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Rating: The anticipation for Blur's latest work had made me hopeful for the return of the four with something very interesting. But in October 2002, the news of Graham Coxon's departure made me think that it would be difficult for Blur to continue. In "Rockol," Damon spoke about Coxon, saying that since '95, the guitarist had begun to show signs of restlessness: it all started with arguments with Alex James, who was living the life of a diva (something Graham couldn't stand).
The transitional months up to that legendary May 5 2003 (the album's release date) were instead delightful, listening to another product of high quality (like "Parklife" and "Blur," which between its strengths - the melodies - and weaknesses - a bit too much noise - stood as the balance between the two), a sign that it takes time to shape and give content to ideas.
On March 20, the war in Iraq broke out, and MTV had a heavy rotation of peace videos. Blur arrived with "Out Of Time" and images of a woman involved in the Gulf War: a masterpiece marked by Blur and BBC.
Even though "Out Of Time" and the work containing it would not achieve great success in Italy, I consider "Out Of Time" one of the most beautiful songs of the new millennium and the opening phrase as one of the GREAT QUESTIONS of our uncertain times:
"Where's the love song to set us free?"
He saw well our uncertain times, full of selfishness and fear.
If the mix of Africa (north) and the West makes "Out Of Time" a masterpiece, the rest of the album is no less. The opening of "Ambulance" leaves another phrase destined to remain a guide to Blur's eighth work: "I ain't got nothing to be scared of," which appears in the album's booklet. And then on with "Crazy Beat," "Good Song" (terrifying "I could be lying on an atom bomb"), "On The Way To The Club," the cold English cry of "We've Got A File On You," the trees weaving the oxygen of "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" ("The trees are spitting oxygen"), the sweet and dreamy atmosphere of "Sweet Song" and then the rest.
"Battery In Your Leg" puts a grand finale to an album full of hope. A finale to a friend, Graham Coxon, who had collaborated right on the last track. A guitarist who had always excelled but was never counted among the guitar heroes in rock history. Perhaps because Blur was a group of people too peculiar for someone to be elevated to a star: because Graham Coxon is not just a guitarist. Graham had been very active in composing Blur's music along with Damon. And the departure from Britpop was much due to him.
But Damon had taken the reins of the group and the album still came out very well. Only now there wasn't the guitarist to balance Albarn's image with that of the others, himself included. Now Blur seemed to be only Damon Albarn. And the concert on MTV on May 13 (with the beautiful performances of "Out Of Time," "Crazy Beat" and "Trimm Trabb" (the beautiful version of that year (and not the original of "13"!))) confirmed it to me.
Congratulations anyway. Even after five years.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Ambulance (05:08)
I ain't got
Nothing to be scared of,
No I ain't got
Nothing to be scared of
No I ain't got
Anything to be scared of
'Cos I love you
I was born out of love
It's the only way to come into this world
I know I'm not all there
But I'm getting, getting, getting there
If you let me live my life
I'll stay with you to the end
And I know, lord
I'm nearly there
I want to tell you this
I ain't got
Nothing to be scared of, no
No I ain't got
Nothing to be scared of, no
No I ain't got
Anything to be scared
Cause I love you
I ain't got
Nothing to be scared of
No ain't got
Nothing to be scared of x 2
02 Out of Time (03:51)
Where's the love song to set us free
Too many people down
Everything turning the wrong way round
And I don't know what life would be
If we stop dreaming now
Lord knows we'd never clear the clouds
And you've been so busy lately that you haven't found the time
To open up your mind
And watch the world spinning gently out of time
Feel the sunshine on your face
It's in a computer now
Gone to the future way out in space
And you've been so busy lately that you haven't found the time
To open up your mind
And watch the world spinning gently out of time
And you've been so busy lately that you haven't found the time
To open up your mind
And watch the world spinning gently out of time
Tell me I'm not dreaming
But are we out of time
We're out of time
Out of time
03 Crazy Beat (03:14)
You got to get it together
Stop shooting at me
You're just a teenage industry
Why are the CIA having fun
They think you're clever cuz you've
blown up your lungs
But I love to hear that crazy beat
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
Gets the people dancing on their feet
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
And I love to live in paradise
I love my brothers on a Saturday night
break up!
