The Universal

Simon Williams from NME named the song Single of the Week and praised it as "rather brilliant", writing, "A ludicrously grandiose ballad that weeps spiritual buckets and sweeps the same swish floor as 'This Is a Low'. It's exotic! It has strings and things! It will turn your hard bastard spine into vodka jelly when they play it in an arena near you at Crimbo! And — crucially — it ends like 'The Orinoco Song' by The Wombles. As all songs should."{{cite magazine|first=Simon|last=Williams|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53595921186/|title=Singles|magazine=NME|date=11 November 1995|page=43|access-date=22 March 2024}} David Cavanagh from Select said, "'Universal' (considered at one time as a possible album title) is a grandiose and sublime ballad that looks in on the citizens of the 21st century. Musically, 'Universal' is this album's 'To the End' — strings, brass, girl singers, languid vocal lines and a sweeping, epic feel. The song and the overall performances are breathtaking."{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Cavanagh|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/01/blur.jpg|title=New Albums|work=Select|date=October 1995|page=104|access-date=14 December 2024|author-link=David Cavanagh}} Gill Whyte from Smash Hits gave it five out of five and also named it Best New Single, writing, "Blur-limey! How many people are on this record exactly? There's the string section, brass band, ladies' choir and very probably Uncle Tom Cobbly on zimmer. Ooh, and what a big noise it is! The thing's a colossus! A huge end-of-concert lighter-waving anthem all about..."{{cite magazine|first=Gill|last=Whyte|url=https://sites.google.com/view/smash-hits-remembered-1994-5/home/1995/442-8th-november-21st-november-1995|title=Singles: Best New Single|work=Smash Hits|date=8 November 1995|page=|access-date=17 February 2025}} In a separate review, the magazine added, "Sounds like a waltz your mum would glide around to. Best heard with the light off, so you can think about life and that."{{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}}

File:Blur the universal video.jpg, featuring the band as quasi-Droogs in an all-white bar, complete with Albarn wearing an eyeliner similar to Alex DeLarge.]]

A music video for the song was directed by English film director and screenwriter Jonathan Glazer.{{cite web |url=http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=3747 |title=Blur – "The Universal [version 1]" |publisher=mvdbase.com |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514094127/http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=3747 |url-status=dead }} The band is presented in imitation of the opening scenes from the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, in the Milk Bar. Blur star as the quasi-Droogs, complete with Damon Albarn wearing eyeliner similar to the character Alex DeLarge. They perform in the bar in all-white. Though the band do not engage in their usual vibrant stage demeanour, Damon Albarn frequently turns to the camera and gives a sly, crooked smile. Graham Coxon spends the majority of the video sitting against the wall, while playing his guitar. They also spend some time during the video sitting at a table, watching the people around them.

The bar patrons consist of different groups; a male with two females are openly kissing. The man has lipstick all over his face; a lone female entertains male business colleagues by exploiting their sexual interest in her; two men, one identified as a 'red man' (dressed entirely in red) who used to be 'blue', conduct a stilted (subtitled) conversation; two other men – one of them wearing a vicar's clerical collar – become increasingly drunk on cocktails, laughing more and more hysterically until the clergyman tells his friend something to which the viewer is not privy, causing his friend to withdraw into stunned silence (a device similar to that used in Radiohead's promotional video for the song "Just" in the same year). There are also two old men who make a few comments (again subtitled) marvelling at the scene. Blur then walk down the aisle to exit the building. Damon Albarn stops them, then the clergyman moves in to kiss his friend.

There are also scenes outside, showing high rise buildings, where people are gathered around a golf ball speaker atop a roof, listening.

The golf ball-shaped speaker featured in the video was purchased by Garth Crooks in a charity auction in 1999.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/442694.stm Auction takes Blur back to their roots] – BBC News Online

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

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• UK CD1 and Australian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK CD1 liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOODS 69, 7243 8 82554 2 4}}{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=EMI Records|id=8 82554 2}}

1. "The Universal" – 4:00
2. "Ultranol" – 2:42
3. "No Monsters in Me" – 3:38
4. "Entertain Me" (The Live It! remix) – 7:19

• UK CD2: The Universal II – Live at the BBC{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK CD2 liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=CDFOOD 69, 7243 8 82557 2 1}}

1. "The Universal" – 4:11
2. "Mr Robinson's Quango" – 4:17
3. "It Could Be You" – 3:17
4. "Stereotypes" – 3:12

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• UK cassette single and European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=TC FOOD 69}}{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, Parlophone|id=7243 8 82559 2 9}}

1. "The Universal" – 3:53
2. "Entertain Me" (The Live It! remix) – 7:14

• Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=The Universal|others=Blur|year=1995|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=Food Records, EMI Music Japan|id=TOCP-8770}}

1. "The Universal" – 4:00
2. "It Could Be You" (live at the BBC) – 3:17
3. "Stereotypes" (live at the BBC) – 3:12
4. "Entertain Me" (The Live It! remix) – 7:19

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Blur|title=The Universal|award=Gold|relyear=2004|certyear=2025|id=7400-388-1|access-date=4 January 2025}}

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• A cover by Irish singer Joe Dolan in 1998 made it to number 19 on the Irish Singles Chart.

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Category:1995 songs

Category:1995 singles

Category:Blur (band) songs

Category:EMI Music Japan singles

Category:Food Records singles

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