuthberts in Newcastle. Other famous people from that school include Ant & Dec and Sting.
The band released their third album, Off With Their Heads, on October 20, 2008. It contains the hit single Never Miss a Beat.
Songfacts states that the band's fourth album, The Future Is Medieval was released through the band's website on June 3, 2011. In effect the world's first bespoke album, fans are able to create their own version of the record by choosing their favorite 10 tracks from the selection of 20 on offer. One-minute excerpts allow them to make their selections and each song is represented by an object.
After creating their own album, people can then share their version of the record with other fans, and earn £1 each time it is purchased by someone else.
5th album "Education, Education, Education and War!" was released on 31st March 2014 on Fiction Records, featuring the UK Top 40 single, 'Coming Home', and was their first UK number one album since 2007's 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob'.
Also on the Fiction label, their 6th album, Stay Together, was released on the 7th October 2016, with a notable shift towards dance-pop, hitting #4 on the UK Albums Chart.
In 2019, they moved to Polydor, and released 'Duck' on 26th July, featuring the singles 'Record Collection' and 'People Know How To Love One Another'. It peaked at #3 on the UK Albums Chart.
Performances
Kaiser Chiefs' first big festival show was at the dual-site Reading and Leeds Festival on 27 August 2004 and in the following year, on 16 May 2005, they appeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, The Netherlands. After that, things went fast. They were the opening act at the Philadelphia Live 8 concert on July 2nd 2005, one of only two British acts in the lineup (Def Leppard being the other). They performed I Predict a Riot, Everyday I Love You Less and Less and Oh My God. They played Reading and Leeds in 2006 before Franz Ferdinand and were extremely popular.
June 2005 saw them headline at the May Ball at Queens' College, Cambridge, supported by Anada, before an acclaimed appearance at a rain-soaked Glastonbury festival during the same month, whilst August's appearance at the V Festival featured a very enthusiastic set despite Ricky Wilson having his leg in plaster. Also more recently they embarked on their own headline UK Tour, supported by Maximo Park and The Cribs. Their first US tour (with The Cribs) ran through the summer of 2005, and they followed it by playing a few shows on the Foozer tour. This was followed up by opening for Foo Fighters during their Australian tour in December 2005. They also played to Jools Holland and his audience on December 31, 2005.
Their song Ruby, from the album Yours Truly, Angry Mob was featured as a bonus song in Guitar Hero III, and I Predict a Riot from Employment was eventually released as downloadable content for the game.
Kaiser Chiefs are set to return to the European festival scene this summer, having been booked for Switzerland's Gurten Festival.
Good Days Bad Days
Kaiser Chiefs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hold on his collar tight
This city loves a scrap
One day its gonna fight
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Cant stop me from having a good day on a bad day
There's good days and bad days
Making a night of it
Breaking the barriers
Drowning the sorrows
Upset the regulars
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from getting away with
Good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
Oh hey hey, hey hey
Hey hey, hey hey
Oh hey hey, hey hey
Hey hey, hey hey
(Good days and bad days)
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Sticks and stones and animal bones
There's good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
Hey hey, hey hey [Repeat: x4]
If you had a different attitude
Instead of taking taking to
You have missed an opportunity
And that's a really big mistake
If you had a different attitude
You'd still have good days and bad days
Hey hey hey
The lyrics of Kaiser Chiefs' "Good Days Bad Days" are a declaration of resilience and positivity in the face of adversity. The first verse urges the listener to follow the underdog and hold on tight, as the city loves a scrap and a fight is inevitable. However, the chorus offers reassurance that sticks and stones and animal bones can't stop the singer from having a good day on a bad day. The second verse describes the coping mechanisms in place for dealing with difficult times: making a night of it, breaking barriers, drowning sorrows, and upsetting the regulars. The second chorus emphasizes that, even in the face of adversity, there are still good days and bad days.
