I’m wrapping up the latest installment of my Decades series with a track from Britpop band Blur’s Parklife, a well-regarded 1994 album that became the band’s best-selling release in their native UK.
My only real exposure to Blur is through 1997’s ‘Song 2‘ (the “woohoo” song; you’ll know it when you hear it), so I was anticipating this album as an opportunity to discover something great.
Unfortunately, despite the album’s critical and commercial success, Parklife didn’t do anything for me. It is alternately too busy, too quirky, and too grating for my taste.
Of the bands that made up the Britpop explosion of the mid-90s, Oasis is the only one I’ve listened to with any regularity. I guess it’s just not my genre.
Sorry to end my look at 1994 on such a lackluster note, but what can you do? On the whole, ’94 seems to have been one of the weaker years of the decade for new releases. While I discovered a few worthy albums, and offered up a decent list of ones I already knew, I’d say Tom Petty’s Wildflowers is the only true masterpiece from the year.
Stay tuned for ‘Decades – 2004 edition,’ coming soon.
Streets like a jungle
So call the police
Following the herd
Down to Greece
On holiday
Love in the ’90s
Is paranoid
On sunny beaches
Take your chances
Looking for
[Chorus]
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
[Verse 2]
Avoiding all work
‘Cause there’s none available
Like battery thinkers
Count your thoughts
On one, two, three, four, five fingers
Nothing is wasted
Only reproduced
You get nasty blisters
Du bist sehr schön
But we haven’t been introduced
[Chorus]
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone to really love
[Bridge]
Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh
[Chorus]
Looking for girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone to really love
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls, who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone to really love
[Outro]
Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh
Meet Me In Montauk 
I would include DMB’s Under the Table…. as a great release from 1994, with an honorable mention to Hootie.