Sorry, But They’re Wrong About This Song.

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2022
  • There's way more to this song than you may think. Song 2 is that anthem from the 90s that everyone knows, and yet it's a song that doesn't much represent Blur as a band. It might seem simple but actually there's more going on here, it's not just a bunch of Woo-Hoos. Are you a fan? Putting aside the usual Oasis VS Blur argument, what do you think of Song 2? Is it a parody song like those journalist claimed it to be?!
    ⚡ Get 20% OFF MANSCAPED + Free Shipping with promo code "HAWKINS" at www.manscaped.com ⚡ Check 'em out if you fancy some grooming products or those undergarments I was wearing. Is this how TH-camrs do ad reads or have I gone too far?!
    Can you believe, someone actually wanted to be the sponsor of Justin Hawkins Rides Again? Manscaped were incredibly supportive of my endeavour to make a film noir.
    Check 'em out if you fancy some grooming products or those undergarments I was wearing. Is this how TH-camrs do ad reads or have I gone too far?!
    My Patreon (it's excellent): / jushawk
    - Group Zoom Calls / Live Stream Podcast
    - Private Lessons
    Merch Store: thejawsofvictory.com/
    Cameo: www.cameo.com/justinhawkins
    The Darkness are going on in Australia & New Zealand this October 2022 you can get tickets here: www.thedarknesslive.com/tour-...
    We are also doing a co-headline UK Arena Tour with Black Stone Cherry in January 2023 you can tickets for that here too: www.thedarknesslive.com/tour-...
    #blur #song2 #musicreview #reactionvideo #sponsored
  • บันเทิง

ความคิดเห็น • 1K

  • @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain
    @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain  ปีที่แล้ว +210

    Is this how TH-camrs do ad reads or did I take it too far? If you do fancy checking them out, you can get 20% OFF MANSCAPED + Free Shipping with promo code "HAWKINS" at www.manscaped.com (including those underpants, not that exact pair...obviously)

    • @ghostofguy
      @ghostofguy ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Much better than others. I didn't skip forward. Ha ha! Could always have a sponsor logo in the corner and a quick mention as well. 😀

    • @andybailey97
      @andybailey97 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      I normally hate those Manscaped ads but I nearly choked with laughter on my evening scran with yours Justin. Well done!

    • @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain
      @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain  ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@andybailey97 Oh good!

    • @BoredSilly666
      @BoredSilly666 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I prefer Au Natural and just let it hang out the bottom of my trousers :)

    • @LABRADOR904
      @LABRADOR904 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Brilliant, so funny. Your sense of humor is great.

  • @brien1301
    @brien1301 ปีที่แล้ว +758

    THAT IS THE SINGLE GREATEST COMMERCIAL IN HUMAN HISTORY. Manscaped owes you an incalculable amount of cash.

    • @mimilini1
      @mimilini1 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Hear! Hear!

    • @MashaT22
      @MashaT22 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      I hope they’ll keep those Manscaped commercials going!! I wasn’t expecting it and I nearly died laughing!!! Best one I’ve ever seen - Justin is now a musical AND Manscaped legend!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
      And great video topic too. I LOVE Song 2! You’re always talking out of your butt, but we love hearing what comes out! 😊

    • @teggaj
      @teggaj ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Couldn’t agree more😂

    • @zombieruss
      @zombieruss ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Epic, no other word for it!

    • @lisamarie1560
      @lisamarie1560 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Could not agree more. I’ve rewatched the ad spot at least a hundred times already! The single most successful yet thoroughly enjoyable advert ever!

  • @Jamestele1
    @Jamestele1 ปีที่แล้ว +100

    Blur is insanely talented. I love that you gave Blur some of the credit they deserve, and for touching on the Brit Pop era. This song is like they were riffing on Nirvana, but with the musicality of the Eagles- I typed this and you started playing Nirvana on que - I'm stoned

    • @darthbog2125
      @darthbog2125 ปีที่แล้ว

      i'm a negative creep and

  • @rodgre
    @rodgre ปีที่แล้ว +120

    Graham Coxon is so awesome. Such a creative guitar player. The stuff he did on 13 is some of my favorite stuff ever.

    • @cyyytr0n
      @cyyytr0n ปีที่แล้ว +9

      One of the smartest guitar players of his era, his riffs are so fun and intriguing

    • @r-pupz7032
      @r-pupz7032 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      100% agree, 13 is a masterpiece and Coxton is a killer guitarist. I was late to the Blur party but I love them so much now, their music really stands up.

    • @denine5232
      @denine5232 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      💯agreed 👍

    • @npisadh4047
      @npisadh4047 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I take any chance I get to talk about the later Blur albums, 13 and Think Tank were masterpieces, like a Blur Gorillaz hybrid.

    • @fauntleeeeroy
      @fauntleeeeroy ปีที่แล้ว +6

      13 is a fucking great album , start to finish

  • @msheldon10
    @msheldon10 ปีที่แล้ว +134

    Agree 100% about Graham Coxon. Absolutely amazing guitarist

  • @TJPenitencia
    @TJPenitencia ปีที่แล้ว +156

    I HATE the Manscaped ads, but I LOVE what you did with it. Absolutely cracked me up.

  • @oztrace6016
    @oztrace6016 ปีที่แล้ว +61

    I think Blur, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, very underrated. I’m a muso (keyboards, vocals), and their songs were always more layered than people realised. Very switched on musicians and creators.

    • @jamesthecat
      @jamesthecat ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yeah, they got a lot of heat for The Great Escape, with Country House notoriously 'winning the battle but losing the war' with Oasis. Since then they've really shown their creativity & musicianship, as you say, with Albarn in particular becoming one of our most prolific songwriters.

