Number 10

Album: Marauder (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This raw and gritty song finds Paul Banks relating a tension-filled love story between a domineering boss lady named Ella and her employee. The Interpol frontman recounts their unconsummated desire for each other from the employee's perspective.

    Your secret's safe here, it'll never leave
    It's in the basement for ya, na'mean?
    Won't seek replacements, my ballerina
    There's many faces in my gallery


    The pair are determined to keep their office romance secret.
  • The song title does not appear in the lyrics; it alludes to the fact that it is the tenth track on Interpol's Marauder album.
  • Paul Banks explained to NPR: "The lyrics are about an office drama. The narrator is tired of his supervisor, Ella breathing down his neck. She's a tough boss. But there is also a love there, a secret attraction. A mutual secret attraction. But alas, business is business and their desire is never sated. I think that feeling of frustration and desire suits the temperament of the music. The flighty intensity. Pent up lust."
  • The song was originally earmarked to be a B-side, rather than an album track. Banks explained:

    "I had written a fun surfy baseline that jived well with the drums but I was never super stoked on the song. In the studio we just recorded it because we had some time. But there was no second guitar and no vocals.
    When we tracked it, it came out really explosive and fun. The additional guitars and vocals were written in a few hours over two afternoons. No fuss no muss."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."