Blur

Country House…

Industry information…

Country House" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released as the lead single from the band's fourth album The Great Escape on 14 August 1995. "Country House" was the first of two Blur singles to reach number one on the UK Singles

The song is about a man who retires to an expensive country house to escape the pressures of the city, In an interview Damon Albarn explained that it was inspired by former Blur manager Dave Balfe, who left Blur's label Food Records and bought a house in the country. The cover art features an image of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria

Lyrics… And so the story begins

City dweller, successful fellaThought to himself oops I've got a lot of money

I'm caught in a rat race terminallyI'm a professional cynic but my heart's not in it

I'm paying the price of living life at the limitCaught up in the centuries anxietyIt preys on him, he's getting thin

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryWatching afternoon repeats and the food he eats in the country

He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the countryIt's like an animal farm lot's of rural charm in the country

He's got morning glory, life's a different storyEverything going jackanory, in touch with his own mortality

He's reading balzac, knocking back prozacIt's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland

Oh it's the centuries remedyFor the faint at heart, a new start

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryHe's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the countryHe doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the countrySays she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

In the country, in the country

Blow, blow me out I am so sad, I don't know whyBlow, blow me out I am so sad, I don't know why

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryWatching afternoon repeats and the food he eats in the country

He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the countryOh, it's like an animal farm lot's of rural charm in the country

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryHe's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the countryHe doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the country

And she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

In alternative-rock videos there is usually a narrative within the video that either tells a story that follows the lyrics of the song or the story will completely ignore the lyrics and be something random or something that still holds a meaning behind them but not necessarily what the lyrics have to say. As well as the narrative there is also a live a performance of the song by the band lip syncing and playing their instruments. The videos always have many cuts between the actual performance of the song to the narrative which usually stars the band as either portraying themselves or fictional characters.

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryHe's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the countryHe doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the countrySays she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

Genre conventions…

He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the country

In this video they use older genre conventions to try and capture the times they are trying to parody. By this I mean they are trying to parody the 1980’s so the director has used 1980’s genre conventions for alternate-pop/alternate-rock.

Narrative…

This shot is showing the antagonist and protagonist characters.

This song has a linear narrative as it goes from point A to point B, by this I mean the story line starts at the start and ends at the end.

In this video there is a protagonist and antagonist character. The protagonist character is the main signer Damon Albarn, who is telling the story throughout the video. The antagonist character is the business man, who is constantly on his back about bills.

It uses Benny Hill to parody the 1980’s business men. In the video they make a very clear reference to the game

mouse trap. They also make a reference to Rat-race. The movement where stock brokers are trying to make lots more money. The director has tried to tie in the fact that they are trying to catch the business man.

Satire comedy is being represented in this video as it is parodying the 1980’s greed and how it all went wrong.

Visuals and lyrics…

He lives in a house, a very big house in the countryHe's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the countryHe doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the countrySays she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the country

City dweller, successful fellaThought to himself oops I've got a lot of money

I'm caught in a rat race terminally

I'm paying the price of living life at the limit

In this video I believe woman are being portrayed as demeaning and a object of leisure. This is because this video is representing the 1980/s greed and how it effects each gender.

Representation of gender…This could be representing the fact they do not want to be an object of leisure, hence the reason they are running away from the business man.

This is representing the way in which men thought they had dominance over women and could tell them what to do.

This picture represents that woman are equal and have the rights to do what they want.

Representation of Britain… The band who wrote and sung this song are a British

Alternate-rock/alternate-pop band. In this video they were representing the greed in the 1980’s. It was necessary for them to include representations of Britain to acomplish this.

These are all examples of British representations in the film. The most stereotypical is the tower block at the top left. These are located all around the country in every city. The second one in is of the balcony. These are the most common balconies in England/great Britain. Rat race is one of the most popular games in the 1980’s. The bottom three are all stereotypical British symbols. The bottom right is a parody of Britain's most famous band Queen.