"There's No Other Way" is a song by English band Blur, released on 15 April 1991 as the second single from their debut album ''

Leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

''. "There's No Other Way" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. It was also their first charting song in the US, reaching number 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and also reached number five on the US ''

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Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

Content

The song utilises a beat and tambourine sound typical of songs of the

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and

baggy Baggy is a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and generally associated with the Northern UK's Madchester scene. The style saw alternative rock bands draw influence from psychedelia as well as dance music ...

scene.

Release and reception

The song was the band's first top 10 in the UK, reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was also a minor hit in the US, reaching number 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number five on the ''Billboard''

chart. Alan Jones of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' awarded the song his 'Pick of the Week', writing: "Blur are bound to break big with this organ-bleeding, guitar-powered, post-psychedelic delight, a dancefloor and radio-friendly monster in the making." Linda Ryan of the ''

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'' called it a "trippy pop song with breathy vocals set to a groovin' housebeat... It's a perfect '60s meets '90s vibe with an undeniable hook that begs for another play." In ''

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 ...

'',

Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born 7 January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated ...

said: " hesong is fab! Lots of guitars and it sounds like the '60s, with a tune that's so catchy that it was very nearly Single Of The Fortnight."

Music video

There are two music videos for the song, both videos were released in 1991.

UK video

The UK video for the song was directed by

David Balfe David Balfe (born 1958) is an English musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of thei ...

, the former keyboardist for The Teardrop Explodes and owner of Blur's label Food Records. The video was produced by Anita Staines through Radar Films. The video begins with a close-up shot of a worm inching through the grass. A pink ball is dropped next to the worm and a young girl picks it up, throwing it to her identical twin sister nearby. The scene cuts inside the dining room/kitchen of a suburban house, with Albarn and the rest of the band sitting down at a table. A woman, assumed to be the mother (actress Karen Ford) sets out dishes on the table with the help of the girls.

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and

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are the first course, this is followed by

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batons,

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florets,

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and

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. During the first course the family is then joined by a man assumed to be the father, and the whole group digs into the meal. During the meal, Albarn will occasionally stop eating, look up at the camera, and sing along to the lyrics. After dinner has ended, the mother gets up from the table and retrieves a

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from a cabinet, which she holds up in front of her face. The camera then gets distorted and jerky, the view filling up with a variety of colorful, loud filters applied to the film. The family looks at the mother with a mixture of apprehension and excitement as the film gets more distorted and layered with effects. As the song ends, the camera cuts back to a clear shot of the worm crawling in the grass again.

US video

The US video for the song was directed by Matthew Amos, the video consists of the band playing the song in

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swimming pool at her home in Orchard Manor, with colorful and psychedelic effects shown in the video.

Legacy

A playable version of the song is available for the ''

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'' video game series, and it is available to download for ''

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''.

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

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told ''NME'' that "There's No Other Way" was his favourite British song of 1991.

Track listings

All songs were written by Blur. 7-inch and cassette # "There's No Other Way" – 3:14 # "Inertia" 12-inch # "There's No Other Way" (extended version) – 4:04 # "Inertia" – 3:51 # "Mr Briggs" – 3:59 # "I'm All Over" – 2:00 CD # "There's No Other Way" – 3:14 # "Inertia" – 3:51 # "Mr Briggs" – 3:59 # "I'm All Over" – 2:00 Remix 12-inch # "There's No Other Way" (Blur remix) – 5:09 # "Won't Do It" – 3:19 # "Day Upon Day" (live) – 4:02

Credits

Blur *

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 ...

– lead vocals, organ,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It" *

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' ...

– guitar, backing vocals, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It" * Alex James – bass guitar, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It" *

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 ...

– drums, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It" Additional personnel * Stephen Street – production on "There's No Other Way"

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control Blur (band) songs 1991 singles 1991 songs Food Records singles Music videos directed by Matthew Amos Song recordings produced by Stephen Street Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Graham Coxon Songs written by Alex James (musician) Songs written by Dave Rowntree Dance-rock songs