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Country House (song)

{{Short description|1995 single by Blur}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Country House

| cover = Country_House_CD_single.jpg

| caption = CD single cover

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Blur

| album = The Great Escape

| B-side = One Born Every Minute

| released = {{start date|1995|8|14|df=yes}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = Britpop

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=57}}

| label =

| writer =

| producer = Stephen Street

| prev_title = End of a Century

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = The Universal

| next_year = 1995

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|gpuh1WE-RVw|"Country House"}}}}

}}

"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 (1995), on 14 August 1995 by Food Records and Parlophone. 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"). The song is the band's best-selling single, with over 540,000 copies sold as of May 2014.{{cite web |last1=Myers |first1=Justin |title=Official Charts Flashback 1994: Blur – Parklife |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-charts-flashback-1994-blur-parklife__4770/ |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=14 November 2018 |date=2 May 2014}} Music magazines Music & Media and NME named it Single of the Week. Its music video was directed by Damien Hirst and nominated for Best Video in the 1996 BRIT Awards.

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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.{{Cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-cynic-country-house-blur/|title=The "professional cynic" behind Blur song 'Country House'|date=16 November 2022|website=faroutmagazine.co.uk}} Balfe moved to The Bury{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/pWVCIlFgV2BlBamu6BzuK87GmNE/appointments|title=David BALFE personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK|website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}} in 1994 at Church End, Barton-le-Clay in southern Bedfordshire off the A6. The house had four acres of land, nine bedrooms with five en-suite. 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.{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1114648|title=THE BURY, Barton-le-Clay - 1114648 | Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101114648-the-bury-barton-le-clay|title=The Bury, Barton-le-Clay, Central Bedfordshire|first=Good|last=Stuff|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Oliver|title=54 locations that defined Britpop|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/articles/Britpop-On-the-trail-of-Blur-and-Oasis/|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2 January 2017|date=24 February 2016}}

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/may/08/inspring2008blurandoasis|title=Blur and Oasis ready to feud again like it's 1995|first=Jon|last=Wilde|newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 May 2007|via=www.theguardian.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2015/08/14/7-reasons-why-oasis-should-have-won-the-britpop-battle-of-1995-5338311/|title=7 reasons why Oasis should have won the Britpop battle of 1995|date=14 August 2015}} 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.""Cockney revels". NME 26 August 1995.

Critical reception

David Stubbs from Melody Maker felt the song "sounds at first to be taunting us with that old Britpop standard, um, thingummy, the one that goes Our house is a very, very, very nice house/With two cats in the yard.. but turns out to be a cynical account of the miserable fat-rat city achiever attempting to find solace in the big rural pile of his dreams — a seemingly chirpy but ultimately very unsettling vignette hinting at Blur's darker edges."{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Stubbs|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53525471959/|title=Singles|magazine=Melody Maker|date=12 August 1995|page=32|access-date=14 February 2024|author-link=David Stubbs}} Pan-European magazine Music & Media named it Single of the Week, adding, "Everything about this song makes you think of Mott the Hoople's laddish version of David Bowie's 'All the Young Dudes'. Whatever, it has won them the UK championship at the expense of Oasis."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-09-02.pdf|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=35|date=2 September 1995|page=11|access-date=17 March 2025}} Also Mark Sutherland from NME named it Single of the Week, writing, "Yup, Blur's first new material since the epoch-shaping Parklife LP is nothing short of a classic pop single. In the space of the time-honoured three-and-a-bit minutes, it manages to recall everyone from Madness to The Beatles to, um, Chas and Dave, craft the most infectious chorus of modern times and still squeeze in the astonishing line He's reading Balzac, knocking back Prozac before tea-time. And you can't really ask for much more than that."{{cite magazine|first=Mark|last=Sutherland|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53526309992/|title=Singles|magazine=NME|date=12 August 1995|page=39|access-date=14 February 2024}} Another NME editor, Johnny Cigarettes, described it as "feisty, upbeat singalong pop".{{cite magazine|first=Johnny|last=Cigarettes|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53553136417/|title=Long Play|magazine=NME|date=9 September 1995|page=46|access-date=11 March 2024}} Smash Hits gave 'Country House' five out of five, praising it as "a classic pop tune."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/33442094704/in/album-72157680998272051|title=Albums: Best New Album|work=Smash Hits|date=13 September 1995|page=59|access-date=9 February 2025}}

Music video

File:Pyrton Manor (geograph 2086361).jpg

The music video for "Country House" was directed by English artist and art collector 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 actor Matt Lucas and models Sara Stockbridge, Jo Guest and Vanessa Upton. 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.

The external shots of the video are at Pyrton Manor, Pyrton, in east Oxfordshire, west of junction 6 of the M40, near the B4009 and Watlington. It is now home of Vogue writer Laura Bailey, and is the former home of the 1956 High Sheriff of Oxfordshire. It is Elizabethan, built around the start of the 17th century.

Track listings

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

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

  • UK CD1 and Australian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK CD1 & Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOOD 63, 7243 8 82338 2 8}}
  1. "Country House" – 3:58
  2. "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18
  3. "To the End" (with Françoise Hardy) – 5:06
  • UK CD2{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK CD2 liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOODS 63, 7243 8 82379 2 5}}
  1. "Country House" – 5:01
  2. "Girls & Boys" – 5:08
  3. "Parklife" – 4:13
  4. "For Tomorrow" – 7:35

Note: All tracks were recorded live at the Mile End Stadium in London, England, on 17 June 1995

{{col-2}}

  • UK 7-inch and cassette single; European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=FOOD 63, 7243 8 82338 7 3}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=TC FOOD 63}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=7243 8 82365 2 2}}
  1. "Country House" – 3:58
  2. "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18
  • Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Country House|others=Blur|year=1995|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, EMI Japan|id=TOCP-8634, 7243 8 82338 2 8}}
  1. "Country House" – 3:58
  2. "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18
  3. "To the End" (with Françoise Hardy) – 5:06
  4. "Charmless Man" – 3:44

{{col-end}}

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, saxophone, backing vocals
  • Alex James: Bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Dave Rowntree: Drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Additional brass by: The Kick Horns

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1995)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|28|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
scope="row"|Denmark (Tracklisten){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NA0EAAAAMBAJ&q=blur+denmark+country+house&pg=PA49|title=Hits of the World – Eurochart Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|volume=107|issue=48|page=49|date=2 December 1995|access-date=22 May 2017}}

| 7

scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-09-16.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=37|page=16|date=16 September 1995|access-date=3 February 2020}}

| 5

{{single chart|Finland|4|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite web|url=https://timarit.is/page/2931677#page/n23/mode/2up|title=Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (30.9. '95 – 6.10. '95)|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=24|date=30 September 1995|access-date=22 May 2017}}

| 1

{{single chart|Ireland2|1|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
scope="row"|Italy Airplay (Music & Media){{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-10-21.pdf|title=Major Market Airplay: Italy|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=42|page=35|date=21 October 1995}}

| 7

scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade){{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/blur/blur-country-house-13903|title=Blur – Country House|publisher=Dutch Top 40|language=nl|access-date=18 July 2021}}

| 14

scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100 Tipparade){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Blur&titel=Country+House&cat=s|title=Blur – Country House|publisher=MegaCharts|language=nl|access-date=18 July 2021}}

| 10

{{single chart|New Zealand|30|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|Norway|6|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|Scotland|1|date=19950902|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|Sweden|10|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|Switzerland|26|artist=Blur|song=Country House|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|1|artist=Blur|artistid=19177|rowheader=true|access-date=21 July 2021|refname="OCC"}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1995)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-12-23.pdf|title=Music & Media 1995 in Review – Year End Sales Charts|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=51/52|page=14|date=23 December 1995|access-date=3 February 2020}}

| 65

scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite news|url=https://timarit.is/page/2935413?iabr=on#page/n15/mode/2up|title=Árslistinn 1995|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=16|date=2 January 1996|access-date=30 May 2020}}

| 3

scope="row"|Sweden (Sverigetopplistan){{cite web|url=https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/43?dspy=_&dspp=1|title=Årslista Singlar, 1995|publisher=Sverigetopplistan|language=sv|access-date=30 May 2020}}

| 74

scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine|title=Top 100 Singles 1995|magazine=Music Week|page=9|date=13 January 1996}}

| 12

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Norway|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1995|certyear=1996|nosales=true|access-date=3 November 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Country House|award=Platinum|relyear=1995|certyear=2017|id=1533-388-1|access-date=3 November 2020}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row"|United Kingdom

|14 August 1995

|{{hlist|CD|cassette}}

|{{hlist|Food|Parlophone}}

|{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1995/Music-Week-1995-08-12.pdf|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=39|date=12 August 1995|access-date=29 June 2021}}

scope="row"|Japan

|6 September 1995

|CD

|{{hlist|EMI|Food}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/143957/products/265853/1/|title=カントリー・ハウス {{!}} ブラー|trans-title=Country House {{!}} Blur|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=18 September 2023}}

scope="row"|United States

|18 September 1995

|Alternative radio

|Virgin

|{{cite magazine|title=Be on the Lookout|magazine=Gavin Report|issue=2072|page=41|date=15 September 1995}}

Cover versions

The song was covered by the Wurzels on their 2002 album Never Mind the Bullocks, 'Ere is The Wurzels{{Cite web |title=Cover versions of Country House by The Wurzels {{!}} SecondHandSongs |url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/66088/versions |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=secondhandsongs.com}} and Out of the Blue on their 2005 album Freefall.{{Cite web |title=Cover versions of Country House by Out of the Blue [Oxford] {{!}} SecondHandSongs |url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/622266/versions |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=secondhandsongs.com}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

  • 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.

{{Refend}}

{{Blur}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1995 singles

Category:1995 songs

Category:Blur (band) songs

Category:Food Records singles

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in Iceland

Category:Number-one singles in Scotland

Category:Parlophone singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Stephen Street

Category:Songs written by Alex James (musician)

Category:Songs written by Damon Albarn

Category:Songs written by Dave Rowntree

Category:Songs written by Graham Coxon

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Virgin Records singles

Category:Works by Damien Hirst