Leeds legends Kaiser Chiefs reveal the meaning of breakthrough hit Ruby – and it’s not about who you think

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Who IS Ruby?

That was the question on everybody’s lips back in 2007.

Nobody revealed who Ruby really was back when the single was first released, but artists have now gone on to explain that the breakthrough single was actually from the family dog.

Back in 2007, lead singer of Kaiser Chiefs, Ricky Wilson told The Independent that: “for me she is super cool totally unapproachable, and doesn’t know or even want to know your name […] the tough nuts are the hardest to crack, but have the sweetest flesh. There was a girl like that at school, she said my name in a café once and I crumbled. I kissed her once and broke her necklace. It’s funny how that kind of girl can make super-cool dudes like me into fumbling idiots”.

Ruby was the band’s first British number-one single and even 15 years later has become synonymous with the band, and even our collective hometown of Leeds.

Guitarist Andrew White also explained at the time “it’s not really about anyone, if you know someone called Ruby, it’s about them”.

It took fifteen years for the original inspiration to come to light, and was shared by Nick Hodgson in 2022 that explained that whilst the band were writing the song, the family dog walked in and the hook was born… ‘Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby’

The video goes on to show the Hodgson playing on the piano with text overlayed saying ‘I’m very glad she did’, referring to the dog.

The TikTok video has since amassed almost half a million views.

@nickjdhodgson This is the piano that i started writing Ruby on. Look out for the original #Ruby. Ricky went onto write the verse lyrics. #indie #alt #alttiktok #altmusic #indietiktok #noughtiesmusic #kaiserchiefs #songwriter #songwriterstories #piano #songwriting ♬ original sound – Nick J.D. Hodgson

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Of course, the song is still about nobody and everybody that makes the ‘super-cool dudes like Ricky Wilson into fumbling idiots’, but who knew the inspiration could come from a four-legged family companion?

Feature Image – Wikipedia

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