68. ‘Trouble In The Message Centre’

On ‘Parklife’. Produced by Stephen Street.

As the ‘Parklife’ CD booklet reveals, the lyric to ‘Trouble’ was written by Damon shortly after checking out of the Wellington Hotel, New York on December 7, 1993. The early ‘Parklife’ sessions had been wrapped up in September, as Blur began three months of touring in Britain, America and Japan. They were to reconvene in December.

Damon’s lyric comprises phrases lifted from the touch buttons on the telephone in the hotel he had just vacated: “message centre”, “local and direct”, “room to room”. The next line “strike him softly away from the body” was written on a book of matches next to the phone. The use in the CD booklet of Damon’s original hotel room receipt proved irritating for video director Kevin Godley: his phone number was one of those itemized – the band were in discussion with him over the ‘Girls And Boys’ video – and he was bombarded with nuisance calls until he changed his number.

Stephen Street in not very fond of this track; he thought that the verses “lacked melody”. However, it is necessary, here, to disagree with the great man. ‘Trouble In The Message Centre’ is compelling, dark and saturnine – aggressive yet cerebral – in a manner that clearly apes the work of late ‘70s/early ‘80s Mancunian avant-garde pop band Magazine.

The song has an irresistibly modern thrust, culminating in Graham’s excellent, deceptively simple solo (a stunted arpeggio dropping one whole tone) at 2.09. The favored “la la”-ing tactic makes an appearance immediately afterwards. Somewhat deflatingly, Andy Ross finds the song “a bit tinpot”.