"Chemical World" is a song by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band Blur, included on their second album, ''

Modern Life Is Rubbish ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album ''Leisure'' (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its releas ...

'' (1993).

Tracks

The single was released in the UK on 7-inch and 12-inch

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

and two CDs. CD1 and the 12-inch featured the reworked demo version while CD2 and the 7-inch featured the Stephen Street version (in edited form on the 7-inch). The 12-inch and CD2 feature three exclusive tracks "Young & Lovely", "Es Schmecht" and "My Ark". "Young & Lovely" was hailed as one of the greatest "lost tracks" by ''Q'' in 2007. CD1 features three tracks recorded live at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

1992. The song "Never Clever" had not been previously released. It was originally intended as the follow-up to Blur's fourth single, "

Popscene "Popscene" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur, released as a non-album single on 30 March 1992. Despite its relatively low chart placing, it has since become critically praised and regarded as one of the pioneering songs of the B ...

". However, the commercial death of "Popscene" prompted those plans to be abandoned. The studio version of "Never Clever" was eventually released on a

promo CD A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

to celebrate Food Records' 100th release in 1997. The 7-inch

has a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

's "

Maggie May "Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album ''Every Picture Tells a Story'', released in 1971. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number 130 on its list of T ...

", which had been recorded for and was first released on ''

Ruby Trax ''Ruby Trax - The NME's Roaring Forty'' is a compilation album released by the 'rock inkie' (newspaper) NME (New Musical Express) in 1992 to commemorate 40 years of publication. The album features 40 cover versions of classic Number 1 songs by p ...

'', a 1992 triple album compilation of cover versions issued by the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' on its 40th birthday. It was also featured on Blur's ''

The Special Collectors Edition ''The Special Collectors Edition'' is a collection of B-sides by Blur, released in Japan in 1994. It received a limited worldwide release for Record Store Day 2023. The B-sides are from singles from the albums ''Leisure'', ''Modern Life Is Ru ...

'' in 1994 along with "Es Schmecht".

Release

"Chemical World" was released on 28 June 1993 as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'', equalling their previous release " For Tomorrow" at number 28 in the

UK Singles Charts 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 ...

. In the United States, the song reached number 27 on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, becoming the only single from the album to chart there. The song was commissioned by Blur's American record label,

SBK Records SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that was currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group. Histo ...

, to increase the album's appeal for the American market. The first version shown to SBK was a demo produced by the band. It was then re-recorded in a version produced by

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music 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 spl ...

. This version was used for the UK version of the album but SBK preferred the demo which was 'reworked' by producers

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films ''Still Crazy'' and ''Br ...

and

Alan Winstanley Alan Kenneth Winstanley (born 2 November 1952) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer. His early career during the mid-1970s was as an audio engineer, working on album ...

and used for the US album. Although originally never labelled as such (with only the producer credits on the sleeves and labels showing which version is used), this version is now known as "Chemical World (Reworked)" which is how it appeared since the 1999 singles box set. The single cover features a red

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 1994 ...

and a

mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...

against a background of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

and the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

skyline. The music video shows the band in a grassy field surrounded by wildlife. On ''

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, ...

'', when the video was reviewed, Beavis said that he wanted to urinate all over the band and the wildlife, including a snail and

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 virtual ...

. "Chemical World" did not appear on the 2000 greatest hits compilation '' Blur: The Best Of'' but was included on the 2009 compilation '' Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur''.

Track listings

All music was composed by Albarn, Coxon,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and Rowntree. All lyrics were written by Albarn except where noted. 7-inch # "Chemical World" (radio Edit) – 3:54 # "

" (

and

Martin Quittenton Martin Quittenton (22 April 1945 – 16 April 2015) was a British guitarist and composer. He played in the blues rock band Steamhammer, formed in 1968. Their debut album '' Steamhammer'' was released in 1969. Quittenton also worked with Rod Stew ...

) – 4:05 12-inch # "Chemical World" (reworked) – 3:46 (uncredited on sleeve that it is the reworked demo version) # "Es Schmecht" – 3:38 # "Young & Lovely" – 5:04 # "My Ark" – 5:58 CD1 (live tracks from

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

) # "Chemical World" (reworked) (uncredited on sleeve that it is the reworked demo version) # "Never Clever" (live) ( Blur (music and lyrics))– 2:28 # "Pressure on Julian" (live) – 5:00 # "Come Together" (live) – 3:30 CD2 # "Chemical World" (radio edit) – 3:54 # "Young & Lovely" – 5:04 # "Es Schmecht" – 3:38 # "My Ark" – 5:58

Personnel

* "Chemical World" and "Young & Lovely" produced by Stephen Street * "Es Schmecht" produced by Blur * "My Ark" produced by Blur and John Smith * "Maggie May" produced by Steve Lovell * "Chemical World" (Reworked) produced by Blur, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley *

: lead vocals *

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 ...

: guitar, backing vocals * Alex James: bass guitar *

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 ...

: drums

Charts

References

{{Authority control Blur (band) songs 1993 singles 1993 songs 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