"Country House" 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. It was released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album '' The Great Escape'' on 14 August 1995. Released on the same day as the

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 ...

single " Roll with It" – in a chart battle dubbed the " Battle of Britpop" – "Country House" reached number one in 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 ...

(the first of two Blur singles to reach number one, the second being 1997's "

Beetlebum "Beetlebum" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released on 20 January 1997 as the lead single from the band's eponymous fifth album, '' Blur'' (1997). Written about Blur frontman Damon Albarn's experiences with heroin, the ...

"). The song is the band's best-selling single, with over 540,000 copies sold as of May 2014.

Background and writing

In an interview for the ''

South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

'',

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 ...

explained that it was inspired by former Blur manager Dave Balfe, who left Blur's label

Food Records Food Records was a British rock record label set up in 1984 by David Balfe (formally of Zoo Records), who later took on Andy Ross as his partner. Originally formed as an independent record label with distribution going through Rough Trade D ...

and bought a house in the country.

The house of David Balfe

David Balfe moved to ''The Bury'' in 1994 at Church End,

Barton-le-Clay Barton-le-Clay is a large village and a civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire Borough in Bedfordshire, England, bordering Hertfordshire. The village has existed since at least 1066 and is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. History Ancien ...

in southern

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

off the A6. The house had 4 acres of land, nine bedrooms with five en-suite. He moved with his wife Helen and their children aged 2 and 4, when he was 36. The house was advertised in 2015 for £2m. It was Grade 2 listed in February 1975.

Content

The song is about a man who retires to an expensive

country house 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 town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

to escape the pressures of the city. The cover art features a horizontally-flipped image of

Neuschwanstein Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The p ...

Castle in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Release and "battle" with Oasis

"Country House" received a great deal of media attention when Blur's label

moved the original release date to the same day as

's " Roll with It". The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot, dubbed the " Battle of Britpop". In the end, "Country House" won the "battle", attaining the No. 1 spot while "Roll with It" came in at No. 2.

Music video

The

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Country House" was directed by artist

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

, who had attended

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, with members of Blur. It features the band and a businessman (played by Keith Allen) in a flat with the band playing a board game called "Escape from the Rat Race" before they become trapped in the game where they are with farm animals and other people before appearing in the flat again. The band appears in the video alongside British comic actor

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

and models

Sara Stockbridge Sara Stockbridge (born Sarah Jane Stockbridge; 14 November 1965) is an English model, actress and author. In the second half of the 1980s, she was the muse of fashion designer Vivenne Westwood. Early life Stockbridge was born in Woking, Surr ...

Jo Guest Joanne Guest (born 22 February 1972) is an English former glamour model and media personality. Glamour career Born and raised in Chesterfield, north east Derbyshire, England, Guest started in modelling after she saw an advertisement while on ...

and Vanessa Upton. It features pastiches of—or tributes to—

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

(Lucas' doctor chasing scantily clad young women culminating in the entry of the milk van of

Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" is an innuendo-laden comedy or novelty song, written and performed by the English comedian Benny Hill. The song was first performed on television in 1970, and released as a successful recording, toppin ...

) and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's 1975 video for "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...

". It was nominated for Best Video in the 1996

BRIT Awards 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 ...

. The external shots of the video are at Pyrton Manor,

Pyrton Pyrton is a small village and large civil parish in Oxfordshire about north of the small town of Watlington and south of Thame. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 227. The toponym is from the Old English meaning "pear-tree ...

, in east

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, west of junction 6 of the M40, near the B4009 and Watlington. It is now home of Vogue writer

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey is an American voice actress. She made her anime debut as Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z''. Her other anime credits include Emily / Glitter Lucky in ''Glitter Force'', Tohru Honda in ''Fruits Basket'', Lust in ...

, and is the former home of the 1956

High Sheriff of Oxfordshire The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

. It is Elizabethan, built around the start of the 17th century.

Promotion and release

On 20 August 1995 the charts were officially announced. (''

The Chart Show ''The Chart Show'' (also known as ''The ITV Chart Show'' between 1989 and 1998) was a popular weekly syndicated music video programme which ran in the United Kingdom from April 1986 until August 1998, with revivals in 2003 and 2008–2009. ''Th ...

'' announced the winner the day before, though the show's chart was unofficial) "Country House" topped the

, selling 270,000 copies, compared to 220,000 sold by "Roll with It", which came in at number two. Albarn himself was surprised that "Country House" topped the charts. He told ''NME'', "I sort of believed all the papers, including ''NME'', who told me Oasis were going to win."

Track listings

All music 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 composed by Albarn. 7" and cassette single # "Country House" – 3:58 # "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18 CD1 # "Country House" – 3:58 # "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18 # "To The End (la comedie)" feat.

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

– 5:06 #* Features an extended outro, starts at 3:45 CD2 – ''Blur Recorded Live from Mile End Stadium'' # "Country House" – 5:01 # "Girls & Boys" – 5:08 # "Parklife" – 4:13 # "For Tomorrow" – 7:35 All tracks recorded live at the

Mile End Stadium Mile End Stadium, also known as the East London Stadium, is a multi-sports stadium in Mile End and situated in the park of the same name, East London, England. The stadium comprises an athletics stadium and a number of floodlit Astroturf footb ...

in London on 17 June 1995. Japan CD # "Country House" – 3:58 # "One Born Every Minute" – 2:18 # "To The End (la comedie)" feat.

– 5:06 #* Features an extended outro, starts at 3:45 # "Charmless Man" – 3:44

Production credits

*"Country House" and "Charmless Man" produced by Stephen Street *"One Born Every Minute" produced by Blur and John Smith *"To the End (la comedie)" produced by Stephen Hague, Blur and John Smith *

: Lead vocals, keyboards, organ *

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, saxophone, backing vocals * Alex James: Bass guitar, backing vocals * Dave Rowntree: Drums, percussion, backing vocals *Additional brass by:

The Kick Horns Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

The song was covered by

The Wurzels The Wurzels are an English Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, England, best known for their number one hit " The Combine Harvester" and number three hit "I Am a Cider Drinker" in 1976. They are known for using British West Country phrases ...

on their 2002 album ''Never Mind the Bullocks, ‘Ere is The Wurzels'' and Out of the Blue on their 2005 album ''Freefall''.

References

* Harris, John. ''Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock'', 2004. * ''Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop''. Passion Pictures, 2004.

Footnotes

{{Authority control Blur (band) songs 1995 singles Songs written by Damon Albarn Number-one singles in Iceland Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by Stephen Street Works by Damien Hirst Songs written by Dave Rowntree Songs written by Alex James (musician) Songs written by Graham Coxon