Single Background
In this period the band had gone on a tour of the USA which they greatly detested, especially as the country was the home of grunge and audiences were not receptive to their music. After that tour lead singer Damon Albarn started to write songs with a very British feel. This was one such song, written on Christmas Day 1992 at the family piano in his parents' house. David Balfe, the head of the band's record company, commissioned this song as the original album did not have any hit singles.
Like the rest of Modern Life Is Rubbish, the song was produced by Stephen Street, although Jeff Lynne was also considered as a possible producer. The chorus features a la la la refrain, sung by female backing singers, whom, Street instructed to sing like Thunderthighs on the classic Mott the Hoople singles. Guitarist Graham Coxon explained that “Everyone, wherever they are in the world knows what la la la means." A string section, The Duke String Quartet, was also used by the band for the first time. The single cover of the two World War II fighter planes was used by the band as a sense of Britishness.
Read more about this topic: For Tomorrow
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