Coffee & TV

Last updated

"Coffee & TV"
Coffee - TV cover.jpg
Single by Blur
from the album 13
B-side
  • "Trade Stylee" (remix)
  • "Metal Hip Slop" (remix)
  • "X-Offender" (remix)
  • "Coyote" (remix)
Released28 June 1999 (1999-06-28)
Recorded1998
Genre
Length
  • 5:58 (album version)
  • 5:18 (single edit)
  • 5:03 (radio edit)
Label Food
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s) Graham Coxon
Producer(s) William Orbit
Blur singles chronology
"Tender"
(1999)		"Coffee & TV"
(1999)		"No Distance Left to Run"
(1999)
Music video
"Coffee & TV" on YouTube

"Coffee & TV" is a song by the English rock band Blur, released as the second single from their sixth studio album, 13 , on 28 June 1999. It was sung by the guitarist, Graham Coxon, with lyrics describing his struggle with alcoholism.

Contents

The video, featuring a sentient milk carton searching for Coxon, was directed by Garth Jennings and won several awards. "Coffee & TV" reached No. 11 in the United Kingdom, No. 26 in Ireland and No. 2 in Iceland.

Writing

Along with the rest of 13, Blur recorded "Coffee & TV" in late 1998 with the producer William Orbit. [5] While much of the album explores experimental and electronic textures, the track is built around a guitar arrangement. [6] Since Blur's main vocalist, Damon Albarn, was struggling to finish it, Coxon wrote and sang the lyrics. [7] He wrote about his struggle with alcoholism, and how after giving up drinking he would relax by watching television, drinking coffee and writing songs. [8] The experience also contributed to his first solo album, The Sky Is Too High . [9] Coxon said the song was "about the idea that you feel like a piece of shit in a crap job, and you want to marry someone and get away from it all". [7]

Coxon played a Fender Telecaster into a Marshall Plexi amplifier, and described the chord shapes as "ridiculous ... They're sort of minor chords going against major chords." [7] He likened the guitar rhythm to Link Wray and Simon & Garfunkel, and cited "Stockholm Syndrome" by the American band Yo La Tengo as the biggest influence. [7]

Coxon improvised the guitar solo in one take, expecting to replace it. When the band revisited the song a few days later, they loved the solo and kept it. [7] Coxon played it by "just grabbing the neck and bending", [10] and processing the sound with effect pedals including tremolo, vibrato and distortion. [7] Coxon cited the solo as an example of how songs "develop like photographs" and eventually cannot be changed. [10]

Reception

"Coffee & TV" reached No. 11 on the UK singles chart on 4 July 1999. Blur's manager, Chris Morrison, believed that it was deprived of a top-10 place after it was confirmed that some sales figures were not recorded. [11] The single edit of the song also appeared on Blur's Best Of compilation, released in 2000, and featured on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack.

Piers Martin of the NME selected the track as one of the album's highlights, claiming that it demonstrated that "Graham's a great guitarist and whaddaya know, he's a pretty decent singer". [12] The song was also praised by Straw in Melody Maker. [13] Rolling Stone described the song as a cross between Pavement and Brian Eno circa Taking Tiger Mountain . [14]

Coxon's guitar solo on the track has been singled out for critical praise. In a retrospective review, NME declared the guitar solo to be No. 38 of the top 50 solos of all time, describing it as "a string of discordant notes, building to a storm of haywire string-bending". [15] The Independent described the solo as "one of Coxon’s finest". [16]

Music video

Animated milk carton from Coffee & TV video. Milkcarton.JPG
Animated milk carton from Coffee & TV video.

To promote the single, the band recruited Hammer & Tongs to direct and produce a video. The result featured a sentient milk carton known as "Milky" searching for Coxon, who appeared as a missing person's face on its side. [17] Along the way, Milky finds a female strawberry milk carton, who is trodden on by a pedestrian; at the end of the video, both cartons are reunited.

The video won several awards in 1999 and 2000 including Best Video at the NME Awards and the MTV Europe Awards. [18] In 2002, the video was ranked the fourth best video of all time by VH1. [19] In 2005, it was voted the 17th greatest pop video of all time in a poll by Channel 4. [20] In 2006, Stylus Magazine ranked it No. 32 in their list of the Top 100 Music Videos of All Time. In a similar poll, NME ranked it the 20th greatest music video of all time. In addition the video received heavy rotation on MTV in the US.