I'm on my mobile
I'm talking to the president
I got to hit him for the money I've spent
Trying to get him to party with me
I even offered him ecstasy
But I love to hear that crazy beat
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
Gets the people dancing on their feet
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
And I love to live in paradise
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
I love my sister and I love her tonight
Break up!...It's a beat
And I love to hear that crazy beat
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
Gets the people dancing on their feet
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
And I love to live in paradise
I love my brothers on a Saturday night
And I love to hear that crazy beat
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
Gets the people dancing on their feet
(yeah yeah yeah y yeah)
And I love to live in paradise
I love my sister and I love her tonight
Yeah yeah yeah y yeah...
06 Brothers and Sisters (03:47)
Brothers and sisters
Rebuild your lives
We're all drug takers
Give us something tonight
A cartoon in a ketamine
Jelly mixed with margarine
White doves from the war machine
Every body movin
Cocaine is for murderers
Codeine for the jurors
Caffeine been through all of us
Everybody horney
Crackwhores back in town again
Eggships sniffing benelyn
Burning all the oil again
Smoking makes you holy
Textin abbreviates the brain
Aspirin takes away the pain
Rock on, everyone the same
That's the way it is
Brothers and sisters
Rebuild your lives
We're all drug takers
Give us something tonight
Rohypnol like a chloroform
Sugar from the day you are born
Washed out like a dinosaur
Really don't believe it.
Sticky sniffing superglue
sulphates keeps you in a zoo
Monkeys turning into you
Everybody horney
Acid good up on the moors
Gimpo stops you getting bored
Beta's busy making laws
Procaine stops your screaming
Librium for anxiety
Drinking is our society
Guessing out of tirety
That's the way it is
that's the way it is even when we're pissed
07 Caravan (04:35)
Caravan is lost
In the sun and the dust
No-one loves you
When you are lost
Yeah I've been a clown
Trying to pull my whole world down
I believed I was strong
And when it comes you'll feel
the weight of it
the weight of it
And the day will come when you'll
get away from it
Sometimes everything is easy
Sometimes everything is easy
I tried to quit
But my heart won't buy it
I got family
The caravan came back for me
And when it comes you'll feel the
weight of it
The weight of it
And the day will come when you'll
get away from it
Away from it
Sometimes everything is easy
Sometimes everything is easy
08 We've Got a File on You (01:01)
we've got a file on you
we've got a file on you
we've got a file on you
we've got a on you
we've got a file on you
we've got a file on you
we've got a file on you
we got a on you
09 Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club (02:52)
The trees are spinning oxygen
They're the rockets we should fear
If we go and let them off then we will disappear
Then we will disappear, surely we will disappear
The road is hot and dusty
The desert needs a beer
But if we go and blow it up then we will disappear
Then we will disappear, surely we will disappear
If we go and blow it up then we will disappear
We will disappear surely
We will disappear
11 Jets (06:23)
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets at sunset
Jets are like comets
Jets are like comets
12 Gene by Gene (03:48)
I've got a brain in lefthand drive
I don't sleep otherside
I ride a bullet like I'm Steve McQueen
Each time I intervene
I got a Keith and the barn is jumping
It's alright we've got time
Got a radio hit in mind
Can't see through my blind
Every night and day I never dug it
in the USA
I delete myself
Got to get to know you gene by gene
You're my jellybean
Get out the shower round four fifteen
And I'm dead when I'm clean
Fatboy and the barn is pumping
It's alright its just tight
Got to get into a better buisness
Deep down happiness
Every night and day I never dug it
in the USA
I delete myself
13 Battery in Your Leg (06:21)
This is a ballad for the good times
So put a battery in your leg
Put a rock beat over anything
Get it stuck there in your head
You can be with me
I got nothing to rely on
I've broken every bone
Everybody's stopped believing
But you know you're not alone
You can be with me
This is a ballad for the good times
And all the dignity we had
Don't get caught up on the evil things
You ain't coming back
You can be with me
If you wanna be
You can be with me
14 Me, White Noise (03:18)
OI!
