4. No Distance Left To Run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWFcM_1ye8o A good writer blurs the line between themselves and their audience. It's a suspension of belief, it's why we love certain characters, route for certain sides and cry at certain films. And 'No Distance Left to Run' is a story that's no different to that. It's one of the most emotionally open pop songs ever written, and yet it's still held together with elegant rhythm and language: "I don't wanna see you 'cause I know the dreams that you keep... that's where we meet." It's the end of the line for Albarn. It's a place that everyone's been but no one ever wants to admit. And it's easily the saddest thing ever sung. That's what makes it so brilliant though. The fact that Damon Albarn had the guile to put that sort of emotion into words is unbelievable. To actually sing that time after time takes something else. And that's the difference between a good musician and a great one: a great one blurs the lines (no pun intended).