Tender (song)

For the song by Feeder, see Shatter (song).

"Tender"
Single by Blur
from the album 13
Released	22 February 1999
Format	7" vinyl, cassette, 2 x CD
Recorded	1998
Genre	Alternative rock Gospel
Length	7:40 (album version)
Label	Food (UK) EMI
Producer	William Orbit
Blur singles chronology
"M.O.R." (1997) "Tender" (1999) "Coffee & TV" (1999)
Audio sample file info · help Music video "Tender" on YouTube

"Tender" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It is the first track on Blur's sixth album 13 and was also released as the lead single before the album's release. The single reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart - kept off #1 by Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time".

The song's lyrics were written by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon and the vocals are shared on the track with backing vocals provided by the London Community Gospel Choir. During Coxon's hiatus from the group, Blur continued to perform the song live with Albarn asking the audience to sing Coxon's lines; "Oh my baby/Oh my baby/Oh why?/Oh my". At Blur's headline appearance at Reading Festival in 2003 he introduced the song by saying "I don't want, for one moment, to be a sentimental but... Graham wrote this song as well... you know the bits he sings and I want you to sing them as loudly as you possibly can. Everyone needs to sing this song."

In July 2009 when Blur reformed, Coxon's lines in Tender were repeated and sung powerfully by the audience to call Blur back to stage at Glastonbury, Hyde Park and T in the Park.

The video for the song is a live studio performance, filmed in black-and-white, featuring the band and a group of backing singers. An official video for this track was recorded by Sophie Muller (director of the promo videos for "Beetlebum" and "Song 2"), but it was never released as the band simply didn't like it.

Initially, the track "Swamp Song" was slated to appear as one of the single's B-sides, but was promoted to the parent album 13. The appearance of "Song 2" on the single was a last-minute substitution.

A remix of the song by Cornelius was released on the "No Distance Left to Run" single.

Track listing

• Blue 7"

1. "Tender"
2. "All We Want"

• CD1

1. "Tender"
2. "All We Want"
3. "Mellow Jam"

• CD2

1. "Tender"
2. "French Song"
3. "Song 2"
4. "Song 2" (video)

• Japan CD

1. "Tender"
2. "Swamp song"
3. "Mellow Jam"
4. "French Song"

Production credits

• "Tender", "Mellow Jam", "French Song" and "Swamp Song" produced by William Orbit
• "All We Want" and "Song 2" produced by Stephen Street