Country House

This song is about a wealthy man who lives a boring life in a mansion in the countryside. In an article in The Guardian published December 13, 2008, David Balfe, who was one of the owners of Blur's record label from 1983-1994, said: "I'd flogged the label and packed it all in as a 'professional cynic whose heart's not in it.' I was burned out. You've got to remember that the music business is full of great things and crap things. You can spend 18 months working on a record that doesn't even get released. And you spend your whole time arguing with people. When things aren't working, it's extremely painful. I felt it was all or nothing for me, so I moved to Bedfordshire. One day I popped back into the office in London and saw a demo for 'Blur - Country House.' I jokingly said, 'Oh, is that about me?' I don't think it's their greatest song but it's a good little pop song. The funny thing is Damon [Albarn] hadn't, and still hasn't, seen the house. I think he just had this idea. 'Oh, Balfey lives in this great house in the country now.' It was funny enough having it written about me in the first place, but then it became one of the biggest songs of the era because of the chart battle with Oasis's Roll With It. It's got a place in rock history. I'm quite proud of it, and flattered. When it came out my kids were six and four, and the song would come and they'd say, 'Oh, it's the song about Daddy.' My mates used to put it on in the village pub. Blur filmed the video in an Austrian palace and I told everyone that was my house. In reality the house isn't a grand house. It's a farmhouse that has acquired pretensions over the years. We'll probably move eventually. I'm starting a label again and I've started fantasizing about living in an ultra-modern apartment in London."

Comedian Keith Allen and Matt Lucas from Little Britain both starred in the video for this song. The video was directed by Damien Hirst, the artist famous for his strange art of dead animals in jars.

A candlestick from the video of this song sold on eBay for 92 pounds in March 2005, though it was estimated to be worth 500.