It seems that Blur missed the memo about a 'Britpop Summer', with Oasis, Pulp and now Suede all heading out on the road. Blur had their reunion tour in 2023, following a string of performances at intimate UK venues and European festivals. They took to the stage to perform two nights at Wembley Stadium and even gave fans a ninth studio album, 'The Ballad of Darren'. Over recent years, Blur have become one of my favourite bands, and it felt only right to give you my Top 10 Blur songs. Here goes.
Released in 1990, as the band's debut single, 'She's So High' doesn't match the 'baggy' 'madchester' stereotypes that were unfairly given to the band at that time. The song is more shoegazy and is the first time we hear Graham Coxon's very distinct guitar playing. That riff is instantly recognisable.
'There's No Other Way' is the hit from that record, but 'She's So High' is the song that has aged better in my opinion. The biggest compliment I can give it, is that it sounds like Blur. It doesn't feel associated with a particular time, scene or genre.
The album 'She's So High' featured on 1991's 'Leisure' is not the most well-received by the band or Blur fans; however, they all seem to be fans of 'She's So High'. It was played throughout the band's live career, including at the band's huge shows in Hyde Park in 2009.
When researching this post, I found this quote from Albarn, from SPIN in 1997. "We know how to make songs like theirs – if you sang our first single 'She's So High' with a Manc accent, it'd be an Oasis song, very simple, very driving. Even the lyrics are up to Oasis standards." He has a point.
Released as the B-side to one of the most well-loved Blur songs, 'Beetlebum'. 'All Your Life' is criminally underrated. The self-titled album saw Blur embrace new sounds. Coxon was fed up with Britpop; he never really felt a part of that movement anyway, and he began to reject the whole thing. Instead, looking to America, and in particular American bands, such as Pavement. Albarn had initially been dismissive, but upon receiving a letter from Coxon, he took it upon himself to start to listen to this new music and agreed that a change of direction was needed.
However, 'All Your Life' feels more like a hybrid. Albarn has not fully dropped Britpop yet; it feels like some of the earlier '90s B-sides. I can hear elements of 'Young & Lovely' from 'Modern Life is Rubbish', and it has some not very subtle nods to David Bowie.
Although Albarn hasn't fully let Britpop go yet, the song's lyrics are a final farewell to the movement they helped to start.
"Put a new T-shirt on and wash my face in beer
Fall through the crowd and disappear"
"Hold my breath and count to a hundred and ten
And back up the hill to start again"
"Oh England, my love, you lost me
Made me look a fool"
It's almost not a song, it's an update, a four-minute summary of Blur and where they were. Releasing brilliant songs as B-sides is not just an Oasis thing.
This is low in the list; for some Blur fans, this is comfortably in the top three. A song where Graham Coxon takes the lead, and Albarn assists on backing vocals. Its lyrics describe Coxon's battle with alcoholism. After giving up drinking, Coxon would relax by watching television, drinking coffee and writing songs. He is firmly away from the rock star life. Coxon was never one for the excess that came with being a musician; he was not interested and was more introverted than Albarn and Alex James.
Lyrics such as “Holding out your heart to people who never really care how you are” also reflect his disdain for celebrity and fame.
The song's famous guitar solo was recorded in just one take and wasn't meant to be in the song. Coxon intended to re-record it. When the band revisited the song a few days later, they loved the solo and kept it. Coxon played it by "just grabbing the neck and bending", and processing the sound with effect pedals including tremolo, vibrato and distortion
Musically, the song has more in common with the songs on 'Parklife' and 'The Great Escape' rather than the self-titled album. It's one of the band's very best, and showcases Coxon as not only a brilliant guitar player but also a brilliant singer.
'The Great Escape' gets a lot of flak, from the band and sometimes Blur fans. Probably because of what came before it, 'Parklife' and what came after it 'Blur'. However, there's some brilliant songs on it. Albarn's character stories are there but they are a whole lot darker. 'Tracy Jacks' on Parklife, made fun of a civil servant who was fed up with his life in a jovial way. 'Charmless Man' is cutting.
Some fans have speculated that the song may be about the former Smiths front man 'Morrissey' with a play on The Smiths song 'This Charming Man'. Others have claimed it's about Brett Anderson. Whoever it's about, it's an attack.
The song has recieved some backlash in recent years, but it's a catchy indie pop gem that reached the Top 5 in the UK in 1995
Albarn has turned his back on the track, as it reminded him of “a dark and confused time” that was filled with frequent panic attacks. His anxious state wasn’t helped at all when notorious London gangster Ronnie Kray then began sending flowers to the band for mentioning him in the song which could have been taken as a compliment or a warning.
It makes my list though.
