Blurry Explained

Blurry
Cover:	Pomb.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Puddle of Mudd
Album:	Come Clean
Recorded:	Late 2000
Genre:	Post-grunge^[1] alternative rock^[2]
Length:	5:04 (album version) 4:17 (radio and video version)
Label:	Flawless Geffen
Producer:	John Kurzweg Puddle of Mudd
Prev Title:	Control
Prev Year:	2001
Next Title:	Drift & Die
Next Year:	2002

"Blurry" is a song by American rock band Puddle of Mudd. It was released on October 16, 2001, as the second single from the band's debut album Come Clean (2001). It was 2002's most successful rock song in the United States, topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Tracks charts as well as their year-end listings. "Blurry" also found success outside the US, reaching the top 20 in Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Background

Puddle of Mudd played small shows in the Kansas City area for most of the 1990s with little mainstream success.^[3] However, singer Wes Scantlin got a demo tape to Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst when Limp Bizkit were in town on October 12th, 1999, on the Family Values Tour, and Durst's label Flawless Records signed him to a recording contract. Unimpressed with Scantlin's bandmates, Flawless Records scrapped them all,^[4] rebuilt the group with musicians Scantlin had never seen before, and flew him out to Los Angeles in late 2000 to record with them. He spent his days fiddling with his acoustic guitar in a hotel room on Hollywood Boulevard, where he reworked a previous Puddle of Mudd song called "Electron Moon" into "Blurry".^{[5] [6]}

“’Blurry’ was basically about being flown to freaking Los Angeles and y’know, I didn't have any friends so they had put me into a hotel room,” Scantlin told American Songwriter. “I didn't know anybody at all. And I was just missing my family and son, I missed my grandma and stuff.”

Composition

The song is written in the key of E minor with a moderately slow tempo of 78 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of C–D–Em, and the vocals in the song span from D₃ to A₄.^[7]

Commercial performance

"Blurry" is Puddle of Mudd's most successful song, reaching the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts for 10 and nine weeks, respectively. This soon propelled the single to mainstream success, reaching the number five spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay^[8] and Billboard Hot 100^[9] and number three on the Pop Songs chart. "Blurry" was the eight-most played song on radio in Canada in 2002.^[10] The song is also the band's highest selling U.S. single ever, with sales of 753,000 copies, as of 2010.^[11] Additionally, the song's writers, Wes Scantlin, Doug Ardito, and Jimmy Allen, won ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Song of the Year and Pop Song of the Year for this tune.^[12] "Blurry" also won two Billboard Awards in 2002, for Modern Rock Track of the Year and Rock Track of the Year. It also received the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. "Blurry" reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart on its release there in June 2002, becoming the band's highest charting single in the United Kingdom.

Music video

The music video shows Scantlin playing with his son Jordan, interspersed with shots of the band playing in a garage. Towards the end of the video, a man and a woman (presumably Jordan's mother and stepfather) are shown driving away with Jordan in the back seat as Wes watches sadly. The video was directed by Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst.

Accolades

Accolades for "Blurry"! Publication! Region! Accolade! Year! Rank

AOL Radio

United States

"Top Alternative Songs of the Decade – 2000s"^[13]

2009

3

Track listings

Australian CD single^[14]

1. "Blurry" (radio edit)
2. "Abrasive"
3. "Nobody Told Me"

European CD single^[15]

1. "Blurry" (album version)
2. "All I Ask For"

UK cassette single^[16]

1. "Blurry"
2. "All I Ask For" (demo)

UK CD1^[17]

1. "Blurry"
2. "All I Ask For" (demo)
3. "Out of My Head" (live)
4. "Blurry" (video)

UK CD2^[18]

1. "Blurry"
2. "Control" (live)
3. "Bring Me Down" (live)

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Blurry"!Chart (2001–2002)!Peak
position

Canada Radio (Nielsen BDS)^[19]	16
Canada CHR (Nielsen BDS)^[20]	8
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)^[21]	30
European Radio Top 50 (Music & Media)^[22]	41
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)^[23]	15
US Top 40 Tracks (Billboard)^[24]	6

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Blurry"!Chart (2002)!Position

Canada Radio (Nielsen BDS)^[25]	8
UK Singles (OCC)^[26]	136
US Billboard Hot 100^[27]	10
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)^[28]	14
US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)^[29]	1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)^[30]	14
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)	1
US Top 40 Tracks (Billboard)	18

Release history

Region!scope="col"

Date	Format(s)	Label(s)
United States	October 16, 2001			^[31]
Australia	April 1, 2002	CD		^[32]
United Kingdom	June 3, 2002			^[33]

Uses in media

• This song was used as the title theme for the video game .^[34]
• This song was used in the trailer for the 2003 film A Man Apart.^[35]
• On June 21, 2011, this song was released as downloadable content for the rhythm game Rock Band 3.^[36]
• The song was used in the American television show The Secret Life of the American Teenager in the series finale.

