Blur - You're So Great

Anyway, the band fucked off to Iceland and Graham asserted his creative stamp in a way he'd never done before. The difference in cover art for the two records reflects the difference in sound. Instead of neat little songs about desperation you have noodly pieces that kind of have choursues, if you make yourself care to notice. Because there's some really sublime moments on this disc, and some fun numbers, and it plays well as a whole - just like the last album. Except here Coxon takes his tentative steps to creative independence, as shown in this first solo song.

Now, it's on Blur's album, but it's all Graham's doing, the songwriting, singing, guitarwork, everything except production. And it's so rough, and warm and sweet, he talks about tea and coffee, and the sky so mud and grey. In this song you can see the direction his solo work would eventually take. Rough and sweet, and a little random. It would still be a great song if someone covered it, or if when Graham did it live, (did he?), or even if he re recorded it with the band, but it gets it's a good percent of that warmth and charm from the muddy production. It would have been a travesty to record this song with the shiny production values of The Great Escape. It's not even imaginable. And it's not even certain that Graham would have the courage to attempt such a thing in that environment. Graham's voice isn't quite so developed here as it is later on in his solo career, but in this song he manages to turn this weakness into a plus.

I've written on this song before, somewhere, and I can't exactly remember but each time I've done it I end up saying something different than what I said before. Some of it requires context a once crazed Blur fan would know about, but I think a lot of the song's appeal for me is that it's simply fucking awesome. It makes me happy. I'm done rambling on now.