Take a Look Around (song)

"Take a Look Around"
Single by Limp Bizkit
from the album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water and Mission: Impossible 2 (soundtrack)
Released July 3, 2000
Length 5:36
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Limp Bizkit singles chronology
"Break Stuff"
(2000) 		"Take a Look Around"
(2000) 		"My Generation"
(2000)
Audio
"Take a Look Around" on YouTube

"Take a Look Around" is a song by American rap rock band Limp Bizkit. It is the first single and tenth track on their third album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, and was released on July 3, 2000. The main riff of the song is derived from the original Mission: Impossible theme composed by Lalo Schifrin, however it deviates in its meter which is common time, except the bridge, which uses Schifrin's original 5
4 time signature. It appears on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Mission: Impossible 2. In the United Kingdom, "Take a Look Around" was Limp Bizkit's first single release.

The song became a European hit in mid-2000, reaching number one in Iceland and Portugal, number two in Finland and Spain, and number three in Italy and the UK. In addition to reaching the top 10 in several other European countries, it became a top-30 hit in Australia and New Zealand. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2001 but lost to Rage Against the Machine's "Guerrilla Radio". An instrumental version of "Take a Look Around" was released as a promo and later included as a B-side on some versions of the "Rollin'" single.

Music video

The video for the song features the band working undercover at a coffee shop in order to retrieve a disc from a group of secret agents. But just as they are about to succeed, they are ordered to abort the mission, as the secret agents turn out to be decoys. The boys are soon kicked out, and the phone that Fred Durst uses at the beginning blows up right at the end. There are also scenes of the band performing in front of the coffee shop as well as brief shots from Mission: Impossible 2. At the beginning of the video, the song "Break Stuff" can be heard in the car that the band arrives in.

The video was rarely shown in the States. Fred Durst has stated that he dislikes the video – despite the fact that he directed it – and the band decided to release the video only in various markets outside the U.S., particularly Europe. It is not available on either the DVD of Mission: Impossible 2, or the band's DVD compilation Greatest Videoz.

Reception

In 2022, Louder Sound and Kerrang ranked the song number six and number four, respectively, on their lists of Limp Bizkit's greatest songs.

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) Gold 25,000*
Belgium (BEA) Gold 25,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) Gold 30,000*
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) Gold 5,070
France (SNEP) Gold 250,000*
Germany (BVMI) Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 600,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
United Kingdom July 3, 2000
  • CD
  • cassette
Japan July 19, 2000 CD