"You and Me" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter

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 ...

for his solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Everyday Robots ''Everyday Robots'' is the debut solo studio album by British musician Damon Albarn, best known as the frontman of Blur and Gorillaz. Described by Albarn as his "most personal record", the album was co-produced by Richard Russell and relea ...

''. Albarn and producer Richard Russell had previously worked on

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

's comeback album ''

The Bravest Man in the Universe ''The Bravest Man in the Universe'' is the twenty-seventh and final studio album by the American soul artist Bobby Womack. Released on June 12, 2012, it was his first studio album since 2000 and his first album of original material since 1994's '' ...

'' and on the

DRC Music The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

album ''

Kinshasa One Two ''Kinshasa One Two'' is an album recorded by Damon Albarn alongside ten producers of the newly established DRC Music (Democratic Republic of the Congo Music) group, to benefit Oxfam's work in Congo. Background Recorded in Kinshasa, Democratic ...

''.

Background

Clocking in at seven minutes and five seconds, "You and Me" is the longest song on ''Everyday Robots'', being an amalgamation of two different songs, the first being called "You" and the other being "Me", which was explained by Albarn when he played at the BBC Radio 6 Festival. The two songs were recorded by Albarn and the album's producer Richard Russell. Lyrically the songs reference the story of two people, each living separate lives and Albarn serving as a narrator over both lives. In an interview with '' Q'', Albarn, spoke about many influences for the song. Albarn, who has long since been clean of drugs, began his relationship with

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

"at the height 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 ...

" after he came home from tour one evening and casually found it in his front room. "I just thought, 'Why not?' I never imagined it would become a problem." He then recites a line from the track "You and Me" to the reporter, which is a song on his forthcoming solo album, ''Everyday Robots''. "Tin foil and a lighter, the ship across," he sang. "Five days on, two days off. I'm happy I found that poetry," Albarn went on to say. "I can move forward now without all the nudge nudge, wink wink innuendo I've had in the background for years."

Critical reception

Matthew Horton of

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 ...

wrote about the track in his track-by-track review of the album: "Call it the fulcrum of the record. 'You And Me' is an elusive epic that, like other songs to come, seems to pick over Albarn's life and manor with shouts to All Saints Road and

Westbourne Grove Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill, an area of west London. Its western end is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its eastern end is in the City of Westminster; it runs from Kensington Park Road in the ...

. "Jab, jab/Digging out a hole in Westbourne Grove/Tinfoil and a lighter/The ship across/Five days on and two days off" – he's probably not giving us details of his miracle diet. This is Albarn reliving 'My Heroin not-quite Hell; it was actually a rather creative period, now you ask'. As the song switches from yet another raw, lovely ballad to an unspeakably great coda ("You can blame me, blame me, blame me...) you're struck by the man's rare undiminished gifts and how it's really not fair."

Personnel

– main and backing vocals, guitar, piano *

Jeff Wootton Jeffrey Wootton (born 12 May 1987) is an English musician, guitarist and songwriter from Manchester. He has been the lead guitarist in the Gorillaz since 2010. A long time collaborator with Damon Albarn, he has also collaborated with Brian Eno, ...

: six string bass guitar *

Demon Strings Demon Strings are a British stringed instrument group. They are best known for being the in-house string section for musician Damon Albarn, having recorded and performed live for several of his projects including The Good, the Bad & the Queen, ...

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

- backing vocals, synthesizer, additional production * Richard Russell – production, drum programming, drums *Jerome O'Connell - steel pans * Stephen Sedgwick –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, mixing * Mike Smith - steel drum, string arrangements

References

External links

* {{Damon Albarn Damon Albarn songs 2014 songs Songs written by Damon Albarn Song recordings produced by Brian Eno