    • @Jamestele1
      @Jamestele1 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Agree. Damon Albarn is closer to my "generation's Paul McCartney" than anyone from the era. He even straddled pop and punk/underground. The Gorillas are amazing also

    • @ditavee
      @ditavee ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@Jamestele1 Blur and Gorillaz just continue to output insanely great music 30ish years on, and they still feel fresh. Magic Whip was a brilliant album and sounds like Cracker Island will be too. I think people looked at Damon (and the rest of Blur to be fair, they’re all bloody gorgeous), heard Boys and Girls and There’s no other way, and thought, meh, pretty boys doing pop, but Damon and Graham are genuine artists, excellent song writers and musicians.

    • @randywhite3947
      @randywhite3947 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      They were extremely successful far from underrated

    • @DinJerr
      @DinJerr 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I disagree about the Albarn and Coxon part. Every post talk about how good these two are, yet in Song 2 you immediately know the song from the starting drum solo, and the chorus from Alex's distorted bass. These two IMHO are very underrated.

  • @xenos_n.
    @xenos_n. ปีที่แล้ว +38

    As an american, I didn't know much about Blur until Song 2 came out, but it was Coffee & TV which made me decide to buy their album 13 and I was shocked at how amazing it was. Still a ridiculously great and varied album. To this day I've never listen to any other blur album yet that one is one of my favorite albums out of anything.

    • @islabyford4789
      @islabyford4789 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      So you never listened to their other albums?

    • @cutekanjii
      @cutekanjii ปีที่แล้ว +2

      If u like those u would like Graham Coxon's solo album Happiness and Magazines

    • @pesmerga182
      @pesmerga182 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Well the lead singer is the guy behind Gorilllaz

  • @jodee8831
    @jodee8831 ปีที่แล้ว +281

    That was without question the funniest Manscaped endorsement to date 🤣🤣🤣😂 👏👏👏

    • @bandanaworm
      @bandanaworm ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Literally didn't skip the ad bc of your comment! And you're right!

    • @GizzyDillespee
      @GizzyDillespee ปีที่แล้ว

      You're not wrong, but that's an incredibly low bar to set, to date. Present endorsement excepted, as you said.

    • @johneapleseed6876
      @johneapleseed6876 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      #1

    • @sparko2012
      @sparko2012 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Gorgeous wasnt it.

  • @marklife_ox4
    @marklife_ox4 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    Modern Life Is Rubbish is such an underrated album of theirs as Graham is such an underrated guitarist!

    • @janolaussen2573
      @janolaussen2573 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yea listen to that if you like to hear great guitar sounds.

    • @billycarver124
      @billycarver124 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Facts! When I sat down and learned the Chemical World riff I was like “Damn there’s so much more to this dude’s playing than I thought. But also screw him for making such a hard riff.” 😂😂

    • @Britpop-Tribute-Band
      @Britpop-Tribute-Band ปีที่แล้ว +6

      The best Blur album as far as Im concerned.

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      very underrated guitarist

    • @whatdothlife4660
      @whatdothlife4660 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Graham Coxon is constantly sited as an influential and wonderful guitarist.

  • @goldboy150
    @goldboy150 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Coxon is such a brilliant guitarist. He’s always doing unexpected things that one would think wouldn’t make any sense. A good example of how you get a long way on creativity rather than virtuosity.

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You think he’s not also a virtuoso? Hmmm

    • @goldboy150
      @goldboy150 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@pyenapple he isn’t a virtuoso - by his own assessment. Watch his interview on that pedal show.
      He’s not a Page-Esque soloist with outstanding technical ability. He is creatively outstanding and an original in terms of his writing and playing. He says as much himself.

    • @guitareater6975
      @guitareater6975 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@pyenapple you must not know what virtuosity is

    • @malbibant
      @malbibant ปีที่แล้ว

      “when it was ok to like Morrissey…”.

    • @goldboy150
      @goldboy150 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@carolholloway7449 yeah, I mean, I can shred too - but I’m no virtuoso. I agree though that it isn’t his style, which was my point. He says as much himself.
      I’m not saying he doesn’t have technique - it’s just that that isn’t the point.

  • @howitusedtobe
    @howitusedtobe ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Yes .. Mr Coxon Is an excellent player and he’s very dynamic and versatile. Alex James tears it up too. “She’s so high” is one of the best songs ever written

    • @saintrobski
      @saintrobski ปีที่แล้ว

      Alex J is very underrated. Melodic and unusual lines that still do what the bass should do, but not in a way you'd expect, linking the drums perfectly with Coxon's guitar.

  • @bailyballs
    @bailyballs ปีที่แล้ว +88

    Love the channel and Coxon! Pedantry alert, proceed with caution: According to Mr Coxon, the drum track is himself and the drummer both playing live kits in a corridor which Mr Street then turned into a loop. There's 2 bass tracks with one of them going thru a 1 watt Marshall battery power amp. When my Dad band plays this, for the chorus, we have one guitar player doing the 3-octave drone/pedal and and I hit a fuzz pedal and add in the low E string to the A shape power chords. It's a Weezer move that Coxon admired. Fun song to play and loved the ad.

    • @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain
      @JustinHawkinsRidesAgain  ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Thanks John!

    • @lsh3991
      @lsh3991 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Yup, backed up by Stuart Maconie's 1999 biography of them. Both kits were facing each other. Graham's playing being much looser than Dave's probably adds to the roomier feel.

    • @redkingeye
      @redkingeye ปีที่แล้ว

      th-cam.com/video/OEy5LBHq6OQ/w-d-xo.html here's a great video about the making of it.