Released as stand alone single in 2012, 'Under the Westway' was debuted by Albarn and Coxon at Brixton Academy as part of a charity performance for War Child. The song was released alongside 'The Purtian' and was written by Albarn for the then forthcoming Hyde Park shows.
It was announced on the 25th June 2025 via Twitter that the band would perform the two songs a secret location (which proved to be the rooftop of their 13 studio in West London), and released for download shortly after. This performance marked the first live performances of new material by the whole bandsince 30 January 1999, when all four members played a fan-club only concert at the Arts Depot in London, at the start of their 13 tour.
A beautiful piano ballad, written as love letter to London. It was a bright day in my city today,” he sings proudly, before mentioning that he was “watching comets” from his smoggy locale. And really who better than the man who put East London dog racing on the cover of ‘Parklife’ and made the shipping forecast palatable in ‘This Is a Low’ to celebrate an ugly West London motorway underpass?
This song could have only been written by Blur a sad happy feeling of nostalgic, wistful and contemplative. All four members have their moment on this song, the quiet growl and lilt of Coxon’s guitars, the thump of Rowntree’s drums, and James nitting it all together with his simple basslines.
Lyrically this is some of Blur's best work. The line “Bring us the day they switch off the machines, ‘Cause men in yellow jackets putting adverts inside my dreams” is comfortably one the best Blur lyrics. Listen to the version above, and you can hear Albarn on the verge of tears. A late career highlight.
This song kicked off a new era for Blur. The opening track on 'Modern Life is Rubbish' and the comfortably one of the best tracks in Blur's discogrpahy. 'Modern Life is Rubbish' was the album for many that kicked off Britpop. The song was recorded after the rest of the album had already been completed, as Food Records stated that the album did not have any hit singles. Damon complied and wrote For Tomorrow on Christmas Day 1992 at the family piano in his parents' house.
Blur had been on a US tour, in 1992 and it had nearly broken the band, they detested it. The early 90s was then grunge ruled the airwaves, particulary in America, and it's safe to say that Blur were not well recieved. 'Modern Life is Rubbish' was the anthiesesis of grunge, and was firmly a British affair.
'For Tomorrow' is the furthest from 'Nevermind' that you could get. It's important to not underestimate the importance of this song. It kick started things for Blur, and helped to start a movement for British guitar bands.
The song remained within Blur's setlist all the way through their career, including on their reunion tour. Where it was played at both Wembley shows.
At number four on the list is ‘Chemical World,’ a track that perfectly captures Blur’s early experimentation with sound and subject matter. As the second single from 'Modern Life is Rubbish', it stands apart from the rest of the album with its sharp yet slightly psychedelic edge. The song’s concise structure carries a restless energy, while Damon Albarn’s lyrics weave together surreal, almost dreamlike images of city life, highlighting its absurdity, isolation, and disconnection. It’s both playful and bleak, reflecting the tension at the heart of Blur’s early 90s identity.
What makes ‘Chemical World’ so striking is how unique it feels within Blur’s catalog. While the band would later lean fully into Britpop swagger, this track blends jagged guitar riffs with a woozy atmosphere that hints at the more experimental directions they would eventually explore. The imagery of chemical dependence and urban alienation resonates as a snapshot of its time, yet the song avoids being weighed down by its themes thanks to Albarn’s wry delivery and the band’s driving performance. It’s a reminder of Blur’s ability to balance catchiness with complexity, making ‘Chemical World’ a standout moment in their discography.
This one may be controversial but, I think it stands out as one of the bands most powerful and moving statements. Released in 2023 as the lead single from 'The Ballad of Darren', it immediately struck listeners as more than just a comeback track it was a deeply reflective piece that carried the weight of time, loss, and survival. Damon Albarn has spoken of it as an “aftershock,” a meditation on where the band and its members find themselves now, with echoes of the friends and collaborators who are no longer with them, including Bobby Womack, Tony Allen, and their tour manager Craig Duffy and his wife.
I remember the first time hearing this song. I was blown away. It felt like Blur had never been away. ‘The Narcissist’ is a real emotional affair that manages to feel both timeless and timely, resonating with longtime fans and new listeners alike. The chorus swells into an anthemic release, balancing melancholy with hope, and inviting listeners to share in its catharsis. This duality between personal struggle and a yearning for connection gives the track its emotional weight and universal appeal.
Musically, it weaves together elements of Blur’s classic Britpop sensibilities with subtle nods to more experimental textures, reflecting the band’s willingness to evolve while staying true to their roots. Rather than leaning on nostalgia, the song feels like a genuine continuation of their story, bridging their past with a hard-earned maturity. As a single, it reintroduced Blur not as a band chasing former glories, but as artists still capable of creating something urgent, relevant, and deeply human.
