Song of the Day 5/22: Blur, “Barbaric”

To the extent Damon Albarn is known in the United States, it’s for his work with his side project, the virtual band Gorillaz. His real band, Blur, never cracked the Top 40 in the U.S. despite enormous success in Britain. During the heyday of Britpop in the ’90s, Blur vied with Oasis as the genre’s pre-eminent band, scoring more than a dozen Top 10 singles and seven No. 1 LPs.

Their popularity hasn’t faded, either, at least on the album level. “The Ballad of Darren,” released in 2023, continued their string of No. 1 albums, though none of its singles was a hit. “Barbaric,” the third, didn’t chart. It’s about a broken relationship, but the lyrics of the chorus feel like they have a broader meaning.

We have lost the feeling that we thought we’d never lose
Now where are we going?
We have lost the feeling that we thought we’d never lose
And it is barbaric