I wasn't sure how much I'd like The Magic Whip, and I still haven't looked too far into most of it, but I found this song. Just tonight I've listened to it about five times already in a row and about to repeat it a sixth. Needless to say, I quite like it.
My Terracotta Heart was released to YouTube for the first time on the 21st of April 2015, and is the seventh track in Blur's eighth album, The Magic Whip.
(1) It's based on Damon Albarn's friendship with Graham Coxon. If you listen to the lyrics closely enough, and know a bit about the history of the band --- well.
(2) The background in this song is so interesting. The drums. I'm not sure what sounds like the clapping of wooden blocks, but it's there. Unconventional, but it couldn't have been any other way. It's a modern song, but still well made and interesting. That's one of the many reasons Blur is great. Even in their later stuff they don't sacrifice.
(3) Of course, the guitar work, and the bass work, as always, is great, and the backing vocals near the end working with the closing guitar. When the chorus starts, something picks up, quicker than the beat and adding to the sort of urgency in the air, like running down a flight of stairs. The mood is the main thing. It's a sombre one, a thick curtain hanging and piling on the carpet, but also spiky, like a drop of sweat on your back getting cold. You can see the sunset falling as you listen. The lyrics suit the mood well. It's all exceptionally well put together.
(4) And also... that Albarn is a bloody good singer. In my opinion, the best songs are when vocals are truly another instrument. The lyrics themselves do not matter unless they are very good ones, in which case they can only add more... but a song is not just vocals, and vocals are not just lyrics. Here we have good lyrics, good vocals, and a good song too.
That was very rambly. I apologise for the rambliness. Have a fine rest of your day.
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