When asked if the band had any idea of the song's commercial appeal, Coxon replied, "We'd just thought it was way too extreme".

[5] The track was originally nicknamed "Song 2" as a working title which represented its slot in the tracklist, but the name stuck.

[7] The song is two minutes and two seconds long, with two verses, two choruses and a hook featuring Albarn yelling "woo-hoo!"

[15] PopMatters described the song as a "[pastiche] [of] Seattle grunge and grubby lo-fi indie rock".

[17] A reviewer from Music Week wrote: "This punky, new wavathon is more immediate than most of the cuts from their new album and all the better for the catchy 'woo-hoo' bits.

[19] In the UK, "Song 2" built upon the success of Blur's chart-topping single "Beetlebum" to reach number two in the charts.

The music video for this song was directed by Sophie Muller, and it features the band playing in a small, secluded room with loud amplifiers behind them.

During the choruses, the volume of the song sends the band members crashing against the walls and ground.

[27] During the end of his only 2022 U.S. solo performance to promote The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, Albarn commented that he was asked if he'd perform "Song 2" by L.A. Times journalist Mikael Wood, "before [Wood] cast [Albarn] into the social media abyss".

[29][30] In 2024, the song was heavily sampled by UK Hip-Hop artist Jeshi in his track "Total 90",[31] which was featured during ITV Sport's coverage of England's Euro 2024 semi-final.