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.
Yo Can Have It All
Kaiser Chiefs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw you on the bus and that was that
There's more to this than passing by
There's more to this than meets the eye
I tell you what it's going to be like
I saw you on the bus, I saw your shoes
They fell apart some time ago,
[Chorus]
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
I tell you what it's going to feel like
You've lost a limb and you can feel it
It's too late, at night, not by my side
'Cause I'm not there to hold you too tight
I tell you what it's going to be like
Well you can never hold my hand in public
They can't know or understand
That you and me are now together
[Chorus]
You can have it all if that's alright
And I will give it all to you cause you never fight
You can have it all if that's alright
And know that you can have it all if it's alright
[Chorus]
You can have it all if that's alright
And I will give it all to you cause you never fight
Before that you could have it all if that's alright
And I would give it all to you cause you never fight
Before that you could have it all if that's alright
If it's alright
The Kaiser Chiefs' song "You Can Have It All" is about a complicated relationship that the singer has with another person. The song is split between the verses and the chorus, with the chorus acting as a type of bridge between different parts of the song. The verses discuss how the singer feels about this person, while the chorus is a declaration of their lack of responsibility for anything that happens between them.
The verses are particularly insightful and demonstrate how complex this relationship is. The singer seems to have some interest in the other person, as exemplified by their statements, "I saw you on the bus, I saw your shoes/ They fell apart some time ago/ I'll buy some more in 5 years." This indicates a desire by the singer to help and take care of the other person, despite their apparent lack of ability to do so at present. However, the singer seems to believe that there are limitations to their relationship, stating, "Well, you can never hold my hand in public/ They can't know or understand/ That you and me are now together." This shows that the relationship is not as simple as the singer would like it to be, and that there are external forces preventing them from fully engaging with each other.
The chorus acts as a type of emotional disconnect from the rest of the song. The repeated phrase, "It's not my fault, I don't care/ I don't regret a single thing," indicates that the singer is, at the very least, emotionally detached from whatever is happening between them. It is possible that the singer is trying to convince themselves that they are not responsible for whatever happens between them and that they are not affected by it.
Line by Line Meaning
I tell you what it's going to be like
I predict how things will be between us
I saw you on the bus and that was that
I noticed you on the bus and from that moment, I was interested in you
There's more to this than passing by
Our connection goes beyond just casually crossing paths
There's more to this than meets the eye
There are deeper feelings between us that are not immediately apparent
I saw you on the bus, I saw your shoes
I took notice of you, even the small details like your worn-out shoes
They fell apart some time ago,
Your shoes have been worn out for a long time and show signs of neglect
I'll buy some more in 5 years
I'm not willing to take action to fix the problem anytime soon
It's not my fault, I don't care
I'm not taking responsibility for anything and I'm indifferent to the outcome
I don't regret a single thing
I have no remorse for my actions and choices
You've lost a limb and you can feel it
You're missing something important in your life and you're aware of the absence
It's too late, at night, not by my side
We're not together anymore and it's late at night when missing someone is most intense
'Cause I'm not there to hold you too tight
I'm not physically present to comfort you and provide emotional support
Well you can never hold my hand in public
We cannot show affection in public due to societal norms or expectations
They can't know or understand
Others cannot comprehend the situation we have between us
That you and me are now together
We are in a relationship that is unconventional and possibly frowned upon
You can have it all if that's alright
I'm willing to give you everything you want and need, as long as you're okay with it
And I will give it all to you cause you never fight
I'll provide everything you need without any disagreements, because you never object to my decisions
Before that you could have it all if that's alright
In the past, I would have given you everything you wanted, as long as you deemed it acceptable
If it's alright
I'm seeking your approval or permission regarding the situation
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANDREW ROBERT WHITE, CHARLES RICHARD WILSON, JAMES RIX, NICHOLAS BAINES, NICHOLAS HODGSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ultimocogumelo
I'll tell you what it's going to be like
I saw you on the bus and that was that
There's more to this than passing by
There's more to this than meets the eye
I'll tell you what it's going to be like
I saw you on the bus, I saw your shoes
They fell apart some time ago
I'll buy some more in five years
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
I'll tell you what its going to feel like
You lost a limb and you can feel it
If you leave, at night, not by my side
Cause I'm not there to hold you too tight
Leave, I'll tell you what its going to be like
No you can never hold my hand
If only they can know or understand
That you and me are now together
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
It's not my fault, I don't care
I don't regret a single thing
Oh oh, you can have it all, if that's alright
Oh I will give it all to you, cause you never lied before
And you can have it all, if that's alright
And you can have it all, if it's alright, oh oh
@Bassario
Incredibly good song, Employment is one of the worlds most magical albums. This is super nostalgic at this point even
@adamnorris6101
Barry Shitpeas yes longtime since I listened to this song 🙂
@DonutCass
Thank you for your emotional and uplifting comment... Barry Shitpeas XD
@MsVictorcrumbs
My favourite song on this album
@anjelocaesarm.ejercito9548
Mine too.
@nathanfarrand149
what an amazing song
was my favourite song ever when it came out and i still love it :)
@juliepage7925
Fab song
@sebastianhofste1996
Wow. I knew the Kaiser Chiefs for a long time for their more familiar songs. But now I'm scrolling through their discography and I find this! Which could be maybe their best song perhaps!
@ohadavni
One of the best harmonoes I have ever head
Such a magical timeless song
@finna.h7944
So vibey, I haven't listened to this in 5 years, this is the most beautiful thing that's happened to me in 2022, I love this so much