"Parklife" is the title track from English rock band Blur's third studio album, '' Parklife'' (1994). When released as the album's third single in August 1994, it reached No. 10 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 30 in Ireland. The song contains elements of

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

in the verses, narrated by actor

Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in '' T ...

, who also appears in the song's music video. The choruses are sung by lead singer

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtua ...

. The song won

British Single of the Year The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

and

British Video of the Year The Brit Award for British Video of the Year was an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annua ...

at the

1995 Brit Awards Brit Awards 1995 was the 15th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 20 February 1995 at Alexandra Palace in London. Blur ...

and was also performed at the 2012 Brit Awards. The Massed Bands of the

Household Division Household Division is a term used principally in the Commonwealth of Nations to describe a country's most elite or historically senior military units, or those military units that provide ceremonial or protective functions associated directly wit ...

performed "Parklife" at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony. The song is one of the defining tracks of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

, and features on the 2003 compilation album '' Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop''.

Background

According to Coxon the song was sarcastic, rather than a celebration of Englishness. He explained the song "wasn't about the working class, it was about the park class: dustbin men, pigeons, joggers – things we saw every day on the way to the studio aison Rouge in Fulham and that it was about "having fun and doing exactly what you want to do". Daniels had been approached to recite a poem for "The Debt Collector", but Albarn could not find a poem he liked and made the song into an instrumental. Daniels was asked to sing lead vocals on "Parklife" instead. Daniels reinvigorated the band, who had grown tired of working on the track. Daniels was unfamiliar with the band, but after talking to Albarn, he accepted the job. The recording in the studio took about forty minutes. Daniels opted for a cut of the royalties rather than being paid up front. Despite what is commonly believed, the song does not refer to Castle Park in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, the town where the band hail from. According to

when introducing the song during their July 2009 Hyde Park performance, "I came up with the idea for this song in this park. I was living on

Kensington Church Street Kensington Church Street is a shopping street in Kensington, London, England, designated the A4204, and traditionally known for its art and antiques shops. Buildings at the southern end date back to the early 1700s. It is named after Kensington ...

, and I used to come into the park at the other end, and I used to, you know, watch people, and pigeons...", at which moment Phil Daniels appears onstage. Daniels also performed a rendition of the song at the band's headline slot at

Glastonbury Festival 2009 The 2009 Glastonbury Festival/Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24 to 29 June 2009. Tickets Registration In a similar way to previous festivals, tickets for the 2009 event required pre-registration (of a ph ...

and at the band's second Hyde Park concert in August 2012, and at the 2012 Brit Awards. A number of newspaper articles about the young

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

es' adoption of

Estuary English Estuary English is an English accent associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the south ...

appeared during the single's chart run, including one in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' on the day the song entered the singles chart (although Daniels' accent is more obviously

cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

). The song played a part in Blur's supposed feud with fellow

band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

at the

1996 Brit Awards Brit Awards 1996 was the 16th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 19 February 1996 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in Lon ...

when the Gallagher brothers,

Liam Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these e ...

and Noel, taunted Blur by singing a drunk rendition of "Parklife", mimicking Albarn's accent (with Liam changing the lyrics to "Shite-life" and Noel shouting " Marmite"), when the members of Oasis were collecting the "Best British Album" award, which both bands had been nominated for.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

(directed by Pedro Romhanyi) filmed next to The Pilot pub on the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the s ...

features

as a smarmy

double glazing Insulating glass (IG) consists of two or more glass window panes separated by a space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope. A window with insulating glass is commonly known as double glazing or a double-paned windo ...

salesman (a homage to '' Tin Men''), with Albarn as his assistant. Other band members appear as various characters from the song, including

Dave Rowntree David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is the drummer for the rock band Blur and was a Labour Party councillor in Norfolk County Council from 2017 until 202 ...

and Alex James as a couple, with the latter in drag. At one point, Albarn is impressed to see a man (

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

) carrying a placard reading " Modern Life Is Rubbish", the title of Blur's previous album; on the reverse is written "

End of a Century "End of a Century" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. Released in November 1994, it was the last single to be released from their third album, ''Parklife'' (1994). "End of a Century" reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, cons ...

