Blur » Tracks » The Universal

Blur – The Universal (3:59)

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About This Track

The Universal is a song by band Blur and is featured on their fourth studio album, The Great Escape. It was released 13 November as the second single from that album, charting at #5 in the UK Singles Chart.

In keeping with the song’s science fiction theme, the single’s cover art is an allusion to the opening shot of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the music video is a tribute to the movie A Clockwork Orange, with the band dressed up in costumes similar to Alex and his droogs. Both movies were directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The song has increased in stature since its release; this is proved by it being voted second best of all Blur singles on blurtalk.com’s Singles Vote. In addition, on Rate Your Music the song is often in the Top 25 for 1995 as well as being in the Top 500 of all time.

The highly-acclaimed music video for the song was directed by Jonathan Glazer. The band is presented in imitation of the opening scenes from the film A Clockwork Orange, in the milk bar. Blur star as the quasi-Droogs, complete with Damon Albarn wearing eyeliner similar to the film. They perform in the bar in all-white.

The bar patrons consist of different groups; a lone female entertains male business colleagues by exploiting their sexual interest in her; two odd men entirely coloured red and blue conduct a stilted (subtitled) conversation; and two male colleagues – one of them in a priest in a vicar’s dog collar – become increasingly drunk on cocktails, laughing more and more hysterically until a final shock moment which eventually leads us to seeing the priest planting a kiss on him at the last second of the video.
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Albums featuring this track

  • The Great Escape
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  • The Best of Blur
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  • The Best of
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  • Hit Collection 2000
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See all 28 albums

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  • ThisGame

    =)

    Wednesday evening

  • rosanak

    When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just LET THEM GO!

    last week

  • pjbird

    Universally brilliant

    last week

  • Phantomasss

    That song is just perfect.. And I'm glad I finally saw this video, the Clockwork orange tribute is awesome

    last week

  • billyeuphoria

    this is the most beautiful song ever, fucking love it !

    23 days ago

  • bflo621

    I love this song so much. It's literally perfect.

    last month

  • prominence_la

    Lovely.

    last month

  • flexi93

    No more Blur :'( never got to see them live

    last month

  • Hotton5

    A Clockwork Orange!!!

    last month

  • Hotton5

    :O

    last month

  • sp_griffiths

    Used to love this song, now EVERY time I hear it I think of a well-known British utilility companying selling their boiler servicing scheme.

    March 2012

  • furiousbean

    Wow! Such a great song!

    March 2012

  • obscurecendo

    EPIC

    March 2012

  • heroine-pretend

    This song makes me want to learn violin. It's gorgeous, for lack of a better word.

    February 2012

  • renoenCicely

    Although it seems the opposite, the universal is a optimistic song.

    February 2012

  • Slav_777

    Magic

    February 2012

  • DrowsyDragon

    A favourite.

    February 2012

  • maxlharris

    Just let them go...

    February 2012

  • Batty_

    Great is not enough

    January 2012

  • robertadycastro

    My favorite music of Blur :]

    December 2011
See all 385 shouts

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