You let yourself down and you don't know why
but you've ????
I'm the original
I'm the original
when it comes to the suburbs, I'm the original
Being English isn't about hate
it's about disgust
we're all disgusting
and then you move move move move
and you push push push push
and you trip over yourself and you think to yourself
why am I here?
I'm here cos I got no fucking choice
and furthermore, furthermore
you're boring (x5)
15 Beetlebum (03:29)
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)
16 Song 2 (01:18)
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
17 There's No Other Way (02:35)
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
Making me run
When I don't want to think
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
I don't want to think at all
There's no other way
There's no other way
All that you can do
Is watch them play
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
You're making it clear
When I don't want to think
You're taking me up when
I dont want to go up anymore
I'm just watching it all
There's no other way
There's no other way
All that you can do
Is watch them play
I'll watch you play
18 The Universal (03:47)
This is the next century
Where the universals free
You can find it anywhere
Yes the future's been sold
Every night we're gone
And to Karaoke songs
How we like to sing along
Though the words are wrong
It really really really could happen
Yes it really really really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you
Just let them go
No one here is alone
Satellites in every home
Yes the universals here
Here for everyone
Every paper that you read
Says tomorrow your lucky day
Well here's your lucky day
It really really really could happen
Yes it really really really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you
Just let them go
Well it really really really could happen
Yes it really really really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you
Just let them go
Just let them go
Just let them go
20 Parklife (03:03)
OOYY!!
Confidence is a preference
For the habitual voyeur
Of what is known as
(Parklife)
And morning soup can be avoided
If you take a route
Straight through what is known as
(Parklife)
John's got brewers droop he gets
Intimidated by the dirty pigeons
They love a bit of it
(Parklife)
Who's that gut lord marchin?
You should cut down on your porklife mate
Get some exercise
CHORUS:
All the people
So many people
And they all go hand in hand
Hand in hand through their parklife
Know what i mean?
I get up when i want except on wednesdays
When i get rudely awaken by the dustmen
(Parklife)
I put on my trousers on, have a cup of tea
And then think about leaving the house
(Parklife)
I feed the pigeons
I sometimes feed the sparrows too
It gives me a sense of enormous well being
(Parklife)
And then i'm happy for the rest of the day
Safe in the knowledge there will always
Be a bit of my heart devoted to it
CHORUS
Parklife (Parklife)
Parklife (Parklife)
Its got nothing to do with your
Vorsprung durch technique you know
And its not about you joggers
Who go round and round and round and round.....
CHORUS
21 End of a Century (02:40)
She says there's ants in the carpet
Dirty little monsters
Eating all the morsels
Picking up the rubbish
Give her effervescence
She needs a little sparkle
Good morning t.v.
You're lookin' so healthy
CHORUS:
We all say
Dont want to be alone
We wear the same clothes
'cause we feel the same
We kiss with dry lips
When we say goodnight
End of a century.. it's nothing special
Sex on the t.v.
Everybody's at it
And the mind gets dirty
As you get closer to thirty
He gives her a cuddle
Glowing in a huddle
Good night t.v.
Your all made up
You're looking like me
Chorus
Can... you... eat... her... yes... you... can...
Chorus x2
End of a century.. It's nothing specialx2
22 No Distance Left to Run (02:17)
It's over
You don't need to tell me
I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleep.
Being tonight
I won't kill myself trying to stay in your life
I've got no distance left to run
When you see me
Please turn your back and walk away
I don't want to see you
Cos I know the dreams that you keep
That's where we meet
When you're coming down think of me
I got no distance left to run
Ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh
It's over
I knew it would end this way
I hope you're with someone who makes you feel that this life is a life
One that settles down
Stays around
Spends more time with you
I got no distance left to run
I'm coming home
So cold
Home
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