M.O.R.

For other uses, see MOR (disambiguation).
"M.O.R."
Single by Blur
from the album Blur
B-side "Swallows in the Heatwave" (7")
"Swallows in the Heatwave", "Movin' On (William Orbit remix)", "Beetlebum (Moby's minimal house remix)" (CD)
Released 15 September 1997
Format 7" vinyl, cassette, CD
Recorded 1996
Genre Indie rock
Length 3:27 (Album version)
Label Food, Virgin
Producer(s) Stephen Street
Blur singles chronology
"On Your Own"
(1997)		 "M.O.R."
(1997)		 "Tender"
(1999)
Music video
"M.O.R." on YouTube

"M.O.R." is a song by English rock band Blur, from their eponymous album Blur. "M.O.R." reached number 15 in the UK singles chart on its release as a single in 1997.

The song's chord progression was borrowed from David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage". On the album Lodger Bowie and collaborator Brian Eno carried out a musical experiment in which multiple songs were written with the same chord progression, of which "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage" were the two that surfaced. M.O.R is both a continuation of, and tribute to that experiment, as its chorus also lifts the melody and call-and-response vocals from Boys Keep Swinging (Bowie and Eno both received credit for "M.O.R." after legal intervention).

"M.O.R." itself stands for "middle of the road", which appears in the lyrics.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by John Hardwick and is considered one of the most expensive videos the band ever made. It was shot in Sydney, Australia, and follows the misadventures of the band members (or rather, stuntmen in balaclavas pretending to be them) as they try to escape from the police. It was intended that the stuntmen wear masks of the band members (to make it appear that the band were actually performing their own stunts) but the masks created for the video were such poor representations, that the decision was made to use balaclavas instead.[1] The video also features cameos by stunt choreographer Grant Page as a helicopter pilot, and actor Noah Taylor as a truck passenger. It is included in the Blur: The Best of DVD/VHS released on 30 October 2000. The 'actors' in the video are all anagrams of the member of the band they play. They are as follows:

'Dan Abnormal' was an alias also used by Albarn whilst playing keyboards on the first Elastica album, as well as the title of a track on The Great Escape.

Track listing

All lyrics by Albarn. All music by Albarn / Coxon / James / Rowntree.

Orange 7"
  1. "M.O.R. (road version)" – 3:14
  2. "Swallows in the Heatwave" – 2:33
CD
  1. "M.O.R. (road version)" – 3:14
  2. "Swallows in the Heatwave" – 2:33
  3. "Movin' On (William Orbit remix)" – 8:00
  4. "Beetlebum (Moby's minimal house remix)" – 6:16
UK Promo CD
  1. "M.O.R." (road version edit)
US CD
  1. "M.O.R. (road version)" – 3:13
  2. "Popscene" (live at Peel Acres) – 2:58
  3. "Song 2" (live at Peel Acres) – 1:56
  4. "Bustin' + Dronin'" – 6:30
US Promo CD
  1. "M.O.R. (road version edit)" – 3:02
  2. "M.O.R. (Alan Moulder mix edit)" – 3:11
  3. "M.O.R. (call out research hook #1)" – 0:11
  4. "M.O.R. (call out research hook #2) (Moulder mix)" – 0:11
Japan CD
  1. "M.O.R. (road version)" – 3:13
  2. "M.O.R. (karaoke version)" – 3:13
  3. "I Love Her (demo version)" – 3:34
  4. "Death of a Party" (live at MC Vredenburg, Holland 1997) – 4:16
Australia CD
  1. "M.O.R. (road version)" – 3:01
  2. "Dancehall" – 3:13
  3. "Country Sad Ballad Man" (live acoustic version) – 4:58
  4. "Popscene" (live at Peel Acres) – 3:05
  5. "On Your Own" (live acoustic) – 4:27
Holland and Germany CD (Special limited live edition)
  1. "M.O.R." (live at Peel Acres) – 3:01
  2. "Beetlebum" (Viva Niteclub Live Acoustic) – 4:33
  3. "On Your Own" (Viva Niteclub Live Acoustic) – 4:12
  4. "Country Sad Ballad Man" (Viva Niteclub Live Acoustic) – 4:35
  5. "This is a Low" (Viva Niteclub Live Acoustic) – 3:29

Notes:

Production credits

Peak positions

Chart (1997) Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[2] 45
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[3] 15

References

  1. ↑ Conversation with the director, 1997
  2. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Blur – M.O.R.". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1997-06-28" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
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