    • @grimmertwin2148
      @grimmertwin2148 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JustinHawkinsRidesAgain No - thankyou Justin lol

    • @nationaltrevor255
      @nationaltrevor255 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@lsh3991 Who’s Dave? According to the majority of those commenting on the drums, they were played by Graham Coxon, "The drummer" and "The actual drummer."
      I’m a drummer.

  • @matthsmatthsmatths
    @matthsmatthsmatths ปีที่แล้ว +79

    Having spoken to both Graham and the producer about this.The drums you hear at the beginning are both Graham on one drum kit and the 'actual' drummer on another kit at the same time. They were kind of messing around together and the producer really liked what they were doing and captured it. The vocals you hear are 90% the guide vocal which was largely freeform with a few overdubs made later. Cool eh!

    • @patjackson8649
      @patjackson8649 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Poor Dave 😂 ‘the actual drummer’ (Dave Rowntree)

    • @ValleyRC
      @ValleyRC ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Graham is arguably the best drummer in blur.

    • @ValleyRC
      @ValleyRC ปีที่แล้ว

      And arguably might be a stretch. Some amazing work on his solo records. Takes some skill to pull of metal and hardcore punk effectively.

    • @elfboy29
      @elfboy29 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @The Black Painter & Decorator Graham hung out in the pub with painters and decorators during his lost weekend time so maybe you sppke to him too?

    • @presterjohn71
      @presterjohn71 ปีที่แล้ว

      @The Black Painter & Decorator, nope. What's pathetic is your sad little post.

  • @johnokelly1983
    @johnokelly1983 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    This album from Blur was the one that got me listening to them. The whole album is incredible. I hadn’t paid attention to them prior to this album and wouldn’t have expected them to make an album that sounded like it. Great stuff

    • @doctorbuzzard10
      @doctorbuzzard10 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Same. I often wonder what Noel Gallagher must’ve thought when he heard Song 2 and Beetlebum.

    • @ravenecho2410
      @ravenecho2410 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      i knew this one, but got into Blur by going backwards from the gorillaz

  • @andrewsharpe4764
    @andrewsharpe4764 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Coxon’s guitar work was so unique. The intro to He Thought Of Cars is incredible. He also had a way of intertwining two seemingly unrelated riffs or solo lines, eg This Is A Low/Colin Zeal. Outstanding work.

    • @FacheChanteDeux
      @FacheChanteDeux ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I love This is a Low, No Distance Left to Run has beautiful instrumentation as well.

    • @snarepusher
      @snarepusher ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@FacheChanteDeux you should listen to the b side "polished stone"

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This Is A Low might be the pinnacle. Utter gorgeous brilliance

  • @witch_haunts_ghost
    @witch_haunts_ghost ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I'm late to this video party! I absolutely love Blur. I moved to the UK when I was 21 from Australia (doing that visa thing) in 1994 and Blur's "Parklife" was the soundtrack to my life there in the UK . It's still one of my favourite records. I got to see them play in Newquay on the beach and then hitch-hiked and snuck into Glastonbury and got to see them play then too. Troublemaking! Amazing band. The other thing I love is here at home I said "I love Graham Coxon" and then you said it exactly the same way! Sympatico. Anyway, in summary, Graham Coxon is amazing, Song 2 is amazing, All their records are amazing. Blur is amazing. Coxon/Albarn also did some truly wonderful remixes of Massive Attacks "Mezzanine" album, in particular a minimalist version of the song "Angel", which just melts your face off in its beauty. In the meantime, I'll zip up my tracksuit to my chin and slip on my Adidas sneaks and go dancing! Thanks as always for the fantastic videos, Justin. You are the best thing on the interwebs....

  • @adrianmccombe625
    @adrianmccombe625 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    My favourite memory is before this was released as a single I went with my brother to see Blur at the Barrowlands. We had the album and loved the song. There was a point during the gig they said here is our new song we think you will like it. They played it and there was no reaction. Damon made some comment at the end and they brushed it off. About 3 weeks later it went number one.
    I'll never forget the moment Song2 fell flat. We knew it was going to be massive my brother and I. Weirdest thing I've ever witnessed musically.

  • @DanishJerk123
    @DanishJerk123 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Speaking of Morrissey, you should definitely uncover some of The Smiths' work. Would love for you to break down the utter madness of Johnny Marr's guitar playing. Great vid as per usual, and the ad had me rolling. Cheers

    • @grimmertwin2148
      @grimmertwin2148 ปีที่แล้ว

      Smiths bore me shitless. Morrissey's and Marr's autobiographies more than make up for their music. I guess you can't have everything. Just ask the rest of the band - if you can name them lol
      Peace

  • @caranook
    @caranook ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Blur has been one of my favourite bands since the nineties, and Graham Coxon is a truly under appreciated guitarist. He really did carry a lot of the songs, his work was always very unique and as someone that also plays the guitar I take a lot of influences from his style.

    • @nationaltrevor255
      @nationaltrevor255 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I love his playing. Like I love David Gilmour’s, Neil Young’s and Mark Knopfler’s. Very different styles all, but soul and passion by the bucketload!

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Plus he did amazing backing vocals on nearly all blur songs. How can he be THAT good at switching between rhythm and lead AND sing tons of interesting harmonies?!

    • @caranook
      @caranook ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@pyenapple I agree! Truly an amazing musician.

  • @natsaan
    @natsaan ปีที่แล้ว +40

    Thanks for doing Blur, I'm still a bit obsessed to this day. And honestly I'm a bit clueless why, partly Damon's mix of charm and loathing, and Graham's somewhat unique elevation to the genre.
    Could you do some more Blur please? ♥️

    • @grimmertwin2148
      @grimmertwin2148 ปีที่แล้ว

      Watch the bass player's documentary on cocaine. It was his penance. I hate it when musicians reform and have to apologise for past indiscretions and adventures. Not like Led Zeppelin and the Stones who made an unapologetic living out of it.

