One of Blur's greatest video moments, "Country House" there's so much going on that it's almost impossible to define with great accuracy what went on in the director and the band's minds to create this clip. The general idea revolves around the band playing a game called Rat Race which brings another character, the individual referenced in the song as someone who left the city and goes to the country to escape the crazy city life, now taking a different routine but necessarily escaping from what he knew back in the old ways. Note that it's a country house and life yet he still dressed as a fine gentleman. In the meantime, Damon Albarn performs the song amidst humored situations - the other three members aren't so present, except some funny bits with Alex James.
The colors, the visual, the production design and the concept are all winners in here - which includes a brief spoof on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"; and the song is just perfect - vibrant, sonorous and delicious to hear. Like many of Blur's clips of the decade this is definitely a greatest hit just like the cinematic "The Universal", the hilarious "Charmless Man" and "Parklife", and the magical "Beetlebum". It's just not iconic like "Song 2", which despite its simplicity created some of the most memorable images of the 1990's. But "Country House" has the band on a bathtub; Alex James trying to mount a pig; the female dancers moving on fast forward; and Damon being his usual adorable with plenty of expression - too bad he only had one acting role on a movie. Class act. 9/10
