Blur - universal

Ivan and I went to see Blur in Hyde Park last night, along with tens of thousands of others. We had a meal in Pizza on the Park first then a long chat in the baking hot sunshine. He's seventeen now and I don't imagine there will be too many occasions like this for us to share.

When he was a baby I'd walk around our London flat, endlessly, with him lying in my arms, more interested in listening to records or CDs or the radio than going to sleep. The background music to this tableau was usually Blur with their whole Britpop thing. I think I could see a lot of The Kinks in their music then and the songs just spoke to ordinary people like Ivan and me. Yesterday they sounded as good as ever and still resonated. At no time did they sound like a reformed group of old rockers going through a greatest hits back catalogue.

They finished with 'Universal' which I've always enjoyed and definitely took me back to days when Ivan was just a little boy:

"It really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
If the days they seem to fall through you
Well, just let them go"

I'd say exactly the same thing to him now, as he stands on the brink of an adult future, looking beyond ordinary days ahead to those flooded in light.

This is the original video:



and this is the 'Best of' album we have on CD and have played so very many times. Ivan now has a teeshirt with this picture on the front and 'Blur on tour 2009' on the back. He'll never forget yesterday and I'll never forget that Blur have been with us all along: