Song 2

According to Graham Coxon, "Song 2" was intended to be a joke on the record company.{{cite web |title=Inside The Song with Graham Coxon from Blur - "Song 2" | date=8 January 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEy5LBHq6OQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/OEy5LBHq6OQ| archive-date=13 December 2021 |url-status=live|publisher=Produce Like a Pro |access-date=12 January 2020}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{cite web|title=The Meaningless Meaning Behind Blur’s Joke-Gone-Right, "Song 2" |date=25 April 2025|url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaningless-meaning-behind-blurs-joke-gone-right-song-2/|website=American Songwriter|author-last1=Donovan|author-first1=Thom}} 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". 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".

The track was originally nicknamed "Song 2" as a working title which represented its slot in the tracklist, but the name stuck.{{Cite web |date=19 December 2013 |title=Countdown {{!}} Hottest 100 - Of All Time {{!}} triple j |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/countdown/cd_61-70.htm |access-date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219230044/https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/countdown/cd_61-70.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }} 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.

Some writers have stated that the song is intended to be a parody of the grunge genre,{{cite web |last1=Lau |first1=Melody |date=7 April 2017|title=Woo hoo! 20 things you may not know about Blur's 'Song 2' |url=https://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/18325/blur-song-2-20-year-anniversary |website=CBC Music |access-date=9 September 2018}}{{cite web |last1=DeVille |first1=Chris |title="Song 2" Turns 20 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1918698/song-2-turns-20/franchises/the-anniversary/ |website=Stereogum|date=10 February 2017 }} while others state that it was a parody of radio hits and the music industry with a punk rock chorus.{{cite web |last1=Paulas |first1=Rick |title=Woo-hoo! 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/woo-hoo-20-years-ago-blurs-song-2-became-an-unlikely-sports-anthem/|website=Vice Sports|date=7 April 2017 |access-date=9 January 2019}}

Musically, the song has been labelled alternative rock,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7640665/1997-alternative-rock-songs-turning-20-2017|title=20 Alternative Rock Hits Turning 20 in 2017|last=Richin|first=Leslie|date=12 January 2017|magazine=Billboard|access-date=29 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=The 79 Best Alternative Rock Songs Of 1997 |url=https://www.spin.com/2017/04/best-alternative-rock-songs-1997/6/ |website=SPIN |access-date=17 February 2022}} indie rock,{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Sarah |title=20 greatest indie anthems ever, as voted by you |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/20-greatest-indie-anthems-ever-as-voted-by-you-1403963 |website=NME |date=December 2011 |access-date=17 February 2022}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.spin.com/2023/07/best-blur-albums/|title=Every Blur Album, Ranked|first=Al|last=Shipley|date=21 July 2023|website=Spin|access-date=25 January 2025}} or punk rock.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IHNuYCb0ewoC&pg=PA56 |title=Essential Britpop |journal=Spin |volume=19 |issue=2 |date=February 2003 |access-date=18 September 2016 |last=Pappademas |first=Alex |pages=56}} PopMatters described the song as a "[pastiche] [of] Seattle grunge and grubby lo-fi indie rock".{{cite web |title=To the End: 12 Essential Blur Songs for 2012 |url=https://www.popmatters.com/162044-to-the-end-12-essential-blur-songs-for-2012-2495824955.html |website=PopMatters |date=19 August 2012 |access-date=17 February 2022}} Rolling Stone Australia called it "frankly grunge-flavoured".{{cite web |last1=Dwyer |first1=Michael |title=Flashback: Blur's Woo Hoo Moment |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-blurs-woo-hoo-moment-745/ |website=Rolling Stone Australia |date=21 July 2015 |access-date=17 February 2022}}

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."{{cite magazine |first= |last= |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1997/Music-Week-1997-03-29.pdf |title=Reviews: Singles |magazine=Music Week |date=29 March 1997 |page=36 |accessdate=14 May 2022}} David Sinclair from The Times noted "the American garageband banging and crashing" of the song.Sinclair, David (15 February 1997). "The week's top pop releases; Pop". The Times.

In the UK, "Song 2" built upon the success of Blur's chart-topping single "Beetlebum" to reach number two in the charts.Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited. 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.{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p12405/charts-awards/billboard-singles}}. 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".Harry Wylie (August 1997).[http://www.vblurpage.com/articles/stories/tg_97.htm Top Ten Indie Guitarists] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528231135/http://www.vblurpage.com/articles/stories/tg_97.htm |date=28 May 2012 }}) Total Guitar. Retrieved 16 December 2011. NME ranked "Song 2" at number two in its end-of-year list of the Top 20 Singles of 1997,{{cite magazine |title=Top 20 Singles of 1997 |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980627130719reviews.html |magazine=NME |access-date=29 May 2019 |date=10 January 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000605194559/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980627130719reviews.html |archive-date=5 June 2000 }} and later listed it as one of the best songs from the 1990s.{{cite web |title=100 Best Songs Of The 1990s |url=https://www.nme.com/list/100-best-songs-of-the-1990s-1157 |website=NME |date=8 May 2012 |access-date=17 February 2022}}

The song has become a fixture in sports stadiums as well.{{Cite web |last=Paulas |first=Rick |date=2017-04-07 |title=Woo-hoo! 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/woo-hoo-20-years-ago-blurs-song-2-became-an-unlikely-sports-anthem/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=VICE |language=en-US}} 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.{{cite web|title=Song 2 Take 2| date=7 April 2022 |url= https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=08-nsVGfqpA&pp=ygUNc29uZyAyIHRha2UgMg%3D%3D |publisher=YouTube|access-date=12 May 2024}}

