"Northern Whale" is a song by an unnamed alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 rock band

Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

 fronted by Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...

, and was released as the third track on their 2007 debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 The Good, the Bad and the Queen

The Good, the Bad and the Queen

The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an ostensibly unnamed British alternative rock supergroup also commonly referred to as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, and made up of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen. The album was released in January 2007...

(see 2007 in British music

2007 in British music

This is a summary of the year 2007 in British music. It was the first year of digital downloads being fully integrated into the charts, leading to many songs not given physical releases to enter the chart on download sales alone. Leona Lewis had the most successful single of the year, with Bleeding...

).

The story behind the song

When introducing the song at the band's first ever "official" gig (having already played three warm-up gigs in Devon) at The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...

 in Camden Town

Camden Town

-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...

 in October 2006, Albarn said that the song started out a year earlier as a love song

Love song

A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...

 for partner Suzi Winstanley when she was about to go to Antarctica to swim underwater with leopard seal

Leopard Seal

The leopard seal , also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic...

s, but then "a whale came up the Thames and it turned into a song about a whale". The so-called "River Thames whale

River Thames whale

The River Thames whale was a juvenile female Northern Bottlenose whale which was discovered swimming in the River Thames in central London on Friday 20 January 2006. According to the BBC, she was five metres long and weighed about seven tonnes...

", a Northern Bottlenose whale

Bottlenose whale

The Northern bottlenose whale is a species of the ziphiid family, one of two members of the Hyperoodon genus. The northern bottlenose was hunted heavily by Norway and Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

, ventured into the Thames on 20 January 2006, and this is where Albarn got the inspiration for the lyrics.

Music

The song starts with a synthesised part playing staccato crotchets. This riff is sequenced throughout the song. Light percussion woodblocks are added after a short while. The bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

joins the synthesiser and plays with it throughout the song.

External links

• "Northern Whale" songography page at The Good, The Bad & The Queen unofficial fansite.