Female of the Species

Written and sung by frontman Tommy Scott in tribute to his late father, who reportedly disliked his son's taste of music, "Female of the Species" is a funky, upbeat, Latin-flavoured number with feel-good-sounding vibes and vocals, reminiscent of lounge singers such as Perry Como and Frank Sinatra, combined with keyboardist Franny Griffiths' trademark sound effects and Scott's darkly humorous lyrics. The song borrows to some extent, both thematically and in overall aesthetic, from the Walker Brothers' theme song for the 1967 film Deadlier Than the Male. When the song was performed at later concerts, Scott usually walked into the audience to shake them by the hand.

The song's distinctive style and lyrics led to it being used in TV and film. It was the theme song to the UK drama Cold Feet^[2] and appeared in the 1997 film The Matchmaker starring Janeane Garofalo, as well as during the end credits of the popular movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (in the so-called 'Fembot Mix', available on the Original Soundtrack), and in the Daria episode "College Bored". It gained further popularity in the UK when used in a 1998 advert (with a cameo appearance by Quentin Crisp) for the body spray "Impulse".

The song's name is a reference to the 1911 Rudyard Kipling poem "The Female of the Species", which has as its refrain: "The female of the species is more deadly than the male."

"Female of the Species" debuted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart on 2 June 1996 and reached its peak of number 14 the following week.^[3] On 11 October 2019, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a silver certification for sales and streams of over 200,000 units.^[4] It became the band's only entry on any music chart in the United States and Canada, peaking at number 15 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart,^[5] number four on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30 chart,^[6] and number 68 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart.^[7] In Australia, "Female of the Species" entered the ARIA Singles Chart on 11 May 1997, peaking at number 80 in June.^[8]