Covers

• P.M. Dawn appeared on NBC's Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, performing "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss", and covered Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry". Despite the fact that Prince Be was still suffering the effects of this stroke, they beat Animotion, Missing Persons, Juice Newton and Shannon to claim the $20,000 charitable prize, which they contributed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, as Prince Be was a diabetic. In June 2019, P.M. Dawn collaborated with musician Tommy Marz on a studio version of Blurry dedicated to the memory of Attrell Cordes^[37]
• On May 21, 2021, country rock singer-songwriter Hardy released a cover of "Blurry" with an accompanying music video on YouTube.^[38]

Notes and References

1. Web site: In Defense of Post-Grunge Music . . Geffen . Sasha . October 7, 2013 . September 21, 2020.
2. Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best. Cosores. Philip. Consequence of Sound. July 4, 2017. September 3, 2020. 5.
3. Web site: Puddle of Mudd Albums Ranked . Return of Rock. June 4, 2020 . December 21, 2022.
4. Web site: Flawless Stuff from Fred . NME. May 16, 2001 . December 25, 2022.
5. Web site: Behind the Song : "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd . Bennett. Macie. American Songwriter. February 17, 2021 . December 21, 2022.
6. Web site: Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd : Songwriter Interviews . Prato. Greg. Songfacts. December 19, 2022 . December 21, 2022.
7. Web site: Blurry. www.musicnotes.com. May 21, 2002 . January 2, 2016.
8. Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100 . Billboard.com . August 20, 2011.
9. [Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]
10. Web site: Top 100 top played radio tracks in Canada in 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20041123064030/http://www.canoe.com/JamMusicCharts/100_2002.html. April 11, 2020. November 23, 2004.
11. Web site: Chart Watch Extra: Top 20 Songs In Digital History – Chart Watch . New.music.yahoo.com . August 6, 2010 . August 20, 2011.
12. Web site: "Elvis Costello Receives Founders Award at 20th Annual Pop Music Awards" American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Retrieved June 16, 2011 . Ascap.com . August 20, 2011.
13. Web site: Top Alternative Songs of the Decade – 2000s – AOL Radio Blog. Dickinson. Boonsri. AOL Radio. December 7, 2009. February 4, 2010.
14. Blurry. Puddle of Mudd. 2002. Australian CD single liner notes. Flawless Records, Geffen Records. 497 698-2.
15. Blurry. Puddle of Mudd. 2002. European CD single liner notes. Flawless Records, Geffen Records. 497 709-2.
16. Blurry. Puddle of Mudd. 2002. UK cassette single sleeve. Flawless Records, Geffen Records. 497 735-4.
17. Blurry. Puddle of Mudd. 2002. UK CD1 liner notes. Flawless Records, Geffen Records. 497 734-2.
18. Blurry. Puddle of Mudd. 2002. UK CD2 liner notes. Flawless Records, Geffen Records. 497 735-2.
19. Web site: Canadian Top 100. Jam!. https://web.archive.org/web/20020607191154/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/BDS_1.html. June 7, 2002. November 10, 2023.
20. Web site: Canadian Top 20 in 2002. Cross Canada Countdown. https://web.archive.org/web/20050407223203/http://www.crosscanadacountdown.com/pdfs/2002.pdf. April 7, 2005. November 10, 2023.
21. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 20. 26. 14. June 22, 2002. July 23, 2020.
22. European Radio Top 50 . . 16. 12. June 29, 2002. 17. 29800226 . April 30, 2023 . World Radio History.
23. Web site: Tipparade-lijst van week 26, 2002. dutch. Dutch Top 40. March 17, 2023.
24. Web site: Puddle of Mudd Awards. AllMusic. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160501050136/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puddle-of-mudd-mn0000307102/awards. May 1, 2016. June 1, 2021.
25. Web site: Top 100 top played radio tracks in Canada in 2002. Jam!. https://web.archive.org/web/20040812022009/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/100_2002.html. August 12, 2004. March 21, 2022.
26. Web site: The Official UK Singles Chart 2002. UKChartsPlus. November 24, 2018.
27. Billboard. [{{Google books|RA0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=RA1-PA15|plainurl=yes}} The Year in Music 2002: Hot 100 Singles & Tracks]. December 28, 2002. 114. 52. YE-38. 0006-2510. June 8, 2020.
28. Billboard. [{{Google books|RA0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=RA1-PA39-IA35|plainurl=yes}} The Year in Music 2002: Top 40]. December 28, 2002. 114. 52. YE-97. 0006-2510. June 8, 2020.
29. Billboard. [{{Google books|RA0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=RA1-PA39-IA25|plainurl=yes}} The Year in Music 2002: Mainstream and Modern Rock]. December 28, 2002. 114. 52. YE-87. 0006-2510. June 8, 2020.
30. Most-Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 2002. Airplay Monitor. 10. 51. 12. December 20, 2002.
31. Going for Adds. Radio & Records. 1423. 95, 99, 107. October 12, 2001. April 28, 2021.
32. Web site: The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 1st April 2002. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020423140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020424-0000/www.aria.com.au/Issue631.pdf. dead. 2002-04-23. ARIA. 26. April 1, 2002. April 28, 2021.
33. In-Store Next Week (from 3/6/02). Music Week. 11. June 1, 2002.
34. Web site: Ace Combat 5 lands in Puddle of Mudd .
35. Web site: Trailer of A Man Apart . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/Nxv0VLPy2_o . 2021-12-13 . live. YouTube . July 22, 2013.
36. Web site: Blurry in Rock Band 3 DLC list. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110810191304/http://www.rockband.com/songs/finder#-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/blurry/. August 10, 2011.
37. Web site: Tommy Marz Drops New Single Featuring P.M. Dawn . June 21, 2019 . July 1, 2019 . .
38. Web site: HARDY Dives Into His Rock-Loving Roots With Cover Of Puddle Of Mudd's "Blurry" . https://web.archive.org/web/20210522020634/http://www.cmt.com/news/1834103/hardy-dives-into-his-rock-loving-roots-with-cover-of-puddle-of-mudds-blurry/ . dead . May 22, 2021 . May 21, 2021 . CMT.