Songfacts®:

• The Mission: Impossible franchise went nu metal in 2000 with "Take A Look Around," Limp Bizkit's reworking of the iconic theme for the movie Mission: Impossible 2. An instrumental section of the song plays in the opening scene where Tom Cruise does some harrowing rock climbing to retrieve his mission.
  
  The Mission: Impossible TV series ran from 1966-1973, but for the movies, the studio wanted contemporary takes on the theme song. The first film, released in 1996, used a modern reworking by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen of U2. By 2000, nu metal was the hot sound, and no nu metal band was hotter than Limp Bizkit, whose 1999 album Significant Other debuted at #1 in America and sold over 7 million copies.
• The song first appeared on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack in May 2000 and a short time later was released as a single. In October, it appeared on Limp Bizkit's third album, Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water, which went straight to #1 in America.
• Fred Durst drew energy from his detractors, and in this song, he uses that energy in the chorus:
  
  I know why you wanna hate me
  'Cause hate is all the world has even seen lately
  
  His lyric is personal and has nothing to do with the Mission: Impossible 2 film. Also, the title never shows up in the lyric.
• Because he wrote the lyric, Fred Durst is the only band member credited on this track. Also credited is Lalo Schifrin, who composed the original Mission: Impossible theme song on which the track is based.
• Tom Cruise couldn't appear in the video, so Limp Bizkit contrived a storyline involving espionage at a diner. Like most of their videos, it was directed by Fred Durst. MTV played it a lot, as Limp Bizkit was one of their biggest stars.