Go onto Soulseek or a similar file-sharing program, type in the words “Blur” and “rare”, and you’ll find a song named “Cowboy Song (rare!)” by Radiohead featuring Blur. The problem with wrong tags in a nutshell; the song is neither rare (it’s on the soundtrack for Dead Man On Campus, a film I’ve never bothered to watch), nor do Radiohead appear to have anything to do with it. Still, many Radiohead fans seem to have placed it in some folder with unreleased tracks such as “Nude” or the actually quite lovely “Lift”.
This is about Blur however, and Blur had “Cowboy Song” released on the aforementioned soundtrack in 1998, the year between Blur and 13, and that’s exactly how the song sounds. It has the same almost lo-fi feel that most of the former album’s songs have, but with some clear references to what was to follow, most notably some effects that echo the ones that can be heard on “Battle” and the synth-line that drives “All We Want”, one of Blur’s best b-sides, pops up here about halfway through.
Even if “Cowboy Song” is clearly a minor song by a band just hanging around the station for a meal and a cup of coffee before they hop back on the train to Thirteenville where magic awaits, this song deserves much better than to be known as a Radiohead song.
