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1997 single by Blur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Song 2" is a song by English rock band Blur. The song is the second song on their eponymous fifth studio album. Released physically on 7 April 1997, "Song 2" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and number six on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart (now called the Alternative Airplay chart), becoming one of their biggest U.S. hits.
| "Song 2" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Blur | ||||
| from the album Blur | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 7 April 1997 | |||
| Studio | Mayfair (London, England) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:02 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Stephen Street | |||
| Blur singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Song 2" by Blur | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Song 2" on YouTube | ||||
At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, "Song 2" was nominated for Best Group Video, and Best Alternative Video.[1] At the 1998 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for Best British Single, and Best British Video.[2] In 1998, BBC Radio 1 listeners voted "Song 2" the 15th Best Track Ever.[3] In 2011, NME placed it number 79 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[4]
According to Graham Coxon, "Song 2" was intended to be a joke on the record company.[5] Damon Albarn had recorded an acoustic demo of the song which was slower and contained the song's distinctive "woo-hoo" chorus in whistle form. Coxon then suggested that they pump up the speed and perform the song loudly, with Coxon deliberately seeking out an amateurish guitar sound.[6] From there, Coxon told Albarn to tell the record company that they wanted to release the song as a single to "blow the flipping record labels' heads off".[5] To Coxon's surprise, record executives reacted positively. When asked if the band had any idea of the song's commercial appeal, Coxon replied, "We'd just thought it was way too extreme".[5]
The track was originally nicknamed "Song 2" as a working title which represented its slot in the tracklist, but the name stuck.[7] The song is two minutes and two seconds long, with two verses, two choruses and a hook featuring Albarn yelling "woo-hoo!" as the distorted bass comes in. It is the second song on Blur's self-titled album, as well as Blur: The Best Of, and was the second single released from the former album.[8]
Some writers have stated that the song is intended to be a parody of the grunge genre,[8][9] while others state that it was a parody of radio hits and the music industry with a punk rock chorus.[10]
Musically, the song has been labelled alternative rock,[11][12] punk rock,[13] or indie rock.[14] PopMatters described the song as a "[pastiche] [of] Seattle grunge and grubby lo-fi indie rock".[15] Rolling Stone Australia called it "frankly grunge-flavoured".[16]
A reviewer from Music Week wrote: "This punky, new wavathon is more immediate than most of the cuts from their new album and all the better for the catchy 'woo-hoo' bits."[17] David Sinclair from The Times noted "the American garageband banging and crashing" of the song.[18]
In the UK, "Song 2" built upon the success of Blur's chart-topping single "Beetlebum" to reach number two in the charts.[19] It was also popular on radio stations in the US; consequently, it went at number 55 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, number 6 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying on that chart for 26 weeks, and number 25 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[20] It also placed number two on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1997 in Australia. The song is atypical of Blur's previous style. The song's intro has been called Graham Coxon's "finest moment".[21] NME ranked "Song 2" at number two in its end-of-year list of the Top 20 Singles of 1997,[22] and later listed it as one of the best songs from the 1990s.[23]
The song has become a fixture in sports stadiums as well. It has been used in multiple FIFA video games, namely FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 and FIFA 23.
The music video for this song was directed by Sophie Muller, and it features the band playing in a small, secluded room with loud amplifiers behind them. During the choruses, the volume of the song sends the band members crashing against the walls and ground. The set used was modelled on that in the video for their pre-breakthrough single "Popscene".
In 2022, the band uploaded a video onto their YouTube channel called “Song 2 Take 2”, which shows previously unreleased footage of the video being shot in a single take. It was released in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the album.[24]
On 20 October 2018, at the Demon Dayz Fest LA, Damon Albarn's other well-known band Gorillaz played the familiar Song 2 theme but in characteristic Gorillaz style with dub/funk elements. While recognition was still dawning on the audience, Graham Coxon joined Gorillaz onstage and launched into his original riff before he and Gorillaz went on to perform the classic arrangement to an enthusiastic reception.[25]
During the end of his only 2022 U.S. solo performance to promote The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, Albarn commented that he was asked if he'd perform "Song 2" by L.A. Times journalist Mikael Wood, "before [Wood] cast [Albarn] into the social media abyss". Earlier that day, an interview published by Wood put Albarn into heavy controversy, with Albarn claiming in the article that musician Taylor Swift did not write her own songs. Swift would issue a harsh rebuke to this claim, with several of her friends and collaborators coming to her defense. Albarn would apologize and dedicate the song, which ended up closing the set, to Wood.[26]
My Chemical Romance played the song at BBC Radio 1. The cover was later featured on the album "Radio 1's Live Lounge", released on 11 October 2006.
In 2014, Imagine Dragons played Song 2 at Lollapalooza Brazil and again in 2016 at Reading Festival.[27][28]
In 2024, the song was heavily sampled by UK Hip-Hop artist Jeshi in his track "Total 90",[29] which was featured during ITV Sport's coverage of England's Euro 2024 semi-final.
All music was composed by Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. All lyrics were written by Albarn.
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UK CD1[30]
UK CD2[31]
UK 7-inch single and Italian CD single[32][33]
French CD single[34]
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Australian CD single[35]
Japanese mini-album[36]
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Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[58] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[59] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[60] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[61] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[62] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 17 February 1997 | Alternative radio | Virgin | [63] |
| United Kingdom | 7 April 1997 |
|
[64] | |
| Japan | 8 May 1997 | CD | [65] |
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