Parklife (song)

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"Parklife"
Single by Blur
from the album Parklife
Released	22 August 1994
Format	7" vinyl (jukebox only), 12" vinyl, cassette, 2 x CD
Recorded	October 1993-January 1994
Genre	Britpop
Length	3 min 5 s
Label	Food/EMI
Producer(s)	Stephen Street, John Smith
Chart positions
#10 (UK)
Blur singles chronology
"To the End" (1994)	"Parklife" (1994)	"End of a Century" (1994)

"Parklife" is a song by Blur. It is the title track of their 1994 album Parklife. When released as the album's third single, "Parklife" reached #10 in the UK singles chart. The song has spoken verses, narrated by actor Phil Daniels, who also appears in the song's music video.

A number of newspaper articles about the young middle classes' adoption of Estuary English - a phenomenon of which Blur's frontman Damon Albarn was a prominent example - appeared during the single's chart run, including one in The Sunday Times on the day the song entered the singles chart (although Daniels's accent is closer to Cockney).

The song played a part in Blur's supposed feud with fellow Britpop band Oasis when, at the 1996 Brit Awards, the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, taunted Blur by singing a drunken rendition of "Parklife" (with Liam changing the lyrics to "Shite-life"). The members of Oasis were collecting the "Best British Album" award, which both bands had been nominated for.

The song's video features Daniels as a smarmy double-glazing salesman, with Albarn as his assistant and the other band members appearing as various characters from the song. At one point, Albarn is impressed to see a man carrying a placard reading "Modern Life Is Rubbish", the title of Blur's previous album; on the reverse is written "End of a Century", the title of their subsequent single from Parklife.

The song is still very popular today, with occasional radio plays and regular appearances on music television, in shows such as "The Best of... 1994" on The Vault.

[edit] Track listings

• 12" 12FOOD53

1. "Parklife"
2. "Supa Shoppa"
3. "To The End" (French version)
4. "Beard"

• CD1 CDFOODS53

1. "Parklife"
2. "Supa Shoppa"
3. "Theme from an Imaginary Film"

• CD2 CDFOOD53

1. "Parklife"
2. "Beard"
3. "To The End" (French version)

• Cassette TCFOOD53

1. "Parklife"
2. "Supa Shoppa"
3. "Theme from an Imaginary Film"

• 7" FOODLH53

1. "Parklife"
2. "Supa Shoppa"

• Note: the 7" vinyl edition was pressed for use on jukeboxes and was not issued commercially.

[edit] External links

• Parklife video

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
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