Steven Alexander "Alex" James FRSA (born 21 November 1968) is an English musician and songwriter, as well as a journalist and cheesemaker. Best known as the bassist of the band Blur, he has also played with temporary bands Fat Les, Me Me Me, WigWam and Bad Lieutenant.
James was born in Boscombe, Bournemouth and attended the state grammar school Bournemouth School for boys, where he started playing in bands. In 1988, James met future bandmate Graham Coxon at Goldsmiths College, where James studied French. Introductions with Coxon's old school friend Damon Albarn and Dave Rowntree soon took place; at the time Albarn and Rowntree were part of a band called Circus. In 1989, James joined Coxon, Albarn and Rowntree's new band, Seymour, which would later be renamed Blur. While he has been in the band ever since, he now describes the experience as "a past-life". Despite this, Blur got together with returning bandmate Graham Coxon to perform at Glastonbury Festival, Hyde Park, Oxegen and T in the Park during the summer of 2009. They also played shows at Goldsmiths College, Essex Museum and other venues around the UK and mainland Europe. Blur headlined a show at Hyde Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. In 2013, the band performed at the Rock Werchter in Belgium, the Spanish and Portuguese dates of the Primavera Sound Festival, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the United States.
Nobody knows if nobody tries,
Gotta give it all, gotta go with the roll of the dice
Who would have guessed that life could be cruel?
Cause nobody told me that loved doesn't play by the rules
But the hardest part can be the pain of the mystery!
Chorus:
It's a... and the sun it's close
It's the sunshine when your heart is burnt
It's a lesson that we never learn,
It's a birthday when you turn fifteen
It's a party it's the sweetest dream,
Gotta live, do it all, it's the rising and it's the fall!
I give everything but wasn't enough
I guess that's the way that it goes sometimes with love
I wouldn't change one single line
Cause when you're near me, I never felt so alive!
But the hardest part for me is the pain of the mystery!
Chorus:
It's a... and the sun it's close
It's the sunshine when your heart is burnt
It's a lesson that we never learn,
It's a birthday when you turn fifteen
It's a party it's the sweetest dream,
Gotta live, do it all, it's the rising and it's the fall!
You could run away,
You could try to hide but you know
All the memories that... in our hearts and the...
Chorus:
It's a... and the sun it's close
It's the sunshine when your heart is burnt
It's a lesson that we never learn,
It's a birthday when you turn fifteen
It's a party it's the sweetest dream,
Gotta live, do it all, it's the rising and it's the fall!
It's the rise, it's they rise and it's the fall!