    • @tonyanderton3521
      @tonyanderton3521 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      teehill, it's easy to get obsessed with Blur; don't worry about that. Blur are one of my top 6 British bands of all time. Every album is different from the last, and every song is different on every album. Sheer class. Just great songwriters.

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว

      Loathing?

    • @natsaan
      @natsaan ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@pyenapple oh yeah, for me it's dripping with contempt and loathing (under a sugary sweet exterior).

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว

      @@natsaan hahahaha whatever it means i love it carry on 💙

  • @JAMortramf8
    @JAMortramf8 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Coconut… *spell check Coxon was heavily into Pavement around that time.
    What’s really interesting is how a guitarist in a guitar band was able to steer a bands sound that previously had manifested itself into a reaction (in Albarn’s words) to the ‘coca-colonisation’ of the UK’s culture just a few LP’s prior (Modern life is rubbish & Parklife) and then get turned on to US college indie bands, who themselves had been influenced by UK indie bands. I liked it when bands had the time to mature and evolve, when it wasn’t all personal curation instead of a bands curation resulting in an LP.
    I guess the moral of the tale is keep music reactionary & eclectic, that’s one thing I’ve always respected about Blur (Who were huge fans of Cardiacs as mid era Blur B sides testify to & having the Cardiacs supporting at Mile End) is their eclecticism.
    It’s funny really… the vast influence that the US has had up post (second) world war British culture… imagine if it was Belgium or Botswana or Iraq, people would be up in arms.
    One thing for sure is Coxon was/is one of the most inventive UK guitarists of the last 50 years, self taught. Awesome.

  • @DazzleRebel
    @DazzleRebel ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Hi Justin, I was 15 in 1997 and years into my journey of finding 'my own' music. After the buoyant and largely upbeat British music of the previous 3 years, the releases of 1997 seemed to take a slightly darker edge. Take Attack of the Grey Lantern by Mansun, what a sombre yet brilliant sounding album (come to think of it that would make a great episode). It was as though 1997 was the party starting to wind down.
    By 1998 dance music and bands that employed a lot more electronic sounds took the batten and started up their own party.
    Back to Blur, I remember being in my first band and having Song 2 in our set. We played a battle of the bands and thought we went down a storm. Then the band on after us did Song 2 as their sound check and blew our version out of the water. Hey, ho...
    ...or rather wooohooo?

  • @moreheff
    @moreheff ปีที่แล้ว

    Best advert ever Justin LMAO, but even funnier for me was the moment when Justin says "I love that amateurish guitar sound (cue close up of JH looking to camera) what does that say about me?" I almost spat my coffee all over the keyboard!! As if the Manscaped ad had not already had me laughing my (not yet shaven) balls off!!!! But on a musical note, you picked out EVERY single little nuance of the song arrangement of Song 2 that I also love. Man, I have never been so connected with somebody in their musical observations. I almost always am thinking what you come out with! Just wish I had as much talent as you!! Great work as always JH :-)............... now where did I leave my after shave............. ;-)

  • @jobrimar8291
    @jobrimar8291 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    Always thought a lot of Fugazi influence in song 2, the drum part played on the rims, the skronky guitar, the awesome heaviness, the title to name but a few, and saw mr Coxon at their rather incredible gigs. And yes, for me Ok Computer killed Britpop stone dead, and we can never thank Radiohead enough for doing so.

    • @grimmertwin2148
      @grimmertwin2148 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Like Kurt Cobain how many people have Radiohead killed stone dead? Could be the smack thing I suppose lol

    • @frusciantesplectrum7980
      @frusciantesplectrum7980 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Yeah definitely Fugazi, along with that sort of Pixies loud quiet vibe…. Even the lyrics is Pixiesk.

    • @Exsugarbabe1
      @Exsugarbabe1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Agreed, Fugazi are a massive influence on so much music...

    • @winstonsmith2079
      @winstonsmith2079 ปีที่แล้ว

      Anyone can play guitar.

    • @grimmertwin2148
      @grimmertwin2148 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@winstonsmith2079 Wow what an incisive, articulate cutting edge comment Winnie. Post some links of your guitar playing and let us be the judge of that lol

  • @001LadyMorgana
    @001LadyMorgana ปีที่แล้ว +16

    I loved Blur and followed Damon Albarn when he started Gorillaz that voice loved it

  • @robotjeans
    @robotjeans ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Best Advert on youtube

  • @clareburke7550
    @clareburke7550 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    You win the internet today, what a sponsorship ad! Also feeling fairly ancient realising that this song is 25 years old.

  • @santiagostokle
    @santiagostokle ปีที่แล้ว +5

    deconstructed like this, it reminded me of Joey Santiago/Frank Black in the 90s... (the pedal)
    Graham was always special (5 years later) happiness in magazines has epic moments. It sounds like the clash, the libertines, shellac, frank black, black keys...

  • @ResidentRob
    @ResidentRob ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I think I heard Graham Coxon say in an interview that the drum intro is actually a loop they created and was meant to sound kind of robotic and the guitar is barely in tune as part of the joke on the record company.

  • @twkotb
    @twkotb ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The part you say sounds like a bass overdub - yes, it’s Alex playing his bass through one of those tiny little Marshall practice amps with a two-inch speaker, powered by AAA batteries. Warren Huart does an interview with Graham on his Produce Like a Pro channel and they talk about this.

    • @markvmmm
      @markvmmm ปีที่แล้ว

      there are also 2 drum tracks playing at the same time. the intro part is looped throughout the whole song

  • @pyenapple
    @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I disagree, this doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of their discography. From their SINGLES, sure. But they had other album tracks that weren’t utterly dissimilar, and plenty of weird noisy raw b-sides. Blur were always wild and difficult underneath.

