Why dustmen still apologise to Phil Daniels. PARKLIFE! by Blur

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Parklife is one of the most important Britpop singles of the 90s. But to quote Michael Caine in Alfie "What's it all about?"
According to Graham Coxon in an interview with the Guardian in 2012: "A lot of people thought it (Parklife) was a celebration of Englishness, but it was actually very sarcastic. The 'Parklife' single wasn't about the working class, it was about the park class: dustbin men, pigeons, joggers – things we saw every day on the way to the studio (Maison Rouge in Fulham). It epitomised what Blur were about – having fun and doing exactly what you want to do.

Damon Albarn said he took a lot of inspiration from London Fields, a 1989 novel by Martin Amis. In the August 2005 issue of Q magazine, he explained: "London Fields inspired 'Parklife.' That book changed my outlook on life."

Damon wasn't comfortable singing the verses. He thought it would be better to get in a celebrity, so Coxon suggested the actor Phil Daniels because they were big fans of Quadrophenia. Daniels had been approached to recite a poem for "The Debt Collector", but the band couldn't find a poem they all liked and so that song was left as an instrumental. 

Daniels' rendition of the Parklide lyrics immediately reinvigorated the band, who had grown bored of working on the track. The recording in the studio took about forty minutes. 
Daniels, later admitted to not fully understanding the lyrics, even after the song's success, joking that dustmen would apologise for waking him up after it became a hit.
Daniels has frequently performed "Parklife" live with Blur. He told Radio X in 2019: "I've been all over the world doing it, because Damon always said, 'Look, do it when you like. I'll tell you when I'm going to an interesting country, and you can come along if you want.' So I've been to Japan, South America, America. All over the place."
The song played a part in Blur's supposed feud with fellow Britpop band Oasis at the 1996 Brit Awards when the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, taunted Blur by singing a drunk rendition of "Parklife", mimicking Albarn's accent, with Liam changing the lyrics to "Shite-life" and Noel shouting "Marmite", when the members of Oasis were collecting the "Best British Album" award, which both bands had been nominated for

The phrase Parklife has come to mean something different in meme culture. 
From Wiktionary: Popularised as a general interjection in 2014 in a Twitter meme comparing the supposed similarities between "Parklife"'s narration and the speaking style of Russell Brand. A response to a statement perceived as pretentious, pompous or verbose.

It's also been used on Instagram videos and TikToks, usually as an interjection to someone the video maker feels is droning on and on about something, in a cockney voice. From memory, there's a great one of Scott Parker as Fulham manager. 

Anyway back to my main point. In 1994 when the band were in the studio recording the album. I think the general feeling..... PARKLIFE

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