There's No Other Way - 2012 Remaster

"There's No Other Way" is a Madchester-inspired baggy rocker from Blur's debut album, Leisure. It served as the band's breakthrough hit in the UK and the US, reaching chart positions of #8 and #82, respectively. It also reached #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Lyrically, the song delves into the fatigue associated with growing older and life's transformation into the mundane. According to guitarist Graham Coxon, however, the song isn't intended for overly deep analysis. He shared with NME in 1992: "Its banality led to it being scrutinized, when in fact it meant absolutely nothing."

The official video for "There's No Other Way" portrays Blur and a family sitting down for a traditional British Sunday lunch, culminating in a vibrant wash of psychedelic filters. The video was directed by David Balfe, former keyboardist for The Teardrop Explodes and founder of Blur's label, Food Records. Balfe later acted as the inspiration for Blur's chart-topping single "Country House." The video for "There's No Other Way" was considered too surreal for American audiences. Consequently, an alternative clip was made for the US with Blur performing in a swimming pool.

This was the first Blur song produced by Stephen Street. Street, known for his prior collaborations with The Smiths, would go on to have an enduring working relationship with the band. Bassist Alex James revealed how Street contributed to the evolution of "There's No Other Way" in his 2007 autobiography, Bit of a Blur: "He really liked a song we had called 'There's No Other Way,' but we'd stopped playing it live. He said it was too fast, and that it would sound better at this speed. He pushed some buttons, which played a drum loop he'd made at home, in his shed." "It sounded like a hit already," he continued. "I put the bass down in about 10 minutes, and Graham had done the guitar before lunch. No one had said 'tempo' once. We came back after lunch and listened to it on the big speakers, as Damon (Albarn, frontman) sang the melody into my ear. It was heart-stopping. It made me shiver. Damon put a new keyboard line at the beginning. Dave (Rowntree, drums) added some drum fills. We turned the tape over so that the track played backwards and Graham played a guitar solo, so that when the tape was back up the right way, the solo played backwards. Balfe came down and went mental. He said, 'Top 10! Top 10!' and dribbled all over his beard, and then he played the keyboard line from 'Reward' (by The Teardrop Explodes) on our synth."