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Rating: This is the "American" album by the four Englishmen from Colchester: at first, it may seem like a work arrived from another planet, composed of a sequence of brilliant and disconcerting tracks, certainly not classifiable according to the usual critical standards.
The Blur are mature and therefore capable of renewing and changing their approach, aiming for a particularly atmospheric and intriguing sound.
Albarn's voice takes time to enter the tracks, as if waiting for the right moment to debut; Coxon's guitar ruminates notes, proposing a line that is not entirely melodic, in a certain sense external, yet pleasant and delightful.
We find a hint of electronics that characterizes the entire album, destined to be the most gratifying and elaborate of Blur (awaiting the new "Think Tank").
They manage to evoke borders and landscapes full of joys and sorrows, painting their sound in an exemplary way: nostalgic, bitter, and at times almost moving.
Blur varies in listening: there are both acoustic and electronic pieces, but Damon and company know where their music needs to go to survive…
Melancholic, poignant, exhilarating.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Beetlebum (05:05)
Beetlebum, what you done
She's a gun, now what you done, Beetlebum
Get nothing done, you Beetlebum
Just get numb, now what you done, Beetlebum
And when she lets me slip away
She turns me on and all my violence gone
Nothing is wrong, I just slip away and I am gone
Nothing is wrong, she turns me on
I just slip away and I am gone
Beetlebum, because you're young
She's a gun, now what you done, Beetlebum
She'll suck your thumb, she'll make you come
Cos she's your gun, now what you done, Beetlebum
And when she lets me slip away
She turns me on and all my violence gone
Nothing is wrong, I just slip away and I am gone
There's nothing wrong, she turns me on
I just slip away and I am
He's on, he's on, he's on it,
He's on, he's on, he's on it. (to end)
02 Song 2 (02:01)
Wooooo oooo!
Wooooo oooo!
Wooooo oooo!
Wooooo oooo!
I got my head checked
By a jumbo jet
It wasn't easy
but nothing i-is
No
(Wooooo hooooooo!)
When I feel heavy metal
(Wooooo hooooooo!)
And I'm pins and I'm needles
(Wooooo hooooooo!)
Well, I lie and I'm easy
All of the time but I am never sure
Why I need you
Pleased to meet you
I got my hair done
When I was young
It's not my problem
It's not my probleeemmm
(Wooooooooo hooooooo!!!)
When I feel heavy metal
(Wooooo hooooooo!)
And I'm pins and I'm needles
(Wooooo hooooooo!)
Well, I lie and I'm easy
All of the time but I am never sure
Why I need you
Pleased to meet you
Yeah yeah!
Yeah yeah!
Yeah yeah!
Oh yeah
04 M.O.R. (03:27)
It's automatic (It's automatic)
I need to unload (Need to unload)
Under the pressure (Under the pressure)
Gone middle of the road (Middle of the road)
Fall into fashion (Fall into fashion)
Fall out again (Fall out again)
We stick together (We stick together)
Cos it never ends (It never ends)
Here comes a low (I'm a boy and you're a girl)
Here comes a high (The only ones in the world)
Here comes everything (You and me we'll work it out)
Here it comes
You, me, we'll work it out
Here comes tomorrow (Here comes tomorrow)
One, two, three episodes (Three episodes)
We stick together (We stick together)
Gone middle of the road (Middle of the road)
Cos that's entertainment (That's entertainment)
It's the sound of the wheel (Sound of the wheel)
It rolls on forever (Roll, roll forever)
Yeah you know how it feels (Know how it feels)
Here comes a low (I'm a boy and you're a girl)
Here comes a high (The only ones in the world)
Here comes everything (Like monkeys out in space)
Here it comes (We are members of the human race)
Here comes a low (I'm a boy and you're a girl)
Here comes a high (The only ones in the world)
Here comes everything (You and me we'll work it out)
Here it comes
You, me, we'll work it out
It's automatic (It's automatic)
I need to unload (Need to unload)
Under the pressure (Under the pressure)
Gone middle of the road (Middle of the road)
Here comes a low (I'm a boy and you're a girl)
Here comes a high (The only ones in the world)
Here comes everything (Like monkeys in outer space)
Here it comes (We are members of the human race)
Here comes a low (I'm a boy and you're a girl)
Here comes a high (The only ones in the world)
Here comes everything (You and me we'll work it out)
Here it comes
You, me, we'll work it out
05 On Your Own (04:26)
Holy man tiptoed his way across the Ganges
The sound of magic music in his ears
Videod by a bus load of tourists
Shiny shellsuits on and drinking lemonade
Now I got a funny feeling which I bought mail order
From a man in a teepee in California
Said he once was that great game show performer
Then he blew all his money away
Blew it all away
So take me home
Don't leave me alone
I'm not that good
But I'm not that bad
No psycho killer
Hooligan guerilla
I dream to riot
Oh you should try it
R.E. parole get gold card soul
My joy of life is on a roll
And we'll all be the same in the end
Then you're on your own (2)
Well we all go high for day glow in the discos
The sound of magic music in our brains
someone stumbles to the bathroom with the horrors
Says Lord give me time for I've jumped into space
I'm in outer space
So take me home
Don't leave me alone
I'm not that good
But I'm not that bad
No psycho killer
Hooligan guerilla
I dream to riot
Oh you should try it
R.E. parole get gold card soul
My joy of life is on a roll
And we'll all be the same in the end
07 You're So Great (03:35)
sad, drunk and poorly
sleepin' really late
sad, drunk and poorly
not feelin' so great
wanderin' lost in a town full of frowns
sad, drunk and poorly
dog's diggin' up the ground
and i feel the light in the night and in the day
and i feel the light when the sky's just mild and grey
and i feel the light when you tell me it's okay ..
