Alec Eiffel a tribute to the famous French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The song's video features the band playing in a wind-tunnel, a reference to the "pioneer of aerodynamics," with physics formulas in the background. The British magazine "Melody Maker" later commented on Francis' songwriting technique and the song itself: "According to Charles, the song started with Eiffel, then he started to [sic] singing the words Eiffel, rifle, trifle, and suddenly 'everything fell into place'. It's not certain whether lines like 'little Eiffel stands in the archway, even though it doesn't make no sense' are
Gustave Eiffel about the exact site for the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs. This was less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower. The tower had been a subject of some