Overall, the song encourages the listener to adopt a positive attitude and not let obstacles and setbacks get in the way of enjoying life. The repetition of the "hey hey" refrain adds to the upbeat tone of the song and further emphasizes the message of resilience and positivity.
Line by Line Meaning
Follow the underdog
We should support the underdogs and not just stick with the winners all the time.
Hold on his collar tight
We should hold onto the underdogs tightly and not let them go unnoticed in the crowd of the winners.
This city loves a scrap
The city enjoys a fight and competition to prove oneself.
One day its gonna fight
Someday the city will put up a fight against others to prove its worth.
Sticks and stones and animal bones
No matter what negative things people say or do to me, it won't prevent me from having a good day on a bad day.
Can't stop me from having a good day on a bad day
No one can ruin my day, whether it is good or bad, I am still in control of how I feel.
There's good days and bad days
We all experience both good and bad days in life.
Making a night of it
We should take the opportunity to make the most of our time, even when things aren't going our way.
Breaking the barriers
We should break down any barriers or obstacles that come our way.
Drowning the sorrows
We should find ways to cope with our sorrows and not let them consume us.
Upset the regulars
We should take risks and challenge the status quo, even if it means upsetting those who are comfortable with their routine.
Can't stop me from getting away with
No one can stop me from achieving what I want to achieve.
Good days and bad days
We experience both good and bad days in life, but that does not define who we are.
Oh hey hey, hey hey
A rhythmic repetition for musical purposes.
Hey hey, hey hey
A rhythmic repetition for musical purposes.
If you had a different attitude
If we approach things with a different perspective or attitude, things could turn out differently.
Instead of taking taking to
Instead of complaining or gossiping about a situation, we can take action and make a change.
You have missed an opportunity
If we don't take action or approach things with a different mindset, we may miss out on opportunities that could have been beneficial.
And that's a really big mistake
It is a big mistake to not take advantage of opportunities that are presented to us.
You'd still have good days and bad days
Even if we approach things with a different attitude, we will still experience both good and bad days in life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANDREW WHITE, CHARLES RICHARD WILSON, JAMES RIX, NICHOLAS BAINES, NICHOLAS HODGSON, NICHOLAS JAMES DAVID HODGSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Абдуразаков Шодиер
Follow the underdog
Hold on his collar tight
This city loves a scrap
One day its gonna fight
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Cant stop me from having a good day on a bad day
There's good days and bad days
Making a night of it
Breaking the barriers
Drowning the sorrows
Upset the regulars
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from getting away with
Good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
Oh hey hey, hey hey
Hey hey, hey hey
Oh hey hey, hey hey
Hey hey, hey hey
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Sticks and stones and animal bones
There's good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
Hey hey, hey hey [Repeat: x4]
If you had a different attitude
Instead of taking taking to
You have missed an opportunity
And that's a really big mistake
If you had a different attitude
You'd still have good days and bad days
kieth
To this day, I'm still stunned this didn't become a hit.
decipherify
really? it's my all-time hit
AngloFrenchyChick
kieth it was actually. They used this song for quite a few tv ads and it was Played non stop on mtv. It was also the song used for one of those early iPhone game apps but I cant remember the name.
MARIANE MENEGHEL
que delícia essa música
Leandro Silva
Adoro essa música , me traz lembranças boas de 2008 :)
Emilyy Janee
most amazing song, most amazing band, most amazing people! what more could you want. <3
hellikobteo
Essa música num sai da minha cabeça ♥
MartineR12
Kaiser Chiefs were an absolute highlight of the Pohoda festival 11th July 2013... just before entering the festival, I found out that I was not getting a job that I really wanted... after you guys played this song, I didn't care at all... thank you so much :-)
Абдуразаков Шодиер
Обожаю эту песню и Kaiser chiefs в частности!
Cantinflas Araujo
Haha adoro essa música, me traz boas recordações, umas das minhas bandas prediletas.
Recordar é viver! !
SEX,10 DE ABRIL 2020