The model of Milky, as used in the video, was sold at an auction of Blur memorabilia in 1999. [21] When Blur played at the London 2012 Olympics Closing Concert Celebration at Hyde Park, fans who bought a Blur T-shirt on the day were given a free replica milk carton of Milky.[ citation needed ]

Track listings

All music was written and composed by Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. "Coffee & TV" lyrics were composed by Coxon. "Tender" lyrics were composed by Albarn and Coxon. "Bugman" lyrics were composed by Albarn.

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [35] Silver200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United Kingdom28 June 1999
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Food [36]
Japan7 July 1999CD [37]

References

  1. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (23 March 2015). "Blur's 14 all-time greatest hits, ranked". Gigwise . Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (4 May 2024). "The 25 most essential Blur songs". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Greene, Andy (13 May 2015). "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Brit-Pop Songs". Rolling Stone.
  4. ↑ Hogan, Mark (23 April 2015). "What's the Best Blur Album? A SPIN Roundtable". Spin . Retrieved 18 May 2025. 'Coffee & TV,' a Graham Coxon-sung, five-minute long indie-pop jaunt about Coxon's alcoholism.
  5. ↑ Power 2013, p. 301.
  6. ↑ O'Dell, Dennis (2009). "13 - review". BBC Music. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yates, Henry (20 July 2023). "Blur's Graham Coxon: 'The Coffee & TV chord shapes are just ridiculous'". MusicRadar . Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  8. ↑ Graham Coxon's six best riffs with and without Blur. Far Out. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Power 2013, p. 293.
  10. 1 2 Goodwyn, Tom (16 March 2012). "Blur's Graham Coxon: 'I feel like I've opened another door with 'A+E". NME . Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "Blur boss demands chart re-run". BBC News. 13 July 1999. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Martin, Piers (3 July 1999). "NME Reviews – Blur : Coffee and TV". NME . Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  13. ↑ Beaumont, Mark; Mattie Bennett, Andy Nixon, Roger Power, Duck (3 July 1999). "Coffee & TV – reviewed by Mattie Bennett, Andy Nixon, Roger Power and Duck from the band Straw". Melody Maker . Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (1 April 1999). "Blur 13 Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "50 Greatest Guitar Solos – Coffee and TV". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Blur at Primavera Sound Festival, Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona". The Independent. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Power 2013, p. 328.
  18. ↑ "Blur's award hat-trick". BBC News. 1 February 2000. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Jonze dominates video poll". BBC News. 26 April 2002. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  20. ↑ "Programmes - Most Popular - All 4". Channel 4.
  21. ↑ "Blur auction boosts community coffers". BBC News. 13 September 1999. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Coffee & TV (UK CD1 liner notes). Blur. Food Records. 1999. CDFOODS122, 7243 8 87269 2 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ↑ Coffee & TV (UK CD2 liner notes). Blur. Food Records. 1999. CDFOOD122, 7243 8 87268 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ↑ Coffee & TV (UK cassette single sleeve). Blur. Food Records. 1999. TC FOOD 122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ↑ Coffee & TV (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Blur. Food Records. 1999. 12 FOOD 122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ↑ Coffee & TV (European CD single disc notes). Blur. Food Records. 1999. 887 2412, 7243 8 87241 2 8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ↑ Coffee & TV (Japanese mini-album CD liner notes). Blur. Parlophone, EMI Records, Food Records. 1999. TOCP-61023.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 16, no. 29. 17 July 1999. p. 9. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  29. ↑ "Íslenski Listinn (16.9–23.9. 1999)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 17 September 1999. p. 10. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  30. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Coffee & TV". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  31. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  32. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  33. ↑ "Blur – Coffee & TV" (in French). Le classement de singles.
  34. ↑ Zywietz, Tobias (November 2000). "The Top 200 Singles of 1999" (PDF). Chartwatch. Ilminster, Somerset. pp. 41–42. Retrieved 2 August 2025– via Zobbel.
  35. ↑ "British single certifications – Blur – Coffee & TV". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  36. ↑ "New Releases – For Week Starting 28 June, 1999" (PDF). Music Week . 26 June 1999. p. 25. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  37. ↑ "コーヒー&TV～ジャパン・オンリー 来日記念ミニ・アルバム | ブラー" [Coffee & TV ~ Japan Only Commemorative Mini Album | Blur] (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved 26 November 2023.
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