Blur – To the End Review

Blur made it to the peak of the charts by toying with the coy Englishman ideals. The plucky roots of the country were wafer-thin but given new life by Damon Albarn and the band. Parklife and the likes of Sunday Sunday should not work and yet, as sickly as those songs are, they maintain a tremendous understanding of the UK’s cultural scope. How some perceive the country and how we are perceived by others, all boiled down into pop-like riffs which try and encapsulate the wonder and worry of being British. There were spots to evolve this sound though and this is where the best of Blur lies. Girls and Boys feels like a stint in the romantic battlefield while this, To the End, is the future for those who successfully leapt from the battles heard on the Parklife opener. It is their Last Year at Marienbad, backed by the strings so crucial to making this soppy tune not just work, but maintain its spot as one of Blur’s best songs.  

To the End works because of this blend of heightened artistry in its French-language influences and its everyday struggle. A romanticisation of the conflict between two lovers. Nothing is safe from an elevation to art. Spats and squabbles brought on by the drinks of the day, the inability to think clearly, are spruced up with carnival-like instrumentals and a fashionable instrumental. Albarn sings so clearly yet lucidly of the collapsed love heard on To the End, his vocal range tying it together tremendously. It is the sickly sort of romance which in most other instances should be written off as too trying, too tough on the heartstrings which are bound to snap under the weight of this sheepish and tear-jerking song. Yet it works. It works because the instrumental solidity is right there, with Graham Coxon’s guitar and clarinet work an essential and now recognisable addition. Deep percussion from Dave Rowntree is the difference maker, holding these sweet tones to a higher standard. 

Perhaps it is the simplicity of the lyrics, the honesty of its romance and the gentle grief flowing through it, that makes this an essential Blur song. It is hard to find a set from their post-reunion shows where the band has ditched this song. Their slower, ballad-like efforts, particularly The Universal also, rest on an easy-to-understand lyrical skill which is then bolstered by the band’s instrumental experience. These are great works and when paired with B-Sides Threadneedle Street and Got Yer!, sound even stronger. Threadneedle Street feels like the characters of an alternate Parklife experience, the rudeness is still there but the higher class suffers on with similar moments of self-doubt and romantic departures. How we fill the time during the heartbreaks depends on location and upbringing – as these B-Sides reflect on well. 

Carousels and the colourful spiral of the carnival are key themes of Blur during this period – as Got Yer! reveals. While they never depended on the tone or the smells which come from being dragged around muddy fields, wiping sick off yourself after a go on the waltzer and knocking down a hot dog sign as you stumble around for balance, they do depend on the rush and feel of being out there. Something within that is magical for the Blur experience – though in modern practice it feels frankly terrible and often quite cold. Yet they found beauty in odd little spots, and for To the End, there is still a delicacy even in the freefall of concluded loves. That is the beauty of a track like that, and what keeps it so endearing.