cos you're so great and i love you
tea, tea and coffee
helps to start the day
tea, tea and coffee
shake it all the way
city's alive, and surprise, so am i
tea, tea and coffee
got no sleep today
and i feel the light in the night and in the day
and i feel the light when the sky's just mild and grey
and i feel the light when you tell me it's okay
cos you're so great and i love you
08 Death of a Party (04:33)
The death of the party
Came as no surprise
Why did we bother
should have stayed away
Another night
And I thought well well
Go to another party
And hang myself
Gently on the shelf
The death of the teenager
standing on his own
why did he bother
should have slept alone
Another night
And I thought well well
Go to another party
And hang myself
Gently on the shelf
(Repeat)
09 Chinese Bombs (01:24)
Chinese Bombs
He makes an inner arm block then kicks from behind
The lights, they go off but he can fight blind
Cause he got the touch and he will live long
He comes from Hong Kong where justice is done
Chinese bombs, millions jump
Chairman's junk, USA
Won't somebody, won't somebody
Sink the place
Got a call to go to Soho, the dragon said go
Let everyone know that you got the touch
You come from Hong Kong where justice is done
Where people are strong and you will live long
Chinese bombs, millions jump
Chairman's junk, USA
Bruce Lee come, save the day
Bruce Lee come, the Chinese way
11 Look Inside America (03:50)
Good morning lethargy
Drink pepsi is good for energy
The bath's on, smoke in the bedroom
Sore throat and on my neck a nasty bruise
Where it came from, well I don't know
But we played last night, it was a good show
Got the play out on a second rate chatshow
It's a nationwide deal, so we gotta go
Chuck from the company says it'll be alright
Got an ad on K-ROQ and there's an instore tonight
Well I build things up
Then I let them go
Got to get timeshare on the radio
Look inside America, she's alright, she's alright
Sitting out in the distance but I'm not trying to make up her mind
Looking for America
With its kookie nights and suicide
Where the TV says it's alright
Coz' everybody's hung up on something or other
"Steppin' off in 20" so the driver says
I should sleep tonight but I think I'll watch videos instead
Annie Hall leaves New York in the end
Press rewind and Woody gets her back again
And the whole world could have passed through me
But I don't know if it means that much to me
And the whole world could have passed through me
But I don't know if it means that much to me
12 Strange News From Another Star (04:02)
All I wanna be is washed out by the sea
No death star over me
Won't give me any peace
All I want is light relief
Put the crazies on the street
Give them guns and feed them meat
Now shoot the death star down
Dig a hole and put it down
Thousand miles underground
They say it's no game
There's strange news from another star
I'm lost, I'm lost
There's strange news from another star
Give me all your stuff
Until I can't get up
Watch the whole world freeze
Counting tin cans in our sleep
Submarines are diving deep
I don't believe in me
I don't believe in me
All I've ever done is tame
Will you love me all the same
Will you love me, though it's
Always the same
They say it's no game
There's strange news from another star
I'm lost, I'm lost
There's strange news from another star
13 Movin' On (03:44)
At the music heist
I met the gourmet man
With aluminium lungs
Sucks out all he can
Seek the whole world go flip
In a stunt bug style
He's a parasite
With a cellulite pile
But he can smile
This is the music
And we're movin' on, we're movin' on
We're sticky eyes and sticky bones
you get no time on your own
you get a dose and a ghost
You get it coast to coast
dye your hair black
get satan tattooed on your back
pierce yourself with a coke can
put yourself in fake tan now you're in the band
Coz' this is the music
and we're movin' on, we're movin' on
Hey this is the music
and we're movin' on, we're movin' on
no matter how low, there's always further to go
We're movin' on, we're movin' on
We're movin' on, it won't be long
We're movin' on, it won't be long
15 Dancehall (05:05)
There are ghosts in here
An easy laze
They dance all night
With a vacant gaze
They stand in rows
And buy alcohol
We're having fun at the dancehall
I've got my pills and I've got my toys
Pin-up girls and pin-up boys
My lips are frozen
I could kill him, but I just kiss his hand
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Other reviews
By fabbro
"'Song 2' is the album’s standout track: a tight two-minute punk piece."
"Blur demonstrate...the ideas, creativity, and personality necessary to reinvent themselves and to successfully undertake a process of musical evolution."
By GrantNicholas
A place of honor among the many artists dedicated to the continuous search for renewal and experimentation surely belongs to Damon Albarn.
We are facing the only album that encompasses the past, present, and future of one of the most influential British bands.
By temi
"Song 2 became the backdrop for Fifa 98 and many commercials."
"This ends the album 'Blur'. Two more notes... the b-sides from this period are also excellent and would complete the album."