", the title of their subsequent single from ''Parklife''. The car used by Daniels and Albarn is a bronze-coloured Ford Granada Coupe Mk1. In the video, the Granada pulls up next to an

Audi Cabriolet Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

convertible and Daniels says "It's got nothing to do with your ' Vorsprung durch Technik' yer know". The driver, played by Alex James, grimaces back at him. Both cars then pull away at speed to reveal 'Parklife' written on the tarmac. The video was featured in the 1995 episode "Lightning Strikes" (episode 21 of Season 5) of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, an ...

''. The characters stated Daniels bore a resemblance to ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, th ...

'' host

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Heroe ...

The song started to be played at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

matches in the mid-1990s, later becoming a "football anthem" and featuring on albums like '' The Best Footie Anthems in the World...Ever!'' and '' The Beautiful Game, the Official Album of Euro 1996''.

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

aired a television advertisement in 1997 called ''Parklife''. The advertisement featured the song and Premier League footballers including

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

and

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...

. The advert received acclaim and later was rated the 14th best advert of all time by ITV in 2005, and as the 15th best by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 2000. The song is played before the home matches of Chelsea F.C. at Stamford Bridge. The song's narrator Phil Daniels and Blur frontman Damon Albarn are both fans of Chelsea. This song is also sung at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

, the home of Norwich City F.C., with the words "All the Germans, so many Germans, and they all go hand in hand, hand in hand through their Farkelife... FARKELIFE!" This is due to the fact that manager Daniel Farke bought so many German players.

Reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' wrote, "Blur continues to explore its newfound interest in shameless pop, first exploited on the giddy, 'New- Romantic'-sounding 'Girls & Boys.' This follow-up is pure fun, as the British act pounces through bouncy melodies, woven through playful guitars and spoken-word vocals." ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' commented, "Old men on the park bench will have to move over a little bit to make room for these punky brats commenting on life around the pool. It's as nurturing for the ducks as it is for you." Mark Sutherland awarded the song "Best New Single" in the 17 August issue of ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'', calling it "superb," and "one of the barmiest pop songs ever." In May 2007, '' NME'' magazine placed "Parklife" at number 41 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. "Parklife" is the best-selling single from the album, with 190,000 copies sold.

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

spoke glowingly of the song, calling it "maybe their best song, and certainly their best record" and stating, "One of my fondest times with Damon is a poetry festival at the Albert Hall. He sang one of my songs and I sang 'Parklife'. Then I understood the similarities between The Kinks and Blur. It's in the way I change chords, and sing stylistically."

Track listings

All music composed by Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. All lyrics composed by Albarn. CD1 CD1 / Cassette # "Parklife" – 3:06 # "Supa Shoppa" – 3:02 # "Theme from an Imaginary Film" – 3:34 CD2 # "Parklife" – 3:06 # "Beard" – 1:45 # "To the End" (French Version) – 4:06 7-inch (jukebox) # "Parklife" – 3:06 # "Supa Shoppa" – 3:02 * Pressed for use on

jukeboxes A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...

; not issued commercially 12-inch # "Parklife" – 3:06 # "Supa Shoppa" – 3:02 # " To the End" (French Version) – 4:06 # "Beard" – 1:45 2012 Brit Awards #"Girls & Boys" (Live from the BRITs) - 4:43 #"Song 2" (Live from the BRITs) - 2:15 #"Parklife" (featuring

) (Live from the BRITs) - 2:52

B-sides

Blur provided the single with a selection of strikingly contrasting B-sides, all pastiches of other genres of music. One of a number of occasional Blur songs written in waltz time and built on an arrangement of harpsichord, piano and string synths, ''Theme from an Imaginary Film'' was planned but rejected for the film ''

Decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members ...

''. ''Supa Shoppa'' was an instrumental in the style of acid jazz, recorded with percussion, synth flute and Hammond organ parts. Drowned in Sound, reviewing Blur's career, noted that it had been a "perfect live opener for the Parklife tour when cranked up." ''Beard'' also parodied jazz music, and was named based on the stereotype of jazz fans wearing them. An additional alternative version of ''To the End'' was also added. (At the time, to boost singles' chart placings it was customary for bands to release singles in several formats with exclusive tracks to encourage fans to buy them all.)

Personnel

– lead vocals, piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

– narration *

– electric guitars,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B t ...

, backing vocals * Alex James – bass guitar *

– drums * Simon Clarke –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrab ...

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Brit Award for British Single Blur (band) songs Food Records singles Music videos directed by Pedro Romhanyi Song recordings produced by Stephen Street Songs written by Alex James (musician) Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Dave Rowntree Songs written by Graham Coxon