3 Facts You Might Not Know About “Song 2” by Blur

In 1995, Blur defeated Oasis in a hyped chart battle dubbed The Battle of Britpop. But the No. 1 hit, “Country House”, and the album it appears on, The Great Escape, would be Blur’s last to feature Cool Britannia’s cultural pride. Soon, they’d reinvent their sound by looking toward American indie rock for inspiration. And few Blur tunes sound more like the Yanks than “Song 2”.

While you likely know its hook, “Woo-hoo!”, do you know the following three facts?

A Utilitarian Title

Many artists use working titles as placeholders for new songs before they complete the lyrics. For Blur, “Song 2” represented the track’s placement on the band’s self-titled fifth album—literally the second song on the LP. They could have called it “Woo-Hoo”, but instead, album geography won out and one of Britpop’s “big four” finally broke through in the U.S. with a working title that became the final title for a tune that began as a joke. Which brings us to the next fact.

This Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore

Guitarist Graham Coxon said “Song 2” was meant to be a joke, a V-sign to the record label, or what we in the U.S. recognize as flipping the bird. Coxon’s guitar part features an unhinged riff that he played recklessly to mimic the skill level of a child. However, to the band’s surprise, the record label loved the chaotic track. And so did the rest of the world, as it remains Blur’s defining song.

Grunge Unplugged

Though now known as a loud and distorted anthem, singer Damon Albarn had originally recorded an acoustic demo of the song in a slower tempo. It was Coxon’s idea to speed things up, and according to producer Stephen Street, Albarn sang gibberish over the new arrangement but ultimately left what he’d improvised in the studio. Any attempts to refine the recording were abandoned, and so it remains in all its raw glory.

Woo-hoo, when I feel heavy metal,
Woo-hoo, and I’m pins and I’m needles,
Woo-hoo, well, I lie and I’m easy,
All of the time but I’m never sure why I need you,
Pleased to meet you.