For fans who has heard or is familiar with the Blur Primrose Hill Graffiti ("and the view's so nice" inscribed on a path in the hill), the following is not good news. The graffiti was drawn by an Australian woman who sneaked into the park one evening
Several fans tried to redraw the graffiti a month ago, but unfortunately their efforts were destroyed by the rain.
An article from Camden Journal sums up the current situation well, including the recent removal of the legendary graffiti and Dave Rowntree's remarks:
IT had become a part of park life on Primrose Hill – but a famous graffiti tribute to Britpop giants Blur has been painted over in the name of keeping the hill “clean”.
The Royal Parks Agency decided to remove the white writing found on the path leading to the summit which spelt out the band’s lyric “and the view’s so nice” – part of their song, For Tomorrow.
It was put there back in 2000 by an Australian fan but the scrawl became a stopping off point for music buffs and was quickly celebrated as one of the quirks of Primrose Hill.
Blur’s Dave Rowntree said: “If local people want it there they should show that by getting in touch with The Royal Parks.
“It is a jobsworth attitude in the Olympic year when we’re meant to celebrating British culture, and Blur certainly did contribute to British culture so it would have been nice to see it kept.”
He added: “On the other hand, perhaps I’m being selfish, because I suppose it is graffiti, and if the whole park was graffiti then it wouldn’t be so lovely.
"I can understand The Royal Parks’ decision, but I lived in the area for about 15 years in the 1990s and even I got used to it being there. "It’s a shame, it was part of the Blur ethos because it was in one of our videos, we felt deeply about the lyric and about the hill.
“It’s something that was special to us, and very flattering at the time.”
Mr Rowntree told how the band would meet on the hill where the graffiti was, and paid homage to the “beautiful view from the top” in the lyric.
In 2001, Damon Albarn told Q magazine he had been walking up the hill with Graham Coxon deciding whether to quit the band.
He said: “Then there was this huge graffiti. If that wasn’t a sign we should keep making music together I don’t know what is.”
Mr Rowntree said: “It’s part of the Blur story. That park is full of hidden secrets, and it’s a shame to get rid of this one.”
Trish Bertram, 55, who has been living in nearby Gloucester Avenue for more than two decades, said: “That hill is a steep climb. Nearly everybody I know is out of breath at the top, so just when you’re about to give up from climbing to the top you see the words ‘and the view’s so nice’.
"It’s really precious, because it makes you think, ‘OK, yes, let me do it, let me climb to the top to see the view.’”
Ms Bertram added: “It added to the area, the weather would wash it away and someone else would come and paint over it.
“So people obviously wanted it here.
"In the morning all the dog walkers and keep-fit regulars noticed it was missing – straight away.
"I just don’t get it, that art has been blogged all over the world, and filmed and photographed, and they’ve just got rid of it without asking anyone who uses the park what they think?”
A spokeswoman for The Royal Parks said: “The original piece of graffiti was painted many years ago and the decision was taken to allow it to weather out naturally.
“More recently, several attempts were made by members of the public to re-paint it.
"The last attempt took place in wet weather resulting in paint running down and spoiling a popular path.
"It was therefore necessary for us to clean the area.”
Here at BlurBalls, we're lucky to have visited the site in early April on a spur-of-the-moment trek. We even took some pictures of the beautiful piece of Blur tribute, a tribute painted by the Australian fan back in 2000s, that is now gone. It is such a pity indeed.
Damon Albarn says it's the End of Blur! Read HERE
Is Damon and Graham Coxon recording together? Find out HERE
Check out Blur's rumoured new album HERE.
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