Blur – Coffee & TV

June 1999: Coxon’s lead vocal, Orbit’s desk, Milky on MTV

The guitar figures start thin and plain, then thicken as the arrangement builds. Graham Coxon sings Coffee & TV in a tired, dry, almost shy voice, quieter than a Britpop shout. The lyric lists a small routine (coffee, television, leaving the house) and talks about getting through a hard stretch. On Blur’s sixth album, 13, released in March 1999 and produced by William Orbit, the track sits among long, bruised songs and it is still one of the tunes you can hum after one listen. Coxon wrote the words; the band finished the arrangement around them. Coxon sings the lead. Albarn steps back from the mic and leaves the vocal to the guitarist.

Orbit keeps Coxon’s guitar dry and forward, with Albarn’s backing vocals and the rhythm section holding a pace that does not speed up. Dave Rowntree’s drums stay plain; Alex James’s bass sits under the chords instead of competing with them. The album cut runs nearly six minutes; the single and radio edits are shorter and keep the same pace. Food / Parlophone issued the single on 28 June 1999 as the second release from 13, after Tender. It peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Sales data glitches that week may have cost it a Top 10 slot, The video, rather than the chart place, is what the later prizes cite.

Hammer & Tongs (Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith) directed the video: a sentient milk carton named Milky searches London and Bromley for Coxon’s face printed on its side. Awards followed at the NME Awards and MTV Europe; Channel 4 later ranked the clip among the greatest pop videos of all time. Live, Coxon still takes the mic; crowds know the “sociability” line before he finishes it. Beside Orbit’s more abstract cuts on 13, Coxon describes getting through an ordinary day, coffee and television included. The recording leaves space around the vocal, and the chorus comes in without a big studio trick.

The Milky video travelled as far as the chart peak: a cardboard milk carton walks London while Coxon sings about coffee and sociability. Food / Parlophone issued it as the second single from 13, after the longer song Tender. Rowntree and James keep the rhythm unflashy so the vocal can stay conversational.