The Universal

"The Universal"
Single by Blur
from the album The Great Escape
B-side
  • "Ultranol"
  • "No Monsters in Me"
  • "Entertain Me" (remix)
Released13 November 1995 (1995-11-13)
GenrePop[1]
Length3:59
Label
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Damon Albarn
Producer(s)Stephen Street
Blur singles chronology
"Country House"
(1995)
"The Universal"
(1995)
"Stereotypes"
(1996)
Audio sample
"The Universal"
Music video
"The Universal" on YouTube

"The Universal" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur and is featured on their fourth studio album, The Great Escape (1995). It was released on 13 November 1995 by Food and Parlophone as the second single from that album, charting at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 12 in both Iceland and Ireland.

In keeping with the song's science fiction theme, the single's cover art is an allusion to the opening shot of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the music video, directed by Jonathan Glazer, is a tribute to the movie A Clockwork Orange, with the band dressed up in costumes similar to Alex and his droogs.[2] Both films were directed by Stanley Kubrick.

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (4 May 2024). "The 25 most essential Blur songs". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  2. ^ "From Blur To Bowie, 18 Ingenious Music Moments Inspired By Stanley Kubrick Movies". NME. Retrieved 18 September 2019.