"Beau Geste" is the second single from the album Dilettantes by Australian rock band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 You Am I

You Am I

You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...

, their eighth studio album. The track is loosely based on the Beau Geste

Beau Geste

Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.-Plot summary:Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator , by contrast, is his younger brother John...

 story, with snippets of French dialog appearing during the instrumental section.

It was released as a download only single on iTunes on November 8, 2008 in three formats - one with just the single, one with a b-side and one with the music video, which is in part a homage to the various film versions of Beau Geste

Beau Geste

Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.-Plot summary:Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator , by contrast, is his younger brother John...

.

Track listing

Single version:

1. "Beau Geste" - 3:11

With B-side:

1. "Beau Geste" – 3:11
2. "Let's Be Dreadful" - 2:52

All songs by Tim Rogers

Tim Rogers

Tim Rogers is the frontman of Australian rock band You Am I. He is also a solo artist, as well as having fronted and released albums with bands The Twin Set and The Temperance Union.-History:...

.

Rogers described the song:

"I kept this from the band for a while, superstitious that the way it popped into my head fully formed, give or take, was. like vertigo. The lyric concerns my oft-lapsed need to associate myself with a mentor. That those folks are usually grizzled ex-alcoholics or ex-junkies doesn't keep me from any sleep. The foreign legion looms oddly large in a few tracks. Maybe it's just the uniform."

Film Clip

The film clip takes the shape of the second part of a 2-part story (the first part being the clip for "Givin' Up And Gettin Fat

Givin' Up And Gettin Fat

"Givin' Up And Gettin Fat" is the third single from the album Dilettantes by Australian rock band You Am I, their eighth studio album. The accompanying music video acts as a prequel to the band's Beau Geste video, featuring the band in 1920s Marseilles....

", released after "Beau Geste") set in the 1920s

1920s

File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...

. The clip was filmed in Niddrie, Victoria, doubling for Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 and showcases the band as members of the Foreign Legion

French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...

attempting to desert the army.