Blur - Country House

And so the the story begins

City dweller, successful fella
Thought to himself oops I've got a lot of money
I'm caught in a rat race terminally
I'm a professional cynic but my heart's not in it
I'm paying the price of living life at the limit
Caught up in the centuries anxiety
It preys on him, he's getting thin

He lives in a house, a very big house in the country
Watching afternoon repeats and the food he eats in the country
He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the country
It's like an animal farm lot's of rural charm in the country

He's got morning glory, life's a different story
Everything going jackanory, in touch with his own mortality
He's reading balzac, knocking back prozac
It's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland
Oh it's the centuries remedy
For the faint at heart, a new start

He lives in a house, a very big house in the country
He's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the country
He doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the country
Says she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

In the country, in the country

Blow, blow me out I am so sad, I don't know why
Blow, blow me out I am so sad, I don't know why

He lives in a house, a very big house in the country
Watching afternoon repeats and the food he eats in the country
He takes all manner of pills and piles up analyst bills in the country
Oh, it's like an animal farm lot's of rural charm in the country

He lives in a house, a very big house in the country
He's got a fog in his chest so he needs a lot of rest in the country
He doesn't drink smoke laugh, takes herbal baths in the country
And she's come to no harm on an animal farm in the country

"Country House" is a song by the English alternative rock band Blur. He was released as a single primary of the band's fourth album The Great Escape, on August 14, 1995. "Country House" was the first of two singles Blur to reach number one in the UK singles chart.

The video for "Country House" was directed by artist Damien Hirst, who had attended Goldsmiths, University of London with members of Blur. With Keith Allen as a businessman trapped in a giant board game called "Escape from the rat race." The band appears in the video alongside British comic actors Matt Lucas and Sara Stockbridge and model Jo Guest. There are pastiches of - or homage to - Benny Hill (Lucas Dairy chasing poorly dressed young women culminating in the entry of the milk van Ernie (the fastest milkman in the West)) and Queen's 1975 video of "Bohemian Rhapsody". He was nominated for Best Video at the BRIT Awards 1996.

The song is about a man who retires to an expensive country house to escape the pressures of the city. In an interview for the South Bank Show, Damon Albarn explained that it was inspired by the former director of Blur Dave Balfe. The cover art shows a mixed picture of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (the image is turned horizontally).