BEETLEBUM

"'Beetlebum'" is a song by English band Blur and was released as the lead single from the band's eponymous fifth album, ''Blur''. The single became Blur's second to reach the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart (after "Country House"). The song's title, "Beetlebum", is falsely said to be a stab at Liam Gallagher, lead singer of rival band Oasis, for his over-idolising of The Beatles. Other possible explanations include a reference to the stage name of Jeremy Beadle in his early career. The song is also rumoured to be about heroin, which has led many to believe it is about Damon Albarn's ex-girlfriend and her battle with drugs and how it affected him, who at the time was also combating substance addictions. It is more likely to be a reference to the comedy prank show Beadlebum from which the song uses distorted sound clips and a line in the chorus mimics the catchphrase. Damon himself stated in an interview with MTV that the song describes a complicated emotion, sort of 'sleepy' and sort of 'sexy'.
The band has also mentioned alternately in interviews, that musically the song was inspired by the song "All Together Now" by The Beatles, "Ain't Love Grand?" by The Opd (themselves named after a reference to The Beatles), and Guided by Voices.
"Beetlebum" is very highly regarded by fans of Blur. In a vote on blurtalk.com, it was voted Blur's best single, far outpacing competitors such as "Coffee & TV", "The Universal", and "Popscene". The band also seems to consider the song one of their best, and even Noel Gallagher has praised it, calling it his favourite Blur song, when on Zane Lowe's brown couch. It served as the opening track on ''Blur'' and ''.

Contents

Track listings

In the UK

In Japan/Australia

In the US

Music video

References

Track listings

In the UK

★ 7" FOOD89
#"Beetlebum"
#"Woodpigeon Song"

★ CD1 CDFOOD89
#"Beetlebum"
#"All Your Life"
#"A Spell (For Money)"

★ CD2 CDFOODS89
#"Beetlebum"
#"Beetlebum" (Mario Caldato Jr. Mix)
#"Woodpigeon Song"
#"Dancehall"

In Japan/Australia

★ CD TOCP-40021 released 16 January 1997 by Toshiba-EMI (Japan), CD 83576-2 by Capitol Records (Australia)
#"Beetlebum"
#"All Your Life"
#"Woodpigeon Song"
#"A Spell (For Money)"

In the US

★ Virgin Records Promo DPRO-12777
#"Beetlebum" (radio edit) - 3:59
#"Beetlebum" (album version) - 5:05
#"Call Out Research Hook #1" (guitar)
#"Call Out Research Hook #2" (vocal)

Music video

The single's video, directed by Sophie Muller, was shot on December 14 1996 in Camden ^[1]. is relatively simple, comprising a performance of the song with computer generated 'zoom-outs' from the studio to show the Earth in the centre of kaleidoscopic patterns. Notably, in the video, Alex James' cigarette and Dave Rowntree's Coke can are censored, possibly intentionally.

References

1. MTV Blurography- Broadcast December 1996