The “professional cynic” who inspired ‘Country House’ by Blur
Tired of earning shedloads of dosh in the big smoke? There’s only one thing for it: buy a very big house in the country. It’s a well-established career trajectory, and you’d be following in the slippered footsteps of the countless artists, actors, filmmakers and musicians who, having made their millions, decided to retreat to some quiet corner of England and start making cheese or cider or, in some cases, tiny-knitted hats for pigeons. This (not the pigeon part) was the fate of keyboardist and record company executive David Balfe, who, on realising that modern life really was rubbish, decided to leave London and haul up in a country house in Bedfordshire, thus inspiring the Blur hit that beat Oasis’ ‘Roll With It’ to UK number one.
Featured on Blur’s 1995 album The Great Escape, ‘Country House’ tells the story of a successful “city dweller” who, keen to escape the “century’s anxiety“, starts a new life on a country estate, where he spends his time “reading Balzac and knocking back Prozac”. ‘Country House’ might not be Blur’s greatest work, but it does see Damon Albarn evoke the lyrical brilliance of The Kinks’ Ray Davies. By examining and occasionally mocking this “professional cynic”, Albarn identifies the 20th century’s “remedy” for all ills: a bit of peace and quiet in the country.
In an interview with The Guardian back in 2008, around the time Balfe’s Grade II listed country manor was up on the market, the Food Records founder explained how he ended up inspiring ‘Country House’. He said: “I’d flogged the label and packed it all in as a ‘professional cynic whose heart’s not in it.’ I was burned out. You’ve got to remember that the music business is full of great things and crap things. You can spend 18 months working on a record that doesn’t even get released. And you spend your whole time arguing with people. When things aren’t working, it’s extremely painful. I felt it was all or nothing for me, so I moved to Bedfordshire.”
He continued: “One day I popped back into the office in London and saw a demo for ‘Blur – Country House.’ I jokingly said, ‘Oh, is that about me?’ I don’t think it’s their greatest song but it’s a good little pop song. The funny thing is Damon [Albarn] hadn’t, and still hasn’t, seen the house. I think he just had this idea. ‘Oh, Balfey lives in this great house in the country now.’ It was funny enough having it written about me in the first place, but then it became one of the biggest songs of the era because of the chart battle with Oasis’s ‘Roll With It’. It’s got a place in rock history. I’m quite proud of it, and flattered.”
