Musical Analysis #2

Song 2 – Blur

Written by Blur, Produced by Stephen Street, England, April 1997

In 1997 the ‘Britpop’ band released a song unlike any of their others. This is Song 2, and although it was quickly and lazily thrown together as a joke by the band, it’s their only song to ever become a huge hit overseas in the US. I think this is a great song because the simplicity but effectiveness of the elements throughout it come together to form a classic 90’s grunge sound that’s hard to not dance along with.

Lyrics- As this song was created as a parody to the grunge genre taking off in the US at the time, everything was thoughtlessly thrown together, especially the lyrics. The lyrics are nonsensical on purpose as they were initially made up to be the guide vocal, but the band ended up going with them anyway. However, most notably of the lyrics is the “Woo hoo,” with many people knowing this song as ‘the Woohoo song’ but not knowing the actual name of the song or the band. The memorability of the ‘Woohoo’ has led this song to be played in sports arenas across the globe for decades. (Vice Sports, 2017.)

Articulation- As the song is meant to be an overload on the ‘grungy’ sound, there is a ton of distortion and reverb throughout the song, especially on the bass guitar, which has been layered to be distorted even more. There is also a constant ring of the guitar throughout the choruses. These distortions make the sound heavier and hard-hitting for fans of the genre.

Dynamics- A staple of the grunge genre, this song is structured around the loud/soft/loud/soft dynamic, with the quiet, simple verses leading to loud, thrashing choruses. This pattern is common in grunge music, as it invokes the ‘angst’ of the genre, having the listener experience a bit of an emotional rollercoaster that goes along with these contrasting dynamics of the song.

Instrumentation- The instrumentation of this song is quite simple, and the more complex sounds within the song are due to the same instrument being layered twice. The instrumentation consists of two drum kits layered together, an electric guitar, and a bass guitar. In the chorus, the bass has been layered twice, one layer more distorted than the other. The instrumentation has a similar effect to the dynamics, as the transition of the simple instrumentation of the verses tot he heavy layered instrumentation of the chorus invokes the rollercoaster effect on the listener. The distortion and layering are my favorite part of the song, as it shows how only three instruments can be transformed into a complex and heavy sound.

Form- The form of this song is very simple, as the band was poking fun at the simplicity of the grunge genre. The song consists of 2 verses, 2 choruses, and a hook, notably with no prechorus or bridge. With the song being only 2 minutes long, this simple structure works, as it doesn’t allow time for the listener to get bored of the repitition. Because the chorus is so catchy and the song is so short, I want to replay the song after listeining to it once.

Overall, although the song was created as a parody of the grunge genre, it came to be a perfect example of the genre, with the angst-ensuing dynamics and loud, thrashing sounds. As Stereogum says, “Who cares if it’s satire when it functions so spectacularly as the genuine article?” (Stereogum, 2017). I definitely agree.

Sources

• DeVille, Chris. ““Song 2″ Turns 20” Stereogum, Pitchfork, 10 Feb. 2017, https://www.stereogum.com/1918698/song-2-turns-20/franchises/the-anniversary/
• Paulas, Rick. “Woo-hoo! 20 Years Ago, Blur’s ‘Song 2’ Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem”, Vice Sports, 09 Apr. 2017, https://sports.vice.com/en_au/article/yp85gk/woo-hoo-20-years-ago-blurs-song-2-became-an-unlikely-sports-anthem