Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1991


There's No Other Way

Buy There's No Other Way now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = There's No Other Way

| cover = There's No Other Way.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Blur

| album = Leisure

| B-side =

| released =

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = Baggy

| length = 3:14

| label = Food

| writer =

* Damon Albarn

* Graham Coxon

* Alex James

* Dave Rowntree

| producer =

* Stephen Street

* Blur

| prev_title = She's So High/I Know

| prev_year = 1990

| next_title = Bang

| next_year = 1991

| misc =

}}

"'There's No Other Way'" is a song by English band Blur, released on 15 April 1991 as the second single from their debut album 'Leisure'.

Content



The song utilises a beat and tambourine sound typical of songs of the Madchester and baggy scene.

Release and reception



The song was the band's first top 10 in the UK, reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was also a minor hit in the US, reaching number 82 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, and number five on the 'Billboard' Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Alan Jones of 'Music Week' awarded the song his 'Pick of the Week', writing: "Blur are bound to break big with this organ-bleeding, guitar-powered, post-psychedelic delight, a dancefloor and radio-friendly monster in the making." Linda Ryan of the 'Gavin Report' called it a "trippy pop song with breathy vocals set to a groovin' housebeat... It's a perfect '60s meets '90s vibe with an undeniable hook that begs for another play." In 'Smash Hits', Miranda Sawyer said: "[The] song is fab! Lots of guitars and it sounds like the '60s, with a tune that's so catchy that it was very nearly Single Of The Fortnight."

Music video



The video for the song (released 1991) was directed by David Balfe, the former keyboardist for The Teardrop Explodes and owner of Blur's label Food Records. The video was produced by Anita Staines through Radar Films.

The video begins with a close-up shot of a worm inching through the grass. A pink ball is dropped next to the worm and a young girl picks it up, throwing it to her identical sister nearby. The scene cuts inside the dining room/kitchen of a suburban house, with Albarn and the rest of the band sitting down at a table. A woman, assumed to be the mother, sets out dishes on the table with the help of the girls, including a chicken pie, carrots, broccoli, soup, rolls, gravy and new potatoes.

The family is then joined by a man assumed to be the father, and the whole group digs into the meal. During the meal, Albarn will occasionally stop eating, look up at the camera, and sing along to the lyrics.

After dinner has ended, the mother gets up from the table and retrieves a trifle from a cabinet, which she holds up in front of her face. The camera then gets distorted and jerky, the view filling up with a variety of colorful, loud filters applied to the film. The family looks at the mother with a mixture of apprehension and excitement as the film gets more distorted and layered with effects. As the song ends, the camera cuts back to a clear shot of the worm crawling in the grass again.

Legacy



A playable version of the song is available for the 'Rock Band' video game series, and it is available to download for 'Guitar Hero 5'. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana told 'NME' that "There's No Other Way" was his favourite British song of 1991.

Track listings



All songs were written by Blur.

'7-inch and cassette'

# "There's No Other Way" 3:14

# "Inertia"

'12-inch'

# "There's No Other Way" (extended version) 4:04

# "Inertia" 3:51

# "Mr Briggs" 3:59

# "I'm All Over" 2:00

'CD'

# "There's No Other Way" 3:14

# "Inertia" 3:51

# "Mr Briggs" 3:59

# "I'm All Over" 2:00

'Remix 12-inch '

# "There's No Other Way" (Blur remix) 5:09

# "Won't Do It" 3:19

# "Day Upon Day" (live) 4:02

Credits



'Blur'

* Damon Albarn lead vocals, organ, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It"

* Graham Coxon guitar, backing vocals, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It"

* Alex James bass guitar, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It"

* Dave Rowntree drums, production on "Inertia", "Mr Briggs", "I'm All Over" and "Won't Do It"

'Additional personnel'

* Stephen Street production on "There's No Other Way"

Charts



References




Buy There's No Other Way now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1991



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1102702486.