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Charmless Man

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"Charmless Man"
Single by Blur
from the album The Great Escape
B-side
  • "The Horrors" (7")
  • "The Horrors", "A Song", "St Louis" (CD)
Released29 April 1996
Recorded1995
GenreBritpop, alternative rock
Length3:34
LabelFood
Songwriter(s)Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree
Producer(s)Stephen Street
Blur singles chronology
"Stereotypes"
(1996) 		"Charmless Man"
(1996) 		"Beetlebum"
(1997)
Music video
"Charmless Man" on YouTube

"Charmless Man" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur and is the fourth track on their fourth studio album, The Great Escape. It was released on 29 April 1996 as the fourth and final single from that album, reaching number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.

The inspiration for the song was a visit by Albarn to his grandmother in Lincolnshire. He stopped off at Grantham railway station and when inside the gentlemen's toilet, he noticed a piece of graffiti on a similar theme to the song's title.[1]

Promotional video

The video, directed by Jamie Thraves, starts with a man (the Charmless Man, played by Jean-Marc Barr) running down a dark street with a makeshift bandage or wrapping on his right hand, while cross cut edits show Blur playing in a music hall. After the verse which is accompanied by piano, the band are playing in the man's apartment in his bathroom, whilst the man uses an electric toothbrush and uses some red wine as mouthwash. After becoming fully dressed, the man goes out into the corridor, where the band are again. After pushing Damon Albarn out of the way, he enters a lift. The band once again are there. They are also there in the foyer when the man leaves the lift. The members of the band hang around outside, when the man, frustrated at the band following him anywhere he goes, pushes Albarn over and kicks him. After collecting his car from the valet, he drives off, hoping to be free from the band. They appear at the roadside twice as the man drives down the street. At the third time, the band are standing in the middle of the road and the man drives straight into them, knocking them all over. Following this latest appearance by the band, he smashes the car windows with his fists in anger. He is then seen again running on the dark street, with his badly cut hand wrapped, at which point it becomes clear that the earlier scene of him running was out of time sequence. He staggers into the hall, once again finding it his fate to see the band performing in front of him. He can escape neither the band nor his own nature. In the final shot, the camera zooms in onto Albarn's face as the final notes are sung and played and he has a contemptuous smile on his face.

Track listings

All music composed by Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. All lyrics composed by Albarn.

7" and Cassette
  1. "Charmless Man" – 3:33
  2. "The Horrors" – 3:18,
CD
  1. "Charmless Man" – 3:33
  2. "The Horrors" – 3:18
  3. "A Song" – 1:44
  4. "St. Louis" – 3:12
CD International versions
  1. "Charmless Man" – 3:33
  2. "The Man Who Left Himself" – 3:21
  3. "Tame" – 4:47
  4. "Ludwig" – 2:24

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Charts (1996) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[2] 35
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[3] 16
France (SNEP)[4] 33
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[5] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 25
Scotland (OCC)[7] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[8] 5

Year-end charts

Charts (1996) Position
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[9] 72

References

  1. ^ Zoë Ball, The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 1, December 1998
  2. ^ "Blur – Charmless Man". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 20. 18 May 1996. p. 24. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Blur – Charmless Man" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (13.4. – 19.4. '96)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 13 April 1996. p. 38. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Charmless Man". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Árslistinn 1996". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1997. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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