Blur‘s Graham Coxon has reflected on the “flipping bizarre” moment Robbie Williams and Danny Dyer covered ‘Parklife’ last year.
- READ MORE: ‘Parklife’ at 25: the full story of Blur’s classic album, as told by the people who were there
Back in July, the Marching Power actor teamed up with Williams for the surprise collaboration at his headline set at BST Hyde Park, with Dyer performing the Cockney spoken-word parts, as originally done by Quadrophenia actor Phil Daniels.
The Eastenders actor later explained he was approached by Williams to perform the Blur classic during a recent Soccer Aid event. “I said yes,” he remembered at the time, “and then I thought, ‘Oh, now I’ve got to do it.’
“I love the tune,” he added. “I love Robbie and we done it. We done it. It was great. It was a real moment. I think it went down really well, you know.”
The moment came back to Coxon recently when he was asked by the Guardian what his karaoke song was.
“Blue Eyes by Elton John,” the guitarist said. “I saw a clip of Robbie Williams and Danny Dyer doing ‘Parklife’. It’s flipping bizarre, although I do like Danny Dyer. That song is overplayed now. People want to have a knees-up, like ‘Knees Up Mother Brown’ or ‘Roll Out the Barrel’.”
Back in July, Damon Albarn also reacted to the cover in an interview with BBC Breakfast. Albarn confessed he “fell in love with Danny” after watching his Who Do You Think You Are? episode, which revealed that Dyer was related to King Edward III. Albarn hailed the episode as “the best one ever.
“It was a true revelation he was a member of the Royal Family – for him and for everybody,” he said, adding: “He’s definitely from the East End, he’s a Cockney, we’re all Cockney.”
Dyer recently reunited with director Nick Love for comedy drama Marching Powder, whose soundtrack features the Williams classic ‘Angels’. In NME’s two-star-review of the film, Nick Levine wrote: “For much of the bender, Marching Powder delivers a steady supply of thrills, spills and coked-up binges. There are even a few touching moments involving Jack and his wild card brother-in-law Kenny Boy (Calum McNab), whose bravado fails to mask serious mental health issues.
“Love also slips in some potshots at politicians, though none are quite as memorable as when Dyer branded David Cameron a “twat” with his “trotters up” after the Brexit vote or caused havoc at the BRIT Awards with choice words for Keir Starmer. But ultimately, this initially lively film is sunk by a lack of ambition.
As for Blur, the band recently opened up to NME about what the future has in store for them – particularly after their huge Live At Wembley Stadium concert film and their set at Coachella 2024.
“We can’t leave it too long because we’re knocking on,” Coxon said, looking at upcoming announcements from the band. “Creatively, we’ll always be able to do something, but it’s important that we live life for a bit and hopefully not go through something so traumatic before getting back together again.
“Damon’s always said too that we need to live life so we have something we can bring together if we’re ever going to do anything again. If that all happens, then there shouldn’t be any reason why not.”
