Gorillaz
Demon Days album. Do the songs tell a story? Try listening to them in this order:
Intro
Feel Good Inc
El Manana
O Green World
All Alone
White Light
Dare
Kids With Guns
November Has Come
Dirty Harry
Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head
Last Living Souls
Every Planet We Reach Is Dead
Don't Get Lost In Heaven
Demon Days
The links go to the lyrics on Gorillaz Unofficial
Interpretation:
Feel Good Inc is the world before 9/11. The Gorillaz are tempted to "sell out," trying to choose between the Green World of the flying island, and the high-tech hedonism of "the Inc."
El Manana is (symbolicly) 9/11 (note the sirens, etc., in the background). In the video, the attack destroys the Green World, leaving the Inc as the only option.
O Green World to White Light are 2-D's reactions.
O Green World -- He's shocked by the sudden end of the "Green World."
All Alone -- He mourns the victims (symbolized by Noodle's apparent death, leaving him "all alone")
White Light -- He tries to drown his pain in alcohol, alcohol, alcohol…
In Dare, the decision to fight back at the attackers is symbolized by Noodle returning to Kong and deciding to fight back against _her_ attackers. That's when she throws the keyboard down at the end of the video. Her change is also symbolized by her using science and technology rather than the nature and magic of Feel Good Inc, and by her using an electronic keyboard rather than an acoustic guitar. She's lost her innocence. The Green World is gone for good.
Kids with Guns is the mobilization for the "War on Terror."
November Has Come is the invasion of Afghanistan (most of the initial fighting was in November 2001)
Dirty Harry is the invasion of Iraq ("the war is over so said the speaker with the flight suit on" -- Bush and the infamous "Mission Accomplished" photo)
Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head predicts the end result of the war. The "jewels" probably symbolise oil, literally "fueling the chaos of [our] own world."
Last Living Souls, Every Planet We Reach is Dead, and Don't Get Lost In Heaven are the aftermath -- civilization is destroyed and the Gorillaz flee to outer space, eventually arriving in Heaven.
Demon Days sums up the whole thing. These are the Demon Days.
If this is the intended interpretation, I can't explain why the songs aren't in this order on the album. Maybe it's a puzzle, like the ones on the official site.
I thought about posting the above to this discussion but figured they wouldn't be interested in what a n00b had to say.
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Copyright © 2007 by Richard C. McCluney, III
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