    • @CombatRust
      @CombatRust ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Bugman is another example, also some from the first album are very noisy

    • @joanm9220
      @joanm9220 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This v true. If you listen to their earlier stuff

    • @jbaker6811
      @jbaker6811 ปีที่แล้ว

      I think he's talking to the wider audience who, like me, didn't buy Blur albums or singles and aren't aware of their whole catalogue.

    • @pyenapple
      @pyenapple ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jbaker6811 then why say it if it isn’t true? I think he genuinely doesn’t know they started as a noisy weird art rock group before the first album. It’s not helpful to assume things

  • @smithciaran88
    @smithciaran88 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    What an amazing youtube channel - huge fan of your music and delighted I came across it - love the music theory and breakdown of songs. More power to you.

  • @felixd.4150
    @felixd.4150 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Justin I just want to start out by saying you're the man and making your own Manscaped commercial as opposed to just doing a live read is the kind of genius I've come to expect from you. Bravo.

  • @anonanon9363
    @anonanon9363 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    What a great episode. Loved the commercial (amazingly) and loved the joy in figuring out all the guitar/bass work.

  • @stuartcarden1371
    @stuartcarden1371 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I adore Graham Coxon's guitar playing. Very different to Brian May (my other favourite guitarist) but both glorious in their way.

  • @robsdianten1
    @robsdianten1 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Blur's bassist Alex James is real talented. To me he carried the sound of Blur during their Britpop era as much as Coxon. His bass notes in (for example) Popscene, Girls and boys and Entertain me are killers!
    Sadly he never made a solo career.

    • @audiochris78
      @audiochris78 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      He made a lot of cheese though

    • @Adamnme01
      @Adamnme01 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      He did put out a few singles me me me hangin around with the drummer from elastica. Two singles with Fat Les, and played bass on murder on the dancefloor by Sophie Ellis Bextor

    • @robsdianten1
      @robsdianten1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@audiochris78 exactly but is easier access to his music than his cheese :(

    • @robsdianten1
      @robsdianten1 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Adamnme01 I've never heard of fat lies before, thanks. And I love murder on the dance floor! I didn't know that 😯

    • @MaquiladoraIII
      @MaquiladoraIII ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@audiochris78 Great comment, great username.

  • @aerospaceanalysisinsighta222
    @aerospaceanalysisinsighta222 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Your acoustic 'take' on 'Pretty Vacant' is a mark of your own musicality, and of the unexpected brilliance of the song. You need to cover it - probably acoustically. Not because it will make money, but because it will make people happy!

  • @jonnitm7370
    @jonnitm7370 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Alban was spending a lot of time in Iceland at the time of recording this album. This song is very close to a certain song by an Icelandic band (Botnleðja), that Blur befriended and spent a lot of time with playing football and getting high/hammered.
    Love the ad
    Love Coxon
    Love the channel

  • @alleycat131313
    @alleycat131313 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My then 3 year old (1997) played percussion on a pringles container in his car seat. Its how I knew he was a musician. He's 28 now and plays it all. I have fond memories of this song for that reason.

  • @XanderMohan
    @XanderMohan ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Coxon also plays the power chords in the 2nd inversion which gives an even fatter sound and is just genius.
    His riffs are always awesome e.g. Beetlebum (1st track of the same album)

  • @illistas
    @illistas ปีที่แล้ว +6

    From what I've always heard, the main riff was inspired by Fell off the floor man, by a contemporary Belgian band dEUS which came out a year earlier. Apparently Albarn once confirmed this but I never saw a definitive source for it. Both songs are awesome though.

  • @keego7680
    @keego7680 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Dammit Justin! I almost spit out my water on my keyboard at work! That Manscaped Ad is fucking brilliant!

  • @rootsrock2394
    @rootsrock2394 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Coxons solo on coffee and t.v is one of my favourites. A weird, awesome noise maker!

  • @SlowdiveTheAngel
    @SlowdiveTheAngel ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Justin of the Hawkins. I salute you sir on your consistently entertaining TH-cam channel, your moustache and for writing one of my favourite bangers - It’s Love, Jim.
    I wondered if you might review in your own inimitable style something by one of my all time favourites bands - The Wedding Present.
    Perhaps - Everyone thinks he look daft from George Best, Take Me from Bizarro or perhaps Corduroy from the seminal album Seamonsters.
    Looking forward to seeing The Darkness in person next year in Glasgae.

  • @kingofthesnakes2396
    @kingofthesnakes2396 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    in my opinion blur are the most underrated band of all time. Would love to see more love for them again. Great vid. Thanks

    • @dominicelizondo7371
      @dominicelizondo7371 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Depends on what country. In a lot of countries around the world outside the U.S they're very popular.

    • @JG-gd3px
      @JG-gd3px ปีที่แล้ว +5

      100% agree. One of the best bands I've ever heard. Their song quality and diversity is so so high.

    • @felixd.4150
      @felixd.4150 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      So are The Kinks.

    • @craigg5410
      @craigg5410 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Everyone says that every band is underrated.

    • @jackjude
      @jackjude ปีที่แล้ว +5

      They're generally highly rated. But maybe not overly popular in global terms. Most very good bands are like this.

  • @williamjones7942
    @williamjones7942 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    This is great. I loved the Darkness when I was a teenager in the 2000s and was learning guitar, and was wondering what Justin and co were up to now. A really sensitive and thoughtful analysis of a brilliant track.

