Ernold Same
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Ernold Same" | ||
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| Song by Blur | ||
| from the album The Great Escape | ||
| Released | September 11, 1995 | |
| Recorded | January-May 1995 | |
| Genre | Britpop | |
| Length | 2:07 | |
| Label | Food Records/EMI | |
| Writer(s) | Damon Albarn | |
| Producer(s) | Stephen Street | |
| The Great Escape track listing | ||
| It Could Be You (10) |
"Ernold Same" (11) |
Globe Alone (12) |
Ernold Same is a song by Blur from their 1995 album The Great Escape (see 1995 in music).
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
The song is sometimes seen as the prequel to another song from the album, Country House, in the fact that this song is about being in the city rat race and Country House about a man moving away to the country from the city. The lyrics are about the character who is Ernold Same, and how he lives and goes about with his life. The lyrics are in the Britpop style, and were written at the height of the Britpop era. They are about how the workers' life stays the same day by day, and gets very boring and monotonous. In keeping with a lot of other songs on the album, the subject of the words is loneliness.
"On his way to the same place
With the same name
To do the same thing
Again and again and again
Poor old Ernold Same"
[edit] Song
The song was narrated by the then MP for Brent East Ken Livingstone. The band may have been tempted to use a non-band narrator due to the success of "Parklife" from their previous album (Parklife), famously narrated by Phil Daniels. The song begins with some city noise, such as people shouting and dogs barking. The main song then starts after about fifteen seconds, with Livingstone talks over the first section in a droning voice, in keeping with the subject of the lyrics. There are backing vocals towards the end of the spoken section, which build up until the entry of Albarn who sings, quite high in the male range, for only a short while. After that the music just plays out. Instruments in the background include a violin section, banjo, and a pipe organ amongst the usual bass guitar and drums.
[edit] Live Performances
The song is hardly ever performed live, mainly because Ken Livingstone is needed and he is very rarely available. However, very occasionally the song is performed, sometimes with a gospel choir as the backing vocals.
[edit] External Links
| Blur |
| Damon Albarn | Alex James | Dave Rowntree |
| Graham Coxon | Simon Tong |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Leisure | Modern Life Is Rubbish | Parklife | The Great Escape | Blur | 13 | Think Tank |
| Compilations: The Special Collectors Edition | Live at the Budokan | Bustin' + Dronin' |
| The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set | Blur: The Best of |
| Singles: See Blur Singles |
| Other projects |
| The Ailerons | Fat Les | The Good, the Bad and the Queen | Gorillaz | Me Me Me | WigWam |
| Related articles |
| Food Records | Honest Jon's | Stephen Street | Transcopic |