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.{{Citation|title=Gorillaz - Covering Blur-Song 2 with Graham Coxon, Demon Dayz Fest LA, October 20, 2018|date=18 October 2010|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucR4TVB4c94 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/ucR4TVB4c94| archive-date=13 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=18 October 2018}}{{cbignore}}

Albarn would play "Song 2" at the end of his only 2022 U.S. solo performance to promote The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows. Before he began, Albarn commented that he was asked if he'd perform the song by Los Angeles Times journalist Mikael Wood, "before [Wood] cast [Albarn] into the social media abyss".{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-01-25/damon-albarn-taylor-swift-la-times-interview-concert|date=25 January 2022|access-date=3 May 2025|author-first1=Christi|author-last1=Carras|title=After insulting Taylor Swift, Damon Albarn says he was cast into 'social media abyss'|work=Los Angeles Times|url-status=live|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125192552/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-01-25/damon-albarn-taylor-swift-la-times-interview-concert|quote=Before launching into a rendition of the 1997 Blur hit “Song 2,” Albarn told the crowd that Times pop music critic Mikael Wood suggested he play that track "before he cast me into the social media abyss."}}

My Chemical Romance played the song at BBC Radio 1.{{cite web|url=https://www.inkl.com/news/it-speaks-to-regular-people-and-that-s-why-it-s-so-great-watch-the-worlds-of-emo-and-britpop-collide-as-my-chemical-romance-cover-pulp-s-common-people|title="It speaks to regular people, and that's why it's so great": Watch the worlds of emo and Britpop collide as My Chemical Romance cover Pulp's Common People|author-first1=Paul|author-last1=Brannigan|date=15 August 2023|website=Inkl|access-date=3 May 2025}} The cover was later featured on the album "Radio 1's Live Lounge", released on 11 October 2006.

Big Time Rush's 2012 single Windows Down includes samples of Song 2.{{cite web | url=https://www.twincities.com/2012/07/27/review-big-time-rush-show-is-everything-youd-expect-from-a-boy-band/ | title=Review: Big Time Rush is everything you'd expect from a boy band|author-first1=Ross|author-last1=Raihala|date=12 July 2012|website=St. Paul's Pioneer Press|access-date=4 June 2025}}

In 2014, Imagine Dragons played Song 2 at Lollapalooza Brazil and again in 2016 at Reading Festival.{{cite web | url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/imagine-dragons-1189777 | title=Watch Imagine Dragons cover Blur's 'Song 2' at Reading Festival | website=NME | date=27 August 2016 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Yiab4i5Ck | title=Imagine Dragons - Song 2 (Blur Cover) - Lollapalooza Brazil 2014 [HD 1080i] | website=YouTube | date=18 April 2014 }}

In 2024, the song was heavily sampled by UK Hip-Hop artist Jeshi in his track "Total 90",{{cite web |last1=Chelosky |first1=Danielle |title=Jeshi – "Total 90" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2268642/jeshi-total-90/music/ |website=Stereogum |access-date=12 July 2024 |date=19 June 2024}} 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{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=UK CD1 liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOODS 93, 7243 883869 2 0}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Get Out of Cities" – 4:02
3. "Polished Stone" – 2:42

UK CD2{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=UK CD2 liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOOD 93, 7243 8 83870 2 6}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Bustin' + Dronin'" – 6:13
3. "Country Sad Ballad Man" {{small|(live acoustic version)}} – 4:59

UK 7-inch single and Italian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=FOOD 93, 7243 883869 7 5}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=Italian CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=7243 8 83860 2 9}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Get Out of Cities" – 4:02

French CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=French CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=7243 884 128 2}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Country Sad Ballad Man" {{small|(live acoustic version)}} – 4:41
3. "On Your Own" {{small|(live)}} – 4:10

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Australian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=7243 8 83859 2 3}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Get Out of Cities" – 4:02
3. "Polished Stone" – 2:42
4. "Bustin' + Dronin'" – 6:13

Japanese mini-album{{cite AV media notes|title=Song 2|others=Blur|year=1997|type=Japanese mini-album liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=TOCP-50174}}

1. "Song 2" – 2:02
2. "Get Out of Cities" – 4:02
3. "Polished Stone" – 2:42
4. "Bustin' + Dronin'" – 6:13
5. "Beetlebum" {{small|(Mario Caldato Jr. mix)}} – 5:07
6. "Beetlebum" {{small|(instrumental)}} – 5:07
7. "Country Sad Ballad Man" {{small|(live acoustic)}} – 4:59
8. "On Your Own" {{small|(live acoustic)}} – 4:26

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• Damon Albarn – vocals
• Graham Coxon – guitar, additional drums
• Alex James – bass
• Dave Rowntree – drums

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1997|certyear=1997|access-date=2 March 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Song 2|award=Gold|relyear=1997|certyear=2024|access-date=27 June 2024|id=14064}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Song 2|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1997|certyear=2024|access-date=25 June 2018|id=13755}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Song 2|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1997|certyear=2023|access-date=14 May 2025|source=radioscope}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Song 2|award=Platinum|relyear=1997|certyear=2023|access-date=8 September 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Blur|title=Song 2|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1997|certyear=2024|id=10229-388-1|access-date=29 November 2024}}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|SSbBvKaM6sk|Blur - Song 2}}

{{Blur}}

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Category:1996 songs

Category:1997 singles

Category:Blur (band) songs

Category:British punk rock songs

Category:Grunge songs

Category:Food Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by Sophie Muller

Category:Number-one singles in Scotland

Category:Parlophone singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Stephen Street

Category:Songs about music

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:Virgin Records singles

Category:Football songs and chants

Category:Sports anthems