You and Me

Album: Everyday Robots (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Damon Albarn shouts out the West London road of Westbourne Grove, which has been his manor for a number of years. It serves as the main road on the route of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in August. He told Uncut magazine: "Always after Carnival, there is this enormous residue of energy that hovers around for a few days. It's a Post-Carnival Apocalypse song!"
  • Albarn, who has long since been clean of drugs, addresses on this ballad his use of heroin during his Britpop days.

    "Tin foil and a lighter, the ship across
    Five days on, two days off."

    The Blur singer began his relationship with heroin at the height of Britpop. He acknowledged to Q magazine the role that the drug played in his artistic growth. "I hate talking about this because of my daughter, my family," he explained. "But, for me, it was incredibly creative [...] A combination of [heroin] and playing really simple, beautiful, repetitive s--t in Africa changed me completely as a musician. I found a sense of rhythm. I somehow managed to break out of something with my voice."

    Albarn also cautioned about the drug's risks. "It's a cruel, cruel thing," he told Uncut, adding that heroin "does turn you into a very isolated person and ultimately anything that you are truly dependent on is not good."
  • This is actually an amalgamation of two different songs, the first being titled "You" and the other being "Me."
  • The Moko Jumbie stilts walker is part of the carnival. In the song he's walking through London's All Saints Road and looking over the Brunel estate. Albarn explained to Uncut: "I've actually met the proper Moko Jumbie, when I went to Congo – he's represented in Carnival by the stilted people – that's a derivation of the Congolese Moko Jumbie spirit, a traditional tribal creature who travels around looking into people's houses."
  • The steel drums break in the middle of the song was played by a local London musician. Albarn explained on a Reddit AMA that "his pans represent to me the true ghost of carnival."

Comments: 1

  • Alec from Thames DittonThanks for that... very helpful explainer. Randomly I was typesetting a number 7 as superscript when he sang "seven high, they're rising" cheers
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.