Songfacts®:

• Phil Daniels, best known for his role in 1979's Quadrophenia, performs the spoken-word verses on "Parklife." Blur singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon were huge fans of the British actor. Originally, the plan was to get Daniels to recite a poem over Parklife instrumental "The Debt Collector." However, Albarn was unable to write a suitable piece. As a result, the band instead asked him to do "Parklife." Daniels, who'd collaborate with Blur again on Think Tank's "Me, White Noise," recorded his part in under an hour.
  
  Coxon recalled to The Guardian in 2012: "A lot of people thought it 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 epitomizes what Blur were about – having fun and doing exactly what you want to do.
  
  But Damon wasn't comfortable doing the verses – he just couldn't get into character. He thought it would be better to get in a celebrity, so I suggested the actor Phil Daniels because we were big fans from Quadrophenia. At the line, 'There was a piece of my heart,' Phil said, 'Should I drop the 'h?' If I pronounce it, it'll sound more adorable.' We didn't want to use a forced mockney accent, so he pronounced the 'h.'"
• The line, "It's got nothing to do with your Vorsprung durch Technik, you know," is a reference to the German slogan for car manufacturer Audi. The phrase translates to "progress through technology." The idea for the slogan came from a faded poster that British advertising executive, Sir John Hegarty, discovered on a factory wall in Ingolstadt in Germany in the '70s.
  
  During the line, Coxon can be heard playing a part of the German national anthem on saxophone. He was a saxophonist when he first met Albarn, but this was the only time he played sax for Blur.
• What sounds like breaking glass is drummer Dave Rowntree smashing a plate.
• For the lyric, Damon Albarn drew from London Fields, a 1989 novel by the English writer Martin Amis. In the August 2005 issue of Q magazine, he explained: "London Fields inspired 'Parklife.' That book changed my outlook on life."
• The Blur camp had mixed feelings about this song. Bassist Alex James said: "The first time Damon played 'Parklife' to me I was certain that it would be big. It was one of the most complete things I'd ever heard."
  
  Food Records (their record label) co-owner Dave Balfe was not so enthusiastic: "When I first heard the demo without Phil Daniels, I thought that the chorus was brilliant but it was such a rubbish verse. I thought it was fairly tedious and the talking verses were not hit single material as far as I was concerned."
• Directed by Pedro Romhanyi, the official video for "Parklife" was shot in Greenwich in London. It stars Daniels as a double-glazing salesman and Albarn as his assistant. The rest of Blur appear as various characters throughout the clip, including James and Rowntree as a couple, with James dressing in drag.
  
  Daniels drives a Ford Granada in the video. When he pulls up alongside an Audi Cabriolet driven by James, he delivers the iconic "Vorsprung durch Technik" line.
  
  The video featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head in 1995, with Butt-Head comparing Daniels to Family Feud host Richard Dawson.
• Daniels frequently performs "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."
  
  When Blur performed the song at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2015, the band brought out Fred Armisen. The Portlandia comedian changed the verses to be California-themed, with Armisen referencing Los Angeles clichés, including the 101, dog parks, and personal trainers.
• "Parklife" won British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 1995 Brit Awards. Parklife also won British Album of the Year.
  
  The following year at the 1996 Brit Awards, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis triumphed over The Great Escape by Blur to win British Album of the Year. During their acceptance speech, the Gallagher brothers drunkenly taunted their Brit-pop rivals by singing a parody of "Parklife," changing the lyrics to "Sh-telife."
• Albarn sang this song with Ray Davies, frontman of The Kinks, at the Poetry Olympics in London in 1996. The pair also performed "Waterloo Sunset."
  
  In a 2014 interview with Uncut, Davies hailed "Parklife" as Blur's best song. He said: "One of my fondest times with Damon is a poetry festival at the Royal Albert Hall. He sang one of my songs and I sang 'Parklife.' Then I understood the similarities between The Kinks and Blur. It's in the way I change chords, and sing stylistically."
• This song is a certified football anthem in the UK. In 1997, it gained prominence when it featured in a Nike advertisement showing Premier League stars, including Eric Cantona, Ian Wright, and Robbie Fowler, playing football on Hackney Marshes in London. The marketing team briefly considered using "Song 2," before sticking with "Parklife." The advertisement is now regarded as one of the greatest sporting commercials of all time.
  
  "Parklife" is still played before every home match of Chelsea F.C. at Stamford Bridge. Albarn and Daniels are lifelong fans of the club.
• The Household Division Ceremonial State Band performed "Parklife" at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Named "A Symphony of British Music," the closing ceremony was described as a celebration of British music "from Adele to Elgar."
• "Parklife" reached #10 in the UK. The single came paired with an eclectic array of B-sides. On CD1, there was "Supa Shoppa," an acid jazz instrumental, and "Theme From an Imaginary Film," a waltz that was originally composed for, but ultimately rejected from, the 1994 British film Decadence. On CD2, there was "Beard," another jazz instrumental, and a French version of the Parklife cut "To the End."
• Parklife was Blur's breakout album in the UK, debuting at #1 and remaining on the chart for 90 weeks. They never hit it big in the US, although Parklife did peak at #6 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. The record has since gone on to be hailed as one of the best albums of the 1990s. Rolling Stone ranked it at #438 on their "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, adding: "Damon Albarn's gifts for storytelling, sing-along melodies, and Anglophilia set up Blur as heirs apparent to The Kinks and fierce rivals to Oasis for Brit pop's crown."