Blur - "Death of a Party" (1997, from Blur)
Not much to yap about here. This is just a very well-crafted song, expressing an idea that will always have a niche in our culture. We love parties, we love throwing parties, we love going to them, and we love the idea that those who do nothing but become miserable thereby. And so it probably is; repitition is the mother of tedium.
Like the last song, the music to Blur's "Death of a Party" fits the subject. There's an overflowing mix of instruments, distorted and loud yet oddly distant, as though being heard in another room. Two and three-note vamps drop in and out while the guitars crunch along the same several chords. Only the bass line really displays anything like motion, and it too is locked in the same riff. The resulting sound is pretty and sad, and decadent and empty, while Damon sings about going to another party and hanging himself, gently.
Sure, the tune owes scads to Velvet Underground's "All Tommorrow's Parties," but it's not merely a rip-off, as it manages to be both heavier and darker, no mean feat. And as I said, it's not exactly a new mine of ideas. But it works well, demands attention, and speaks to a great truth about our culture. That's good enough for the Hebrew children, and it's good enough for me.
#8
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