This Is a Low

"This Is a Low"
Song

"This Is a Low" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur for their third studio album, Parklife.

Music and lyrics

The song is in the key of E major and is in 4/4 time. In total, the song contains two verses, two choruses, a guitar solo and two further choruses. The music commences with a four-chord guitar progression, before moving straight into the first verse. The music is based in the mixolydian mode, highlighted by the fact the V chord (B minor) is minor instead of major.

The song's lyrics reference a low-pressure area of weather hitting Britain. The lyrics are based on the Shipping Forecast, with references made to the various areas surrounding the country. In the lyric "sail on by with the tide", passing reference is also made to the tune Sailing By, which ends each day's broadcast of BBC Radio 4. According to bassist Alex James in his 2007 autobiography Bit of a Blur, "Damon was struggling with the words. For Christmas I bought him a handkerchief with a map of the shipping forecast regions on it... you can never tell where the muse is going to appear. It went on to become Blur's most popular song". The song was a promotional single in 1995.

Locations named in the song

This is a list of the shipping areas mentioned in the song (in context):

• Biscay - "Around the Bay of Biscay and back for tea"
• Dogger, Thames - "Hit traffic on the Dogger Bank / Up the Thames to find a taxi rank"
• Tyne, Forth, Cromarty, Forties - "Up the Tyne, Forth and Cromarty / There's a low in the High Forties"
• Malin - "And on the Malin Head, Blackpool looks blue and red"

The song also mentions one of the most westerly point on British mainland, Land's End: "the Queen, she's gone round the bend, jumped off Land's End", as well as Blackpool (and its famous lights) and The Thames.

Reception

"This Is a Low" is often chosen as a stand-out track from the album, including as a selected highlight by Allmusic, who describe the track as a "swirling, epic closer" . It is also very popular within the band, this is proved by the surprise inclusion on Blur's Best Of compilation album. "This Is a Low" was the only album track included on the album, selected ahead of some a-sides. The tracklisting was selected by the band members. It was also later included on the band's 2009 Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur compilation.

The song has been performed live many times, most notably as the final song at Blur's most famous concert, Mile End stadium gig of 1995 , as well as Glastonbury 1994, where the song was voted by fans on the festival's website to appear on the compilation DVD Glastonbury Anthems. It was performed by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon as their first reunited performance as Blur at the 2009 NME Awards.[3] Also Blur performed this song in the 2012's Brit Awards as an encore.