Randy

Album: Woman (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The lead single from Woman, this song was premiered on BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac show. "'Randy' started as an almost industrial techno track, but we were such in a good mood that day, that we ended up making the song as it is," Justice's Xavier de Rosnay told Annie Mac.
  • The song features falsetto vocals from Stockholm-based singer Morgan Phalen, formerly of the New York rock band Diamond Nights. Phalen previously worked with Justice on the Audio, Video, Disco tracks "On'n'On" and "New Lands."
  • The string parts were recorded by the same orchestra that featured on Justice's previous single, "Safe And Sound."
  • Filmed in real time, the video features an art installation made from a stack of 25 old, interconnected Sony television sets which are used to display animated graphics and film footage as well as the lyrics from the single. The clip was directed by Thomas Jumin, the same guy that designed the art installation. He said:

    "The idea for this screen installation came from an inclination for an aesthetic in live show lighting that is both powerful and minimalistic. The object itself, the CRT Trinitron by Sony, is iconic for people of a certain generation for its design and for its specific rendering of the image.

    The idea was to build an installation made of 25 screens from 1987 and to use them with video controllers and analogue converters. We simply filmed it like one would film an art installation, so as to retain the objects' authority and repetitive simplicity."
  • The lyrics are a bit naughty, but the French duo had no problem getting it past the radio censors. Xavier de Rosnay told Fact Magazine they had been initially unaware of any potential problem. "It all depends on the meaning you attribute to the word 'randy'. To us it's strictly a name. It's a name that is gender neutral.," he said. "We found out weeks later that it meant something else."

Comments: 1

  • NorimoriMorgan Phalen clearly has a very distinctive voice - "New Lands" and "Randy" are five years apart, and I'm pretty bad at recognizing voices, but when I listened to "Randy" for the first time a few minutes ago, I was like, "Wait, this voice sounds familiar…", and after some thinking and some singing under my breath, I was like, "NEW LANDS!" I love his falsetto, it's beautiful!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Which Songs are About Drugs?

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.