  • @fitzycazza
    @fitzycazza ปีที่แล้ว

    Where do I start?! I usually moan when your video are interrupted by adverts but....wow! That's the best darn ad I've seen in years! Now we all know you are truly Manscaped lol. In regards to Blur...Great band. In the 90's I was convinced I would marry Damon one day! I still regularly listen to most of their albums, I'm not a fan of The Great Escape as Country House is just too cheesy for me. Modern Life Is Rubbish rocks hard in many places so that's probably my fave. Thanks for the channel, please keep it going as its just hugely entertaining and interesting. Carol. X

  • @robmcvaigh796
    @robmcvaigh796 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    The manscape commercial is fucking brilliant!

  • @steroberts
    @steroberts ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I remember seeing an interview with Graham and he said there's a bass track where it's played through one of those tiny battery powered Marshall stacks, on the overdub bass part you mentioned.

  • @cszmax
    @cszmax ปีที่แล้ว +5

    It’s so great to see one of my favourite singers dissect and study a song from one of my all time favourite bands. The eponymous album featured some great songs. Beetlebum my all time fav followed by song 2 because it was the second song on the album and country sad ballad man which is awesome. M.O.R. was essentially chord for chord Bowies boys keep swinging so much so I think Blur got hit with infringement. Still those were the days when music even the tracks that were so called rip offs still sounded good. Connection from elastica springs to mind it was Wire’s three girl rhumba

  • @JeffVicario
    @JeffVicario ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent episode! The main guitar riff in Song 2 actually sounds a bit like the verse melody in The Chauffeur by Duran Duran. Hadn't noticed that before.

  • @000phill000
    @000phill000 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    In the UK, Song 2 was used in the promotional trailers for the movie Starship Troopers

  • @FreeCatCheese
    @FreeCatCheese ปีที่แล้ว +6

    "How Soon is Now?" also comes to mind...as far as tremendous songs that don't fit within a band's oeuvre...

  • @corintibbetts-harlow8021
    @corintibbetts-harlow8021 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The guitar is the power chords you see in the verse all played on the 5th string, then for the loud bit he creates an inversion by also covering the low fifth on the 6th string with his 1st finger for that big smashing pumpkins or weezer blue album power chord sound. The high drone notes are overdubs.

  • @johnnyrsj
    @johnnyrsj ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Very much enjoying these vids Justin... your genuine curiosity and enthusiasm shows... brings out more interesting and thoughtful takes on songs I've not really seen in other music breakdown channels.

  • @kiwimaccomboattack9765
    @kiwimaccomboattack9765 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Fun fact! The drums in the verse is a drum loop. They recorded the the song live in a room together including the vocals, when the vocals get isolated you can hear massive amounts of instruments bleeding through.

  • @ellendrowne4438
    @ellendrowne4438 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Love love love this video! I was 15 when Song 2 came out and every time I hear it, it just takes me back to happier, teenage days of no responsibilities and bloody good music 😊 Thanks so much for talking about this track, Justin, loving the channel and can't wait to see you guys play Gone Wild festival next month. Keep up the awesome work!

    • @ravenecho2410
      @ravenecho2410 ปีที่แล้ว

      song is so hype, heart just beats faster

  • @nedrysoft
    @nedrysoft ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I’ve spent so much time watching graham coxon vids, he has such a lovely and interesting voice that draws you in, 4 hours later you wonder where that time has gone, he’s so humble and genuinely excited when he’s talking about his music.
    He’s up there with you Justin!

  • @deathkampdrone
    @deathkampdrone ปีที่แล้ว +1

    As a lifelong Blur fan, this song means very little to me. It's a hiccup at best. I think that happens a lot however, that some watered down version of something that's going on becomes the story of it. It's not a bad song by any means, but it's very simple and silly. A novelty song. I feel a little weird that this song together with the despicable Country House is most peoples way into this marvellous, varied, original band. But it is interesting none the less. The next album, 13, was a magnificent sonic spaceship however, and it's still roaming the minds of all who got into it. Cool vid, man :)

  • @FourwayflashersonComics
    @FourwayflashersonComics ปีที่แล้ว

    Justin, I am burning through your videos. I have to say this is one of my favourties. Manscaped commercial on point. The break down of song 2 is awesome. I never had heard the one repeating note before. And your acoustic version of Pretty Vacant was spot on. Please record it and make it available for me to listen to, I need the full version in my life.

  • @Viper-dz2kw
    @Viper-dz2kw ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Love that I saw this video show up 2 minutes after it was uploaded

  • @SteveDorrans
    @SteveDorrans ปีที่แล้ว +4

    THAT was, without any doubt, the FINEST manscaped ad I will ever see. Give that man an award!

  • @nealpage5732
    @nealpage5732 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The point made about the single note drone which resides in the pre-chorus is so crucial. It's those million little choices about what not to play in a band that separates the great from the good. Brilliant.

  • @ideletemyelf1585
    @ideletemyelf1585 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Funny story, I was a teenager at the time and saw Song 2 on MTV's 120 minutes and HAD to get it from the music shop. Well I went down to the store and looked for Blur but grabbed Modern Life Is Rubbish by mistake because I didn't get a chance to see what the song was called when I saw it on the TV..
    Listened to the entire album waiting for Song 2 and it never came but I fell absolutely in LOVE with the album but I still had to hear Song 2 again so I marched right down to the shop again, bought the right self titled Blur album and then bought everything I could find from them thereafter. They were the biggest influence on my continuing playing guitar and becoming a proper musician.

    • @ArtistSoftwareEngineer
      @ArtistSoftwareEngineer ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Surely you would have worked out you bought the wrong album, given the song’s title after the first bar of ‘Advert’ (the *second* song on MLIR) 😂

    • @ideletemyelf1585
      @ideletemyelf1585 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@ArtistSoftwareEngineer lol. Thankfully I didn’t and just kept listening like a dumb teenager.

