Parklife (feat. Phil Daniels) - Live

Phil Daniels, best known for his role in 1979's Quadrophenia, performs the spoken-word verses on "Parklife." Blur singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon were huge fans of the British actor. Originally, the plan was to get Daniels to recite a poem over Parklife instrumental "The Debt Collector." However, Albarn was unable to write a suitable piece. As a result, the band instead asked him to do "Parklife." Daniels, who'd collaborate with Blur again on Think Tank's "Me, White Noise," recorded his part in under an hour. Coxon recalled to The Guardian in 2012: "A lot of people thought it was a celebration of Englishness, but it was actually very sarcastic. The 'Parklife' single wasn't about the working class, it was about the park class: dustbin men, pigeons, joggers – things we saw every day on the way to the studio [Maison Rouge in Fulham]. It epitomizes what Blur were about – having fun and doing exactly what you want to do. But Damon wasn't comfortable doing the verses – he just couldn't get into character. He thought it would be better to get in a celebrity, so I suggested the actor Phil Daniels because we were big fans from Quadrophenia. At the line, 'There was a piece of my heart,' Phil said, 'Should I drop the 'h?' If I pronounce it, it'll sound more adorable.' We didn't want to use a forced mockney accent, so he pronounced the 'h.'"

The line, "It's got nothing to do with your Vorsprung durch Technik, you know," is a reference to the German slogan for car manufacturer Audi. The phrase translates to "progress through technology." The idea for the slogan came from a faded poster that British advertising executive, Sir John Hegarty, discovered on a factory wall in Ingolstadt in Germany in the '70s. During the line, Coxon can be heard playing a part of the German national anthem on saxophone. He was a saxophonist when he first met Albarn, but this was the only time he played sax for Blur.

What sounds like breaking glass is drummer Dave Rowntree smashing a plate.