Blur: 1 Hidden Gem On Every Album

Guitarist Graham Coxon dragged Blur away from the Britpop battlefields and imposed his American Lo-fi and Alt-rock influences on the band’s sound for their self-titled follow up to The Great Escape.

However, to call it Graham’s album would be an oversimplification. Damon’s fascination with Bowie is prominent on this record and Death Of A Party sounds like a proto-Gorillaz track.

That said, Blur features the first song by the band with lyrics and lead vocals by the guitarist and it’s one of the album’s standout moments. Superficially straightforward and largely acoustic, You’re So Great is a gorgeous, fragile ballad.

At this point in his life Graham was struggling with alcoholism and the song is about loving someone who sticks by you and makes it ok when you’re stuck, “in a town full of frowns.” The lo-fi backing, complete with tape hiss and the shy guitarist’s wavering, distant vocal perfectly suit the lyric’s emotional vulnerability.