  • @MrGiorgioud
    @MrGiorgioud ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Blur is one of the greatest British bands ever, part of the noble lineage that started with the Beatles and ended with...them! And yeah, Graham is a top guitarist, inventive and adventurous, the likes of whom have tragically disappeared.....

  • @Ed-cc7do
    @Ed-cc7do ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Like the whole self-titled album it was Grahams revenge on Britpop, burning Damon’s Country House to the ground and abrasively calling time on all those cheery brass instruments and cheesy videos with page 3 girls. It was the sound of a brilliant and seminal band reinventing themselves in a way Oasis (with all respect to them) never could.

    • @cyyytr0n
      @cyyytr0n ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Oasis and Blur are sonically very different, though I absolutely love them for what they are in their own league, and I have to admit Blur wrote songs that Noel Gallagher could even hardly think of BUT Don't Believe the Truth and Dig Up Your Soul displayed some reaaaaally nice tunes from the Gallagher Brothers

  • @godonholiday
    @godonholiday ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Would be great if you did one on the importance of the producer to a sound and which producers you have followed and liked

  • @Greywolf1066
    @Greywolf1066 ปีที่แล้ว

    Oh the vanity (or lack there of) of the ad was brill!
    And your discussion fabulous, thank you JHRA (:

  • @GerSHAK
    @GerSHAK ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The "saturated tight little roomy" drums sound is actually Dave and Graham playing a drumset each! :)

    • @GerSHAK
      @GerSHAK ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Also while the bass does fuzz bass for the choruses, there is also a rhythm guitar doing power chords in the right channel.

  • @dhammaboy1203
    @dhammaboy1203 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Coxon’s guitar work is genius - truly original! His chord voicings are the shiz!

  • @chrisknight2631
    @chrisknight2631 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Only time I’ve ever been watching a video and not double and triple tapped the right side of the screen to skip 20-30 seconds of the video when its sponsor is being plugged. Wonderful.

  • @jayjayripoff
    @jayjayripoff ปีที่แล้ว +2

    One of my favorite tunes to play, and one of the exhaustive list of reasons to have a ProCo Rat on the board! 😉🤟
    I'd like to request some Carter USM, if you've listened to them? I always thought them as a kinda bridge from Punk Rock to Brit Pop(alright, a large bridge..)
    I find their history and the subject matter interesting, don't know if you might....? :-)
    Thanks again for enjoyable content

  • @theghostofmaximumvolume3414
    @theghostofmaximumvolume3414 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I loved Blur when I was a teen.
    My introduction was "Girls and Boys."
    I always love a good electronic dance track.

    • @robotjeans
      @robotjeans ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Still a great song

    • @imonahorse
      @imonahorse ปีที่แล้ว +7

      One of the finest basslines of that era

    • @stef2432
      @stef2432 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Loved that, and Coffee and TV. The video is still iconic.

    • @imonahorse
      @imonahorse ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@stef2432 I have a milk carton tattoo on my ribs!

    • @stef2432
      @stef2432 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@imonahorse cool!

  • @TheBritt2001
    @TheBritt2001 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Alex is one of my all time favourite base players. If you listen to what is going on with the bass in Blur songs, it is so interesting, but not overwhelming either.

    • @cyyytr0n
      @cyyytr0n ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Blur's basslines are deliciously singing, tracks such as Entertain Me or I Know display such inventive melodies on bass

  • @ethanprince356
    @ethanprince356 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    0:24 After Britpop was Post Britpop. Oasis released Be Here Now in 1997, which gave them two of their eight #1s - D'You Know What I Mean and All Around The World, which at 9min 36secs is the longest running British #1 ever. The Mancunians also released The Masterplan, a B-sides and rarities compilation of songs not already on a studio album, like Acquiesce and the title track. Oasis disbanded in 2009.
    Counterparts Blur gave us their self-titled effort in 1997, which featured darker songs like Song 2 and Beetlebum. They also released 13 in 1999. They've been on hiatus since 2015.
    Overly depressing rockers Radiohead self-produced OK Computer in 1997, which was a smash hit. That same year Stereophonics released their debut album Word Gets Around but reached greater heights in 1999 with Performance and Cocktails. A year later fellow Welshmen the Manic Street Preachers made This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, which gave them one of two #1s, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next.
    Scottish group Travis created The Man Who in 1999 which stayed at #1 for 9 weeks on the Album Chart.
    As mentioned, The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony was released in 1997 along with its parent album Urban Hymns, which was very good. The Verve broke up in 1998, just after the recording of Oasis' Cast No Shadow, which was about The Verve's lead singer Richard Ashcroft.

  • @DCeric
    @DCeric ปีที่แล้ว

    Dude so happy to see you on here been a fan for years and happy to see you've got the help for past issues. Keep up the good work.

  • @edmondpful
    @edmondpful ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Best paid promo ever. Even your adverts are entertaining. Thank you, Justin Hawkins, thank you.

  • @DMSProduktions
    @DMSProduktions ปีที่แล้ว +4

    1 of the greatest songs of the 90s!
    I usually SKIP presenters 'ads' for a sponsor, but I watched yours Juz! Just a brilliant bit of dark humour, & sarcasm! (Adult humour at the end was mint as well! )

  • @bravestarr8857
    @bravestarr8857 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Ostinato definition merch!.. Good video too. You made the ad for nadz strimmers funny as well.

  • @shortwidgets
    @shortwidgets ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That was the absolutely best commercial I've ever seen! 👏

  • @ak147sniper3
    @ak147sniper3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Song 2 was an amazing song by Blur, I always liked their song "Beetlebum" more.

    • @MaquiladoraIII
      @MaquiladoraIII ปีที่แล้ว +4

      _Beetlebum_ still astonishes me to this day. For me, Blur remain both a great singles and a great album band.

