You can listen to “Genghis Khan” by Miike Snow here.

I went to see Flight Facilities in 2014 and at the very end of the set they played “Hey Ya!” by Outkast. Not a cover or a remix, just the standard original version. I remember talking to someone else afterwards and I remarked that it was a bit weird. They said that they loved it because it was a massive song for their friend group, like it was the equivalent of an inside joke that I just didn’t get. It was as if they didn’t realise that “Hey Ya!” is one of the biggest songs of all time and probably a massive song for lots of friend groups. I was thinking about the idea of what songs you can claim like that. “Genghis Khan” by Miike Snow is probably a song I feel that way about for my own friends. It’s been a regular feature at any occasion where there is a chance for anyone to suggest songs since we first heard it in 2015.

I think part of the appeal is the video, which is magical. It’s goofy but brilliant. There’s a story to it, which is always one of my favourite kind of videos. There’s fantastic dancing by people who don’t immediately look like dancers. A good video is a great first impression for a song. The song also ticks a lot of my usual boxes. It’s catchy. There’s lots of falsetto and sing along bits. I like the melodrama of the phrase “I get a little bit Genghis Khan”. Musically, it’s all about the piano which is punchy and abrupt throughout the song before pushing to the front towards the end of the song.