81. ‘Far Out’

On ‘Parklife’. Produced by Stephen Street.

Two weeks after ‘This Is A Low’ was completed, Blur ambled back into Matrix to see if something could be done about this song of Alex’s. ‘Far Out’ (the first tune to be credited to a single member of Blur) had been recorded the previous autumn at Maison Rouge in a longer, heavier, electric version. It sounded like Pink Floyd’s ‘Astronomy Dominé’ – Syd Barrett’s trippy list of planets and galaxies from 1967 – spaced-out chords on a keyboard and Dave playing congas. It was recorded and mixed in one day. It had no definite ending, so Street ended it on the bridge “sun, sun, sun”), echoed that and put an echo filter on Alex’s voice so it gets duller as it fades. The song is funny, charming and slightly batty – not unlike the man who wrote it.