    • @cyyytr0n
      @cyyytr0n ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Strange News from the Stars is such a great track too.. Not my favourite Blur album, but still gold

  • @johnsuttoniiijs
    @johnsuttoniiijs ปีที่แล้ว +5

    You are a fearless cat. Great advert. Song 2 is a great track.

  • @DrJeebles
    @DrJeebles ปีที่แล้ว +5

    OK Computer was 1997. It's hard to call anything in Radiohead's discography after that 'Britpop,' in my opinion. They definitely became something else.
    Btw, I feel you found your new calling in voiceover work. That manscape shit was amazing!

    • @stevecarter8810
      @stevecarter8810 ปีที่แล้ว

      Radiohead was not ever even slightly britpop.

    • @inkwisitive
      @inkwisitive ปีที่แล้ว

      The Bends kinda was, especially the title track

    • @stevecarter8810
      @stevecarter8810 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@inkwisitive (listening back) oo yeah, they WERE slightly britpop, at least in elements of the sound.

  • @mattjackson9859
    @mattjackson9859 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Another cool thing about Graham Coxon - his speaking voice is practically identical to Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap!

    • @dmrsk1899
      @dmrsk1899 ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh dang you're right😭

  • @eneDK5594
    @eneDK5594 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This is one of the greatest songs ever released.
    I do love Graham too, check out his solo career: loads of interesting guitar stuff!

    • @cyyytr0n
      @cyyytr0n ปีที่แล้ว

      Right ! I love Happiness in Magazines, tracks such as All Over Me or Are you Ready are so brilliantly haunting

  • @Noiseheads
    @Noiseheads ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Song 2 was all they played in the states... but damn does Blur have a hell of discography so many are missing out on!

    • @elwray3506
      @elwray3506 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes, they do and I pitty everyone, who can only name the "Whoo-Hoo-Song", when it comes to BLUR.

  • @damageincorporated8558
    @damageincorporated8558 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Bayrock,a Radio station in the bay of plenty in New Zealand played this song at 3pm every day for a decade, it's quite the song, talk about impact

  • @musiconyourowntermspodcast6128
    @musiconyourowntermspodcast6128 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I'd love to see your breakdown of I Should Coco by Supergrass......I was never into britpop in highschool in the 90s but my friends all were. Now after living in the US since I was 20, I've found myself revisiting that era of UK music of my teens.
    Also wonder if you are fond of the band Amplifier?

  • @elink2k1
    @elink2k1 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    You have an incredible ear and a firm grasp of all things musical. I love watching you break this stuff down and seeing how you look at the neck of a guitar. Still getting my value!!!
    Obliged to once again invite you back to Nashville!!! Anytime.

  • @Adamnme01
    @Adamnme01 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Graham Coxon is the reason I play guitar now. He's utterly ridiculously brilliant

    • @Gogettor
      @Gogettor ปีที่แล้ว

      Same here, and owning 23 teles

  • @shaundragt6870
    @shaundragt6870 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thats the first Manscaped ad I've watched in it's entirety. Nice one Justin. Big love from South Africa 🇿🇦

  • @andrigunnar6366
    @andrigunnar6366 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The "woo-hoo" part in Song #2 was inspired by the chorus of the song "Þið eruð frábær" by Icelandic rock band Botnleðja, which opened for Blur on their 1997 UK tour. This is pretty well known in Iceland and Damon Albarn actually got an Icelandic citizenship last year.

  • @emilyhops2566
    @emilyhops2566 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I loved Blur, i was never an oasis fan, it was always blur for me. Leisure and Modern Life is Rubbish were excellent. I sadly went off them when they did parklife, and their mockney accents started to grate. But i still listen to and love those 1st 2 albums!

    • @modernchampionmusic81
      @modernchampionmusic81 ปีที่แล้ว

      sadly ☹..don't be sad

    • @jackjude
      @jackjude ปีที่แล้ว

      Agreed. Still some great work in later albums. But Leisure and MLiR are wall to wall great albums for me, especially the later.

  • @vegardyrnes1793
    @vegardyrnes1793 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Thank you for breaking it all down! And, for breaking your rock star status down, as well. Now you are a fan, -a rock´n roll nerd like so many of us! But, you have a foot inside the business, and I appreciate every video! ROCK ON!🤘

  • @fuzzypeach
    @fuzzypeach ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The song actually features double drums too, with Coxon playing drums alongside Dave Rowntree's

  • @experienceanimation217
    @experienceanimation217 ปีที่แล้ว

    There have been some killer ads for manscape, but yours has to be one of the best 😂

  • @VolvoImpala
    @VolvoImpala ปีที่แล้ว +7

    "How could they control that? How could they know?" Their management purchased two copies of the album, the necessary amount to secure it the No. 2 position on the charts. And that all came naturally as the song "Song 2" was 2nd to none.

    • @frankenfurter58
      @frankenfurter58 ปีที่แล้ว

      They can and do manipulate the stats. It doesn't cost them anything.

  • @snarepusher
    @snarepusher ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I think the riff is actually played by Graham, there's a video of him talking about the song and what pedals he used to create as much noise as possible and that the pedal note is an overdub. Also Blur released a live version as a B Side to their next single where it's just the four of them with Graham playing the riff and adding some of his "Trademark" sounds and variations: th-cam.com/video/en71SQLV81E/w-d-xo.html

    • @GNVS300
      @GNVS300 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah you're right, in the video Graham did with the channel Produce Like a Pro it's clear there's both distorted guitar and bass playing the chorus riff.

  • @mattkinsella9856
    @mattkinsella9856 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That sigh about journalism was deep. I felt that and I totally agree.