The penultimate track on the bands most famous album 'Parklife', written about the Shipping Forecast that airs several times a day on BBC Radio 4, an for Blur a song about home. Originally titled 'We Are the Low', the song began life as an instrumental during the Parklife sessions. In the guitar solo, Graham Coxon played three solos, including one of him sitting in front of his amp, turned up to maximum volume.
According to bassist Alex James, Damon Albarn was finding it hard to write lyrics. In his autobiography, A Bit of a Blur, he revealed that "for Christmas I bought him a handkerchief with a map of the shipping forecast regions on it ... you can never tell where the muse is going to appear.
We always found the shipping forecast soothing", James said. "We used to listen to it [on the American tour] to remind us of home. It's very good for a hangover. Good cure for insomnia, too."
On 4 February 1994, the penultimate day of official recording, Albarn was due to go into hospital for a hernia operation. Pressured to come up with the lyrics, Albarn took advantage of the map James had given him. "I'd had this line – 'And into the sea go pretty England and me' – for a long time", Albarn revealed. "So I started at the Bay of Biscay. Back for tea. 'Tea' rhymes with 'me'. And then I went 'Hit traffic on the Dogger Bank'. 'Bank' – 'Rank' – so 'up the Thames to find a taxi rank'. And I just went round."
The song is unlike any other 'Britpop' anthem, it's more melancholic, a comfort blanket of home, a feeling of familarity after a night of excess. It's the best song on 'Parklife' and in my opinion the second best Blur song, the song is moving and emotionally mature. Incredible instrumental work from the four-piece, particularly the layered solos from Graham Coxon, gives this piece an extra edge. Much of the subtlety to Albarn’s lyrics is lost when listening to the Parklife project. In isolation, there is a desperation to reconnect with a country lost to time and travel. “Radio says,” is a wonderful throwaway line from Albarn which transitions brilliantly into the main, emotive crux of the album, the elongations of the title track swelling with the overlapping guitar work from Coxon.
This song is really unlucky to miss out on the Top 10. One of the very best songs from 1994's 'Parklife' and the albums fourth single. Lyrically, Damon described the song as being about “how couples get into staying in and staring at each other. Only instead of candle-light, it's the TV light."
The lyrics seem to emphasise the then upcoming millennium change and the fact that people contemplate the future rather than take care of the present.
It's Blur at their poetic best. There is so many lyrical highlights, "sex on the tv, everybody is at it", "the mind gets dirt as you get closer to 30s", "we kiss in dry lips when we say goodnight".
Blur's take at a love song, but with a bittersweetness to it. Another song that makes the mundane beautiful, a celebration of nothing, "it's nothing special." Albarn's mid 90s lyrics provided a real insight into working class life in Britain.
At number one, it's ‘The Universal.’ Released in 1995 as the second single from The Great Escape, the final chapter of Blur’s “Life Trilogy”, it stands as one of the band’s highest achievements and a defining song of Britpop. From the first strings, ‘The Universal’ feels like a cinematic experience, with an orchestral arrangement recalling the opening credits of a vintage sci-fi film. This was intentional: Blur aimed for something grand, and the song’s sweeping sound matches its heavy themes disillusionment, escapism, and modern contradictions.
Damon Albarn’s vocals set the tone, carrying a weary melancholy as he opens: “This is the next century, where the universal’s free.” What sounds optimistic is actually ironic. Albarn has talked about writing the song under the influence of Prozac, reflecting on the numbed state it produced while observing the world around him. Beneath the lush orchestration lies a dystopian vision: a society medicated and distracted into passivity, where technology and consumerism promise happiness but mask alienation. The repeated refrain “It really, really, really could happen” is at once hopeful and unsettling part mantra, part warning.
Some have linked the song to the atmosphere around the launch of the UK National Lottery in 1994, fueling Albarn’s satirical take on chance, fate, and false promises. Songs like ‘It Could Be You’ from the same album hint at this, but ‘The Universal’ feels broader and more lasting. More than a comment on one cultural moment, it envisions modern life shaped by quick fixes and instant gratification.
The track’s grandiosity is mirrored in its iconic video, a direct homage to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, which placed Blur’s critique of consumerism and conformity within a chilling dystopian frame.
Over the years, ‘The Universal’ has become more than just a single it has taken on an almost anthemic status. It has often been the closing song at Blur’s biggest and most emotional live shows, from Hyde Park to Glastonbury in 2009, and most recently at Wembley in 2023. Each time, the chorus swells into a communal release, uniting tens of thousands of voices in a moment that feels transcendent. That ability to grow bigger with time, to resonate across generations, is why ‘The Universal’ deserves its place at the very top of this list. It is Blur at their most ambitious, their most profound, and their most unforgettable.