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Feel Good Inc.

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"Feel Good Inc."
Song
B-side"Spitting Out the Demons"
"Bill Murray"
"68 State"

"Feel Good Inc." is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz. The song features rap verses by De La Soul and showcases the band's alternative hip hop influences, while also containing elements of drum and bass and funk rock. The lyrical themes of the song revolve around isolation and escapism.

The song was the lead single from the band's second studio album Demon Days on 9 May 2005. The single peaked at No. 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 14 in the United States, the band's highest chart positions to date. It also topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. for eight consecutive weeks, a first for the band. This is the only song in Damon Albarn's career to reach the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked in the top 10 in 17 countries, reaching No. 1 in Spain. The song was listed in Pitchfork Media and Rolling Stone's Best Songs of the 2000s. The song won Best Pop Collaboration at the 2006 Grammy Awards.[3] In an interview during promotion for The Singles Collection 2001–2011, Murdoc described it as "the song that launched a million iPods" and "[our] first song ever to chart on downloads alone, infamous soundtrack to the iPod advert, Grammy award winner, backing track for Madonna's first holographic poledance."[4] This song has surpassed "Clint Eastwood" to be Gorillaz's most successful single worldwide.

Background and writing

In an interview from Gorillaz' "iTunes Session" in 2010, band member 2D states that the inspiration for the song came from the time he was "passing the wind turbines out near Palm Springs. He believed he was going to the Coachella festival or something, and he passed a huge field full of those wind turbines farming the land ... so he started really with the chorus section and then built it up from there."[4]

Music video

The integration of computer-generated imagery with two-dimensional animation is more seamless than in previous Gorillaz videos, creating a more textured, layered effect. At the beginning of the video, while the camera is rising up from the Feel Good Inc. tower, a sample of the Spacemonkeyz dub of "Clint Eastwood" entitled "A Fistful of Peanuts" can be heard. The main themes of the video are intellectual freedom and the media's dumbing down of mass culture.[5]

In the video, 2D yearns for the freedom to join Noodle on her floating island. The characters lying on the floor represent those who have already been "dumbed down", while the band members are the ones who have awakened. 2D is trying to wake all the people from their half-dead state by yelling at them through his megaphone, in the style of a political activist.

I think Gorillaz built a tower around themselves that they couldn't get out of; of excess and debauchery. The video is based on this feeling. For a while it was great to be on the inside, but the party got out of hand. It's become like the 'Last days of Pompeii'... a... er... Sodding Gomorrah. The Feel Good Tower represents this. The palace we built has become a prison. In the video I'm just waking up from this year-long hedonist's dream, and I realize that maybe ... the fruits of success have turned sour.
—2D on the Feel Good Inc. video[6]

In the band's audio commentary of the video in the Demon Days limited edition album DVD, Noodle commented that the floating island was "inspired by a lot of Japanese animation with the colours, the textures, and the tones". Jamie Hewlett admitted in an interview that the inspiration for some scenes in the video came from Hayao Miyazaki; specifically, the windmill-powered landmass, which has been compared to that of Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.[7] According to the DVD commentary, they wanted to "make the island seem as if it sprung from the mind of a child". The floating island is chased by ominous helicopters, which closely resemble Korean War era Bell H-13s, monitoring the behaviour inside and ensuring that no one escapes. It is unclear whether they are preventing Noodle's escape or are chasing her away.[8] Back in the tower, De La Soul appear as larger-than life, seemingly omnipotent images on surrounding television screens, laughing at the Gorillaz band members. Their taunting drives 2D into a wild, hypnotic frenzy as he tries to resist the urge to be dumbed down. Noodle states: "Many people in life seem drawn to the more insane figures, who throw their weight around, seemingly oblivious to the effect that they have on people's feelings. Maybe they see this attribute as a sign of strength. However, I believe it's a downward spiral in which everyone gradually has their soul eroded."[9] This is part of the band's Reject False Icons campaign. At the end of the video, 2D appears beaten by his surroundings, and returns to the state he was in when the video began, repeating the words "Feel good" until the video finally ends, in an exact reversal of the intro. The repetition of "Feel good" represents that 2D is convincing himself that everything is OK (as if he is brainwashing himself to believe it), instead of facing the harsh truth of the situation.[10] The music video for "El Mañana" is a continuation of this video, depicting two helicopter gunships catching up to Noodle's floating windmill island and attacking it. The impression is that Noodle's island is under observation in "Feel Good Inc." and then attacked when it breaks free in "El Mañana".

Track listings

UK CD Single
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
UK DVD Single
  1. "Feel Good Inc." (Video) - 4:15
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
  3. "Bill Murray" - 3:53
UK 7-inch Single
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "68 State" - 4:48
UK Digital Download
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
  3. "Bill Murray" - 3:53
European CD Single
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
  3. "Bill Murray" - 3:53
  4. "Feel Good Inc." (Video) - 4:15
Japanese CD Single
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
  3. "Bill Murray" - 3:53
  4. "Murdoc Is God" - 2:26
  5. "Feel Good Inc." (Video) - 4:15
U.S. Digital E.P.[11]
  1. "Feel Good Inc." - 3:41
  2. "Spitting Out the Demons" - 5:10
  3. "Bill Murray" - 3:53
  4. "DARE" (Soulwax Remix) - 5:44
  5. "Feel Good Inc." (Video) - 4:15

Chart performance

Chart (2005) Peak
positions
Australia (ARIA)[12] 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 4
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[14] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[15] 36
Canada (Canadian Singles Chart) 6
Denmark (Tracklisten)[16] 19
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles) 5
France (SNEP)[17] 26
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 4
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 8
Ireland IRMA) 4
Italy (FIMI)[19] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 87
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[22] 4
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 14
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 12
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 2
US Billboard Hot 100 14
US Billboard Pop Songs 13
US Billboard Alternative Songs 1
US Billboard Adult Pop Songs 18

Cover versions

Gorillaz Personnel

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

References

  1. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/may/13/popandrock.shopping3
  2. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2005 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  3. ^ "Grammy Award Winners 2005". Grammy.com. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Gorillaz on Gorillaz: Murdoc Niccals' track-by-track guide to The Singles Collection". Q magazine. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  5. ^ Browne, Cass. "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre", Riverhead Books Inc., 2006, p. 213.
  6. ^ Browne, Cass. "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre", Riverhead Books Inc., 2006, p. 214.
  7. ^ Kermode, Mark (19 July 2008). "The interview: Jamie Howlett". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  8. ^ Browne, Cass. "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre", Riverhead Books Inc., 2006, p. 215.
  9. ^ Browne, Cass. "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre", Riverhead Books Inc., 2006, p. 217.
  10. ^ Browne, Cass. "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre", Riverhead Books Inc., 2006, p. 216.
  11. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/feel-good-inc-ep/id425900716
  12. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  13. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  14. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  15. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  16. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". Tracklisten.
  17. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" (in French). Les classement single.
  18. ^ "Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  19. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". Top Digital Download.
  20. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  21. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". Top 40 Singles.
  22. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". VG-lista.
  23. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc" Canciones Top 50.
  24. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". Singles Top 100.
  25. ^ "Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc". Swiss Singles Chart.
  26. ^ "Morning Becomes Eclectic". KCRW. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  27. ^ "Reuben Recording Session Info". Reuben Official Website. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  28. ^ "Baked Broiled and Fried". iTunes. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
27 August 2005 – 21 October 2005 		Succeeded by
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