‘Coffee & TV’ - Blur, 1999
I’m drinking a lot of coffee this weather, and was thinking about songs about coffee. ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ by Dylan is an obvious one I guess, but we’ve got a couple of posts about old Bob already. Ahm, apart from that, it’s the easy option of Google to discover other songs about coffee. Then I thought about Blur, and Graham Coxon’s charming little ditty from 1999’s 13 album. In between all of Damon Albarn’s wallowing in lost love, comes a great song about giving up booze and overdosing on something else, something that’s probably not a whole lot healthier.
When I was a lad of seventeen (we’re talking ‘93/’94 here), Blur came from the arse-end of the Stone Roses and rose to be Britain’s Best Band™. With albums like Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife, they brought working-class English culture into the 1990s with an ironic wink and a “how’s your sister” type humour, while also poking fun at binge drinking, group holidays, the lottery and commuter towns. Kind of like a funnier version of The Jam.
Then came The Great Escape, and it was poor. Hyped up by the brilliant-but-severely-dated ‘Country House’ single, it was indulgent, smarmy, arrogant, egocentric, overlong, and quite low on quality (’The Universal’ aside). There are only so many songs about wife swapping and meeting Morrissey that anyone can handle. Oasis won the media and sales war, and Blur headed ‘to the ditch’ (as Neil Young might say) with 1997’s Yankee-alternative-influenced Blur album.
‘Coffee & TV’ shows the influence of Graham Coxon. Trebly, ringing Kinks-y guitars are out, as are lyrics cocking a snoot at the Mr. Cleans, service stations and the like. Albarn does backing vocals and batters an old acoustic guitar while Coxon sings about ‘black gold’ and the idiot box, doubling up with searing guitar runs that push excitedly into feedback, like the brain of a man who’s watched too much Lost (terrible show) or Coronation Street.
Coxon’s lyrics speak of a life of grinding boredom, where the days just pass by in a haze of caffeine and the couch potato lifestyle. Ironically, because the song is so upbeat you get the feeling he’s enjoying it, compared to the alternative, which he doesn’t really outline.
The video to this song deserves special mention - a cute little milk carton dancing around to the music, and getting into some strange situations. Leaving the safeness of home, the milk carton (seriously) nearly gets shredded by a lawnmower, is chased by children, finds and loses love in a second, and eventually ends up crashing a Blur rehearsal. A great video and a great song.
Last 5 posts by Dave
- 'New Generation' - Suede, 1994 - January 6th, 2009
- 'Sunflower' - Paul Weller, 1993 - December 18th, 2008
- 'Brilliant Mistake' - Elvis Costello, 1986 - December 16th, 2008
- 'Icky Thump' - The White Stripes, 2007 - December 11th, 2008
- 'Careering' - Public Image Limited, 1979 - December 10th, 2008
