There are certain pieces of music that I consider perfect. Not to say that I think they are a pinnacle of human artistic endeavour; just that for me, they couldn’t be improved upon. They do something to me. Quite what, I don’t know. (I often wonder at the validity of writing about music and art – I believe that art exists because words have limits. But to not write about it would defy the point in this blog, plus I like a challenge!)
So… having recently included Blur’s ‘You’re So Great’ (from the Blur album) on a compilation for a friend it’s been doing the rounds in my playlists again, so I’ll start with that.
One of the few Blur songs penned by Graham Coxon (another of my favourites, Coffee and TV, is his too,) ‘You’re So Great’ is an understated, lo-fi ballad about a loved one brightening up an otherwise dreary world. The message is a simple one, almost in a ‘does what is says on the tin’ way.
Sometimes you don’t get past “you’re so great and I love you” when thinking about someone you adore. Or rather you get so far past it that in trying to catch the essence of your feelings you run out of suitable metaphors and adjectives and end up back where you started. There’s beauty in such simplicity; in economy of phrase. To adorn the sentiment with more words, mere words, misses the point.
This is why music is so powerful. There’s another layer behind the poetry of the lyrics. In the case of this song, the fuzzy, Sunday-afternoon monotony is present in the treatment of the vocal, which sounds like it’s coming via a phone line from far away. A slightly distorted, bubbly guitar forms a backdrop to a crisper rhythm line and an intermittent lead. The switches between minor and major chords and the joyful, effortless melody of the lead guitar take you from the buried, introspective fuzz of the verse to the uplifting redemption of the chorus, the words that form the title of the song being delivered acapella and almost deadpan at the choruses crescendo. The end of the song is a contemplative, lilting vocal ‘ooh’ and a gloriously uplifting looped guitar riff – affirmation that everything is going to be alright and a tingle down the spine moment for me.
The song strikes a balance between that kind of minor, downcast, melancholic slump of a mood and the balancing, stirring support that love offers. Both sentiments are present throughout the whole song which leaves it unresolved but neutralised. “I’ll feel like this again, but it doesn’t matter,” it says to me.
Read the lyrics to You’re So Great
Tags: blur, coffee and tv, graham coxon, perfect, perfect music, you're so great
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I think he always sings it, yes.
Nice – interesting first choice for a perfect tune, not what I would have expected!
Forgot about that track – does Graham Coxon always sing it as I seem to remember another version! But then think i have heard it more at gigs than the recorded version!
It’s a good track, think I will have to have a few more listens to see exactly why its perect.
On another note – they mention Coffee in lots of their songs don’t they. Interesting!!!