Coffee & TV
Encyclopedia
"Coffee & TV" is a song by the British alternative rock
band Blur
. The verses are sung by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon
, who also wrote the lyrics. The music is credited to Damon Albarn
, who also sings the chorus. The song appears on the band's sixth studio album, 13
, released in 1999; and was also released as the second single from the album in the same year. Despite reaching only #11 in the UK singles chart
, the song became one of Blur's most popular radio hits. Blur manager Chris Morrison believed that it was deprived of a top 10 place after it was confirmed that some sales figures were not recorded. Its musical style is an anomaly in comparison with the rest of 13, and is similar to Blur's earlier, Britpop
days, despite featuring heavy guitar distortion and feedback
during the instrumental break, major characteristics of 13.
The single edit of the song also appeared on Blur's Best Of
compilation, released in 2000. In addition, it was featured on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack
.
The edit of the singles cuts off the instrumental part after the fade out and runs about 40 seconds shorter than the album version. This instrumental part is a hidden track, which, though officially untitled, is known as "Coffee & TV Exitlude".
for Coffee & TV was directed by Hammer & Tongs
. It first aired in June 1999 and features an anthropomorphic dancing milk carton character named Milky, made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop
. Milky the milk carton, as used in the video, was sold at an auction in 1999.
The video tells the story of an animated milk carton as he goes in search of Blur guitarist Graham Coxon
, who has apparently run away from home. Milk cartons are sometimes used (specially in the US) to help seek missing persons, and Coxon's (fictional) family have had his face and a plea printed on cartons. This one, Milky, sees how upset they are at breakfast and decides to resolve the situation himself. He faces many hazards on his journey, including a near-miss with a garden strimmer and, later, violent pop bottles in an alley full of litter. Milky gets a break when he is given a ride from a motorcyclist, though. He is dropped off downtown and asks around for Coxon, but comes up empty. He then goes to lady of the night 'Big Suzy' for answers, but is scared away when she attempts to pounce on him. He falls in love with a female strawberry milk carton, but she is tragically crushed to death by a passer-by's foot. Milky continues his search down the back alleys and, looking through a window, is overjoyed to find Coxon playing Coffee & TV with Blur. The window falls into the room, together with Milky. Coxon discovers him, sees his family's printed plea and makes a decision to slip away from his bandmates (only Damon
seems to notice), who play on as he takes the bus back home to his family. Once off the bus, Coxon opens and drinks the carton – in essence, killing Milky – and drops him into a dustbin before going in for a touching family reunion. A weak but happy Milky witnesses this before he dies… but then emerges from the bin on angel
's wings to the song's instrumental coda, waving goodbye as he ascends to heaven
, reunited en route with his love, the strawberry milk carton.
The video won several awards in 1999 and 2000 including Best Video at the NME
Awards and the MTV Europe Awards. In 2005, it was voted the 17th greatest pop video of all time in a poll by Channel 4
. In 2006, Stylus Magazine
ranked it #32 in their list of the Top 100 Music Videos Of All Time. In a similar poll, NME ranked it the 20th greatest music video of all time.
.
A part from the music video can be seen in episode 12, season 3 of The Sopranos
.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
. The verses are sung by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, who also wrote the lyrics. The music is credited to Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
, who also sings the chorus. The song appears on the band's sixth studio album, 13
13 (Blur album)
13 is the sixth album by English band Blur, released in March 1999. The album reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and number 80 in the US Billboard 200. 13 spawned three hit singles: "Tender", "Coffee & TV" and "No Distance Left to Run"...
, released in 1999; and was also released as the second single from the album in the same year. Despite reaching only #11 in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, the song became one of Blur's most popular radio hits. Blur manager Chris Morrison believed that it was deprived of a top 10 place after it was confirmed that some sales figures were not recorded. Its musical style is an anomaly in comparison with the rest of 13, and is similar to Blur's earlier, Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
days, despite featuring heavy guitar distortion and feedback
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
during the instrumental break, major characteristics of 13.
The single edit of the song also appeared on Blur's Best Of
Blur: The Best of
Blur: The Best Of is a greatest hits compilation album by English Britpop band Blur, first released in late 2000 and is the final Blur album by Food Records. It was released on CD, cassette tape, MiniDisc, double 12" vinyl record, DVD and VHS. The CD album includes 17 of Blur's 23 singles from 1990...
compilation, released in 2000. In addition, it was featured on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack
Cruel Intentions (soundtrack)
Cruel Intentions is the compilation soundtrack to the 1999 film of the same name. The film's soundtrack peaked at #60 on The Billboard 200...
