Synopsis

A seemingly polished businessman is pursued through London by Blur, who appear in his apartment, elevator, lobby, and on the street like an inescapable conscience. Irritated by their presence, he attacks Damon Albarn and later drives directly into the band. With his hand bloodied and wrapped, he runs back to the hall where the video began, revealing that the opening chase occurred later in the story. He finds Blur waiting for him, with Albarn delivering one final contemptuous smile.

Factoids & Trivia

• Jean-Marc Barr plays the businessman. His presence gives the video an unusually cinematic focus, with Barr carrying most of the narrative through physical acting rather than dialogue.

• The character is described as a slightly psychotic young businessman haunted by his conscience, with Blur representing that conscience in increasingly aggressive form.

• The production was considered elaborate and expensive for a music video. One of its major set pieces has the businessman trying to run over the band with his car.

• The video was filmed on a London set and uses several connected interior locations, including an apartment, bathroom, elevator, lobby, and music hall.

• The opening running sequence is deliberately revealed to be out of chronological order. The character's bandaged hand only makes sense after the car attack and the moment when he smashes the vehicle's windows.

• Damon Albarn described the video as a visual counterpart to the song's character study. The band does not simply perform around the protagonist; it functions as a persistent psychological presence that he cannot escape.

• The video uses a notably dark, theatrical tone in contrast with the song's bright, highly arranged Britpop sound.

• The song was released as the fourth and final single from The Great Escape on April 29, 1996, and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.

• The video's casting and narrative approach helped distinguish it from the more straightforward performance-led promotional clips common in the Britpop period.