"Beetlebum" is a song by English

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Blur. It was released on 16 January 1997 as the lead single from the band's eponymous fifth album, '' Blur'' (1997). Written about Blur frontman

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

's experiences with heroin, the song features

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

-influenced music and a mood that Albarn described as "sleepy" and "sexy". Despite fears of the song's uncommercial nature, the single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Blur's second track to top the chart. It has since appeared on several Blur compilations.

Background

"Beetlebum" was inspired by

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and the drug experiences

had with his then-girlfriend,

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. After forming Suede, she co-founded the Britpop band Elastica before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as an artist. Early years ...

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...

. Albarn reflected, "That whole period of a lot of people's lives was fairly muddied by heroin for a lot of people. And it's sort of, it's in that place. And a lot of stuff was at that time." He has stated in an interview with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

that the song describes a complicated emotion, sort of "sleepy" and sort of "sexy".MTV Blurography – Broadcast December 1996 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' hypothesises that the song's title is a reference to the phrase " chasing the beetle", further linking the song to Albarn's experimentation with drugs. Albarn commented, "I'm not sure what a Beetlebum is. It's just a word I sang when I played the song to myself. I asked the others if I should change it, but they said no. If it felt right, we decided that we wouldn't tidy it up like we've done in the past. It's about drugs basically." Producer

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English record producer best known for his work with the Smiths, the Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album '' Viva Hate'' following the ...

later commented, "I didn't know Beetlebum was about heroin. I thought it was just something he’d made up!" A 2023 article in ''Dig!'' points out that "Beetlebaum" is "the name of a horse in comedian

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...

’ parody of the ''

William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he w ...

'', released as a single in 1948." Bassist Alex James explained of the song, "I think 'Beetlebum' is representative of the fact that as the band's got older, the songs have become more simple. Now we can play them with a lot more feeling." Street similarly pointed to the song as a pivotal one for the band, commenting, "Listening back to Damon Albarn’s vocals on 'Beetlebum' for the first time, I had tears in my eyes, thinking: 'This is special'." The song has been described as a "

tribute" by several publications;

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the song " anthrough the

White Album ''The Beatles'', commonly referred to as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Featuring a plain white sleeve, the cover contains no graphics or te ...

in the space of five minutes".

Release

Because of its stylistic differences from Blur's previous singles, "Beetlebum" was expected to be a commercial disappointment. As James recalls, "When we first took it around, 'Beetlebum' was perceived as commercial suicide." Despite these fears, "Beetlebum" sold 120,000 copies in the UK during its first week on sale, becoming the band's second number-one single (after "

Country House image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

"). The song also reached the top 10 in several European countries as well as number 13 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Alternative 30 ranking. In addition to its release on '' Blur'', the song has appeared on compilations such as '' Blur: The Best Of'' and '' Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur''. It was remixed by

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

for the remix album ''

Bustin' + Dronin' Bustin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Beverly Bustin (born 1936), American politician from Maine *Debra Bustin (born 1957), artist from New Zealand *G. T. Bustin (1903–1995), American preacher, pastor, evangelist and miss ...

''.

Music video

The "Beetlebum"

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song " ...

. The downbeat video combines a performance of the song in a room in a tall building with computer-generated zoom-outs from the set showing the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

in the centre of kaleidoscopic patterns. Alex James' cigarette and

Dave Rowntree David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is best known as the drummer for the rock band Blur (band), Blur. In his political career, Rowntree served on the Norf ...

's Coke can are censored, although in a version of the video more recently released, both of these items are uncensored. The video concludes with the camera zooming out of the room to show a shot of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's skyline.

Track listings

All music was composed by

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur' ...

, Alex James and

. All lyrics were written by Albarn. UK CD1 # "Beetlebum" # "All Your Life" # "A Spell (For Money)" UK CD2 # "Beetlebum" # "Beetlebum" ( Mario Caldato Jr. mix) # "Woodpigeon Song" # "Dancehall" UK limited-edition 7-inch red vinyl single # "Beetlebum" # "Woodpigeon Song" Japanese CD single # "Beetlebum" # "All Your Life" # "Woodpigeon Song" # "A Spell (For Money)"

Personnel

* Damon Albarn – lead vocals,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s, acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Graham Coxon – electric guitar, backing vocals * Alex James – bass guitar * Dave Rowntree – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1996 songs 1997 singles Blur (band) songs Food Records singles Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Number-one singles in Scotland Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Stephen Street Songs about drugs Songs about heroin Songs written by Alex James (musician) Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Dave Rowntree Songs written by Graham Coxon UK singles chart number-one singles