.
The edit of the singles cuts off the instrumental part after the fade out and runs about 40 seconds shorter than the album version. This instrumental part is a hidden track, which, though officially untitled, is known as "Coffee & TV Exitlude".
Alternative names
Whilst the song is known primally as "Coffee & TV", the single credits the song as "Coffee + TV", whilst several other albums credit the song as "Coffee and TV". Numerous single copies actually make the title "Coffee + TV".Video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Coffee & TV was directed by Hammer & Tongs
Hammer & Tongs
Hammer & Tongs is the pseudonym of promo and film director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, as well as the name of their production company...
. It first aired in June 1999 and features an anthropomorphic dancing milk carton character named Milky, made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, and Frank Oz.It was originally created as a result of the observation that the team that had been put together for The Dark Crystal was extremely hard to recreate for Labyrinth, since the...
. Milky the milk carton, as used in the video, was sold at an auction in 1999.
The video tells the story of an animated milk carton as he goes in search of Blur guitarist Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, who has apparently run away from home. Milk cartons are sometimes used (specially in the US) to help seek missing persons, and Coxon's (fictional) family have had his face and a plea printed on cartons. This one, Milky, sees how upset they are at breakfast and decides to resolve the situation himself. He faces many hazards on his journey, including a near-miss with a garden strimmer and, later, violent pop bottles in an alley full of litter. Milky gets a break when he is given a ride from a motorcyclist, though. He is dropped off downtown and asks around for Coxon, but comes up empty. He then goes to lady of the night 'Big Suzy' for answers, but is scared away when she attempts to pounce on him. He falls in love with a female strawberry milk carton, but she is tragically crushed to death by a passer-by's foot. Milky continues his search down the back alleys and, looking through a window, is overjoyed to find Coxon playing Coffee & TV with Blur. The window falls into the room, together with Milky. Coxon discovers him, sees his family's printed plea and makes a decision to slip away from his bandmates (only Damon
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
seems to notice), who play on as he takes the bus back home to his family. Once off the bus, Coxon opens and drinks the carton – in essence, killing Milky – and drops him into a dustbin before going in for a touching family reunion. A weak but happy Milky witnesses this before he dies… but then emerges from the bin on angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
's wings to the song's instrumental coda, waving goodbye as he ascends to heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, reunited en route with his love, the strawberry milk carton.
The video won several awards in 1999 and 2000 including Best Video at the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
Awards and the MTV Europe Awards. In 2005, it was voted the 17th greatest pop video of all time in a poll by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. In 2006, Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
ranked it #32 in their list of the Top 100 Music Videos Of All Time. In a similar poll, NME ranked it the 20th greatest music video of all time.
Track listing
- CD1
- "Coffee & TV"
- "Trade Stylee (Alex's Bugman remix)"
- "Metal Hip Slop (Graham's Bugman remix)"
- CD2
- "Coffee & TV"
- "X-Offender (Damon / Control Freak's Bugman remix)"
- "Coyote (Dave's Bugman remix)"
- Cassette
- "Coffee & TV"
- "X-Offender (Damon / Control Freak's Bugman remix)"
- 12"
- "Coffee & TV"
- "Trade Stylee (Alex's Bugman remix)"
- "Metal Hip Slop (Graham's Bugman remix)"
- "X-Offender (Damon / Control Freak's Bugman remix)"
- "Coyote (Dave's Bugman remix)"
- Europe and Australia CD
- "Coffee & TV"
- "Trade Stylee (Alex's Bugman remix)"
- "Metal Hip Slop (Graham's Bugman remix)"
- "Coyote (Dave's Bugman remix)"
- "X-Offender (Damon / Control Freak's Bugman remix)"
- Japan CD
- "Coffee & TV"
- "Tender (Cornelius remix)"
- "Bugman"
- "Trade Stylee (Alex's Bugman remix)"
- "Metal Hip Slop (Graham's Bugman remix)"
- "Coyote (Dave's Bugman remix)"
- "X-Offender (Damon / Control Freak's Bugman remix)"
In other media
The song can briefly be heard in the 1999 film Cruel IntentionsCruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American drama film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is an adaptation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Laclos and is set among wealthy teenagers living in modern New York...
.
A part from the music video can be seen in episode 12, season 3 of The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 26 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 47 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
11 |