Released 7 November 1994 Genre Britpop | Format Cassette, CD, 7" vinyl Length 2:46 | |
B-side "Red Necks" (7")
"Red Necks", "Alex's Song" (CD) Recorded October 1993 – January 1994 | ||
"End of a Century" is a song by alternative rock band Blur. Released in November 1994, it was the last single to be released from their third album Parklife. "End of a Century" reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, considered a disappointment by Andy Ross of Food Records. Albarn later stated that "End of a Century" may not have been the best choice for the album's fourth single, and that "This Is a Low" would have been a better alternative.
Contents
Composition
Damon Albarn stated that the song is about "how couples get into staying in and staring at each other. Only instead of candle-light, it’s the TV light." The opening line, "she said there's ants in the carpet", refers to an infestation of ants that Albarn and his then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann suffered in their then-home in Kensington.
The lyrics seem to emphasise the (then) up-coming millennium change and the fact that people contemplate the future rather than take care of the present. The line from the song is "End of a Century // It's nothing special". Producer Stephen Street saw the song as "Damon getting the art of songwriting really sorted".
Squeeze did a live cover version of the song for their 1995 single "This Summer".
The video is a live performance recorded at Alexandra Palace. As with their later video to Tender, it uses the audio track of the live performance, rather than overdubbing the audio of the studio take.
Track listings
- "End of a Century" (Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree; Lyrics by Albarn) – 2:47
- "Red Necks" (Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree; Lyrics by Coxon) – 3:04
- "End of a Century" (Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree; Lyrics by Albarn) – 2:47
- "Red Necks" (Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree; Lyrics by Coxon) – 3:04
- "Alex's Song" (James) – 2:42