Country House (song)

"Country House" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album The Great Escape on 14 August 1995. Released on the same day as the Oasis single "Roll with It" – in a chart battle dubbed the "Battle of Britpop" – "Country House" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart (the first of two Blur singles to reach number one, the second being 1997's "Beetlebum").[1] The song is the band's best-selling single, with over 540,000 copies sold as of May 2014.[2]

"Country House"
Single by Blur
from the album The Great Escape
B-side"One Born Every Minute"
Released14 August 1995 (1995-08-14)
Recorded1995
GenreBritpop
Length3:57
LabelFood
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Stephen Street
Blur singles chronology
"End of a Century"
(1994)		 "Country House"
(1995)		 "The Universal"
(1995)
Music video
"Country House" on YouTube

Background and writing

In an interview for the South Bank Show, Damon Albarn explained that it was inspired by former Blur manager Dave Balfe, who left Blur's label Food Records and bought a house in the country.

The house of David Balfe

David Balfe moved to The Bury[3] in 1994 at Church End in southern Bedfordshire off the A6. The house had 4 acres of land, nine bedrooms with five ensuite. He moved with his wife Helen and their children aged 2 and 4, when he was 36.

The house was advertised in 2015 for £2m. It was Grade 2 listed in February 1975.[4]

Content

The song is about a man who retires to an expensive country house to escape the pressures of the city. The cover art features a horizontally-flipped image of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.[5]

Release and "battle" with Oasis

"Country House" received a great deal of media attention when Blur's label Food Records moved the original release date to the same day as Oasis's "Roll with It". The British media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot, dubbed the "Battle of Britpop". In the end, "Country House" won the "battle", attaining the No. 1 spot while "Roll with It" came in at No. 2.[6][7]

Music video

The music video for "Country House" was directed by artist Damien Hirst, who had attended Goldsmiths, University of London, with members of Blur. It features the band and a businessman (played by Keith Allen) in a flat with the band playing a board game called "Escape from the Rat Race" before they become trapped in the game where they are with farm animals and other people before appearing in the flat again. The band appears in the video alongside British comic actors Matt Lucas and Sara Stockbridge and model Jo Guest. It features pastiches of—or tributes to—Benny Hill (Lucas' doctor chasing scantily clad young women culminating in the entry of the milk van of Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)) and Queen's 1975 video for "Bohemian Rhapsody". It was nominated for Best Video in the 1996 BRIT Awards.

Promotion and release

On 20 August 1995 the charts were officially announced. (The Chart Show announced the winner the day before, though the show's chart was unofficial) "Country House" topped the UK Singles Chart, selling 270,000 copies, compared to 220,000 sold by "Roll with It", which came in at number two. Albarn himself was surprised that "Country House" topped the charts. He told NME, "I sort of believed all the papers, including NME, who told me Oasis were going to win."[8]

Track listings

All music composed by Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. All lyrics composed by Albarn.

Production credits
  • "Country House" and "Charmless Man" produced by Stephen Street
  • "One Born Every Minute" produced by Blur and John Smith
  • "To the End (la comedie)" produced by Stephen Hague, Blur and John Smith
  • Damon Albarn: Lead vocals, keyboards, organ
  • Graham Coxon: Guitar, backing vocals
  • Alex James: Bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Dave Rowntree: Drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Additional brass by: The Kick Horns

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Norway (IFPI Norway)[24] Gold  
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  • Harris, John. Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock, 2004. ISBN 0-306-81367-X
  • Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop. Passion Pictures, 2004.

Footnotes
  1. "Blur: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  2. Myers, Justin (2 May 2014). "Official Charts Flashback 1994: Blur – Parklife". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  3. Companies House
  4. Historic England 1975
  5. Smith, Oliver (24 February 2016). "54 locations that defined Britpop". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  6. Wilde, Jon (8 May 2007). "Blur and Oasis ready to feud again like it's 1995" – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. "7 reasons why Oasis should have won the Britpop battle of 1995". 14 August 2015.
  8. "Cockney revels". NME 26 August 1995.
  9. "Australian-charts.com – Blue – Country House". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  10. "Hits of the World – Eurochart Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2 December 1995. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  11. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 37. 16 September 1995. p. 16. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  12. "Blur: Country House" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  13. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (30.9. '95 – 6.10. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 30 September 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Country House". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. "Charts.nz – Blue – Country House". Top 40 Singles.
  16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Blue – Country House". VG-lista.
  17. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Blue – Country House". Singles Top 100.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Blue – Country House". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. "Music & Media 1995 in Review – Year End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 51/52. 23 December 1995. p. 14. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  21. "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  22. "Årslista Singlar, 1995" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  23. "Top 100 Singles 1995". Music Week. 13 January 1996. p. 9.
  24. "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  25. "British single certifications – Blur – Country House". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
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