Blur: Parklife

Blur's legendary 1994 album Parklife is next up for review. I have wanted this record for a long time and I finally managed to get my hands on it this Christmas.

Side A opens with 'Girls & Boys' Blur's attempt at summing up 90s lads and girls holidays. Lets face it, they did a pretty good job. It's infectiously catchy with a chorus that you cannot help but singalong too. It's one of Britpops very best. As well as being a good song 'Girls & Boys' is a statement of intent, and a marker for the rest of the album all of the other songs have got to follow that. 'Tracy Jack's' is the next song on Side A, this has all been one of my favourite Blur songs, firstly because Graham's backing vocal is destined to get stuck in your head and secondly because I have always loved the ironic nature of the song. Musically it is one Blur's most upbeat efforts, but lyrically it is one of their most dark. It's about a man who hates his life and has some kind of breakdown symbolised in the song by him bulldozing his house. I'm not alone with loving this song, it is a fan favourite and always seemed to feature in Blur's live sets. 'End of the Century' ends Side A a much slower song, about how couples seem to grow apart but yet stay together. Damon seems to make brilliant songs about the mundane, it's one Blur's best and one of the best on this album.

The title track 'Parklife' opens Side B, complete with Phill Daniels, speaking or singing the verses. The song is the one most people associate Blur with. A tale of working class life, written by Damon ironically in a park. The song is a Britpop classic, and a brilliant piece of social commentary about the time. 'Bank Holiday' follows, and this is Blur do punk, and do punk very well might I add. It's a short snappy song about Bank Holiday's a very British tradition. It talks about what a lot of us do when those days come round. Have a good time. Which often involves alcohol. That brings me perfectly to the next track 'Badhead' which seems to act as the 'Bank Holiday' hangover. It's one of the albums most underrated tracks, a much more slower and atmospheric affair than the previous effort. The song is simply about hangovers, there's not much more to say. 'The Debt Collector' is the next song on Side B a short instrumental piece, that was originally meant to have Phill Daniels reading over the top of it. However Damon could not choose a poem for the actor to read. 'Far Out' ends Side B a song written and sung by bassist Alex James, it was inspired by James’s passion for astronomy, and space.

Side C opens with 'To the End' one of the most melancholic pieces of music on the album, and also one of my favourites. It's a true album highlight. A beautiful heartfelt love song, which describes a couple trying to patch things up after a difficult patch. This song also contains some of Damon's best lyrics. It's one of the best things the band ever did, and it's easy to see why it's a fan favourite and a live staple. 'London Loves' is the next song, about the speed of life in London, as well as the different things young people seem to get up to in London. The title has a double meaning though, it talks about the London loves are the young people that engage in materialistic and promiscuous activities, while it also refers to how London loves these people for continuing this culture.  It's a Britpop classic, I love the use of a traffic report as a sample at the end of the song too. 'Trouble in the Message Centre' is next and again it's a very underrated Blur track, it's almost new wave like in sound. Grahams guitar playing is brilliant, as it is on the whole album. This track just showcases it brilliantly. Ending Side C is 'Clover Over Dover' another of Blur's dark tracks the song is about suicide, along with 'Tracy Jack's' this song is quite out of character for Blur at this time. However that doesn't make it any less brilliant. 

Side D opens with 'Magic America' a brilliant take on American culture, and how that same culture was slowly making it's way to Britain. I have always really liked this song. The chorus is super catchy with Damon's la la la's littered throughout. Again another piece of social commentary but done in a beautifully satirical way. 'Jubilee' follows 'Magic America' a song about young people, being lazy, and anti social. It's another fast paced song, with some clever sound affects in and some powerful drums. Another Blur fan favourite. 'This is a Low' is the penultimate track' and if push comes to shove it's my favourite song on the album. Written by Damon about the British Shipping Forecast, inspired by a tea towel that Alex James had given him. It's a beautiful piece of music, and one of the best songs Blur ever wrote. 'Lot 105' ends the album another instrumental, which has been said was inspired by Syd Barrett (Former Pink Floyd Lead Vocalist) it's only a short piece of music which rounds the album off. I have always thought it sounds like something you'd hear at the seaside, maybe that's just me.

Anyway Thank you for Reading x