Feel Good Inc.

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"Feel Good Inc."
UK (CD, DVD), Japanese, European, Mexican and Australian cover
Single by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul
from the album Demon Days
Released	April 5, 2005 (US) May 9, 2005 (UK)
Format	7", CD, Maxi-CD, DVD
Genre	Alternative hip hop, trip hop, alternative rock
Length	3:41 (Album/Single Version) 3:27 (U. S. Radio Edit)
Label	Parlophone Virgin Records America
Writer(s)	Gorillaz, D. Jolicoeur
Producer	Gorillaz, Danger Mouse
Certification	Platinum (Australia)[1] Silver (BPI) Gold (US)
Gorillaz singles chronology
"Lil' Dub Chefin'" (2002) "Feel Good Inc." (2005) "DARE" (2005)
De La Soul singles chronology "Rock Co.Kane Flow" (2004) "Feel Good Inc." (2005) Alternate cover US (iTunes)

"Feel Good Inc." is a song by Gorillaz, on their album Demon Days, featuring De La Soul. The song was released as the lead single from the album on May 9, 2005 in the United Kingdom (see 2005 in British music). "Feel Good Inc." peaked at #2 in the UK Singles Chart and #14 in the U.S., at the time the band's highest positions. It also topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., another first for the band, for eight consecutive weeks. In Damon Albarn's entire career to date, this is the only song to reach the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It peaked in the top 10 of fourteen countries, including at #1 in Spain. The song was listed at #308 on Pitchfork Media's Best Songs of the 2000s.

Track listings

• 7"

1. "Feel Good Inc."
2. "68 State"

• CD

1. "Feel Good Inc."
2. "Spitting Out the Demons"

• DVD

1. "Feel Good Inc." (video)
2. "Spitting Out the Demons"
3. "Bill Murray"

• Japan CD (released 27th April)

1. "Feel Good Inc."
2. "Spitting Out the Demons"
3. "Bill Murray"
4. "Murdoc Is God"
5. "Feel Good Inc." (video)

US iTunes EP

• (iTunes exclusive EP released 12th December 2006)

1. "Feel Good Inc." (animatic)
2. "Feel Good Inc." (live in Harlem - video)
3. "Feel Good Inc." (Noodle's demo)
4. "68 State"

Music video

The surreal music video for the song features 2D, Russel, and a shirtless Murdoc playing the song while trapped in a looming obelisk-like tower resembling a cigarette (labeled "Feel Good Inc."), which looms over a run-down dystopian landscape. Noodle, playing an acoustic guitar, flies outside on the small floating island which is apparently kept aloft by a windmill.

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. Also, as 2-D yells into a megaphone, a duck head (as seen in early Gorillaz videos) is seen inside of the megaphone.

Two of the main themes of the video are mental freedom and the "dumbing down" of mass culture by the media. ^[2] There are also the themes of escape versus imprisonment and the personal power to choose between the two and being trapped by the things you make. ^[3] The themes in the single, like those of the entire album, are based on Albarn's observations on the state of the world^[4].

2-D is depicted surrounded by many sinful distractions, but as he gazes out the dusty, barred windows, all he appears to want is to be free and join Noodle on her floating island. The tower represents the mental prison that the people are in. Those lying on the floor represent those who have already been "dumbed down", while 2-D, Murdoc, and Russel are the ones who have awakened. 2-D is trying to wake all the people from their half-dead state by yelling at them through his megaphone, like an activist.

According to Noodle, in the band's audio commentary of the video in the Demon Days limited edition album DVD, the island represents mental freedom and escape. She also commented that the floating island was "inspired by a lot of Japanese animation with the colors, the textures, and the tones". (Jamie Hewlett admitted in an interview that the inspiration for scenes from the video came from Hayao Miyazaki; specifically, the windmill-powered landmass, which has been compared to that of Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.) The island represents a place in a person's mind where one could go to if it were not for the fear instilled into them by the constant and unrelenting bleakness of events in the world. ^[6] In addition, it also represents a note of optimism and a memory of a simpler time, as if it were an image of an older and more dark world with "anarchy" and "turmoil";^[7] In fact, according to the 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 that closely resemble Korean War era Bell H-13s as it drifts through the clouds. The helicopters chasing after the floating island are monitoring the behavior inside and ensuring that no one escapes.^[8] It is unclear whether they are preventing Noodle's escape or are chasing her away.^[9]

Back in the tower, De La Soul appear as ghastly, larger-than life, seemingly omnipotent images on surrounding television screens, laughing at the lonesome 2-D, the content Murdoc, and the seemingly ambivalent Russel. Through their singing, they taunt 2-D about how he is not strong enough to fight them; that his attempts to wake everyone up and to escape the prison are futile; that he should not resist them; and that they are the ones in control ("With your sound you're in the blink/ Going to bite the dust/ Can't fight with us/ With your sound you kill the inc/ So don't stop get it, get it/ Until you're chedder header/ And watch the way I navigate, ha ha ha ha"). Their taunting also forces 2-D into a wild, hypnotic frenzy as he tries to resist the now-carnal urge to succumb and be dumbed down. They represent both the voices of the "corporation" — the media, which can brainwash people into believing certain things and convince people to follow the mainstream — and the “false icons” of the media, a reference to how some people seem to idolize and over-emphasize celebrities. This can be seen most especially in the fact that they claim 'Your sound' (individualistic thoughts) will 'Kill the Inc' (destroying the tower).

This is part of the band's Reject False Icons campaign [1].

At the end of the video, 2-D appears emotionally beaten by his surroundings, and returns to the state he was in when the video began, repeating "Feel Good" until the video finally ends (in an exact reversal of the intro, apart from the movement of 2-D's mouth). The repetition of "Feel Good" represents that 2-D 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. ^[11]

The music video for the Gorillaz song "El Mañana" bears a connection to this video, depicting two helicopter gunships catching up to Noodle's floating windmill island and attacking it, although nothing is seen of the tower nor the other three band members. The impression is that Noodle's island is under observation while orbiting the floating brothel in "Feel Good Inc." and then attacked when it breaks free in "El Mañana".

This video was something of a departure from those previously done by Gorillaz. The coloring was rather dark and layered, as opposed to flat and minimally-shaded as it had been in earlier videos. Moreover, the integration of computer-generated imagery and two-dimensional animation was much more seamless than it had been previously. Sweeping "camera movements" and usage of the multiplane effect were also featured. The video was produced by Passion Pictures, responsible for most past Gorillaz videos and Gorilla Bitez. In commentary for the video, Russel admits that "...they must be real good, 'cause I can't tell which bits are animation and which bits are real".

Parlophone has uploaded the video, along with other assorted Gorillaz media, to its official Youtube channel.

Charts

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
  • Breakthrough Video
  • Best Special Effects in a Video

• Grammy Awards of 2006
  • Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals

Nominations

• Grammy Awards of 2006
  • Record of the Year
  • Best Short Form Music Video

Legacy

• "Feel Good Inc." is a playable song in the video game Guitar Hero 5. Rock Band, Guitar Hero's "competitor," also includes the song as downloadable content.
• The song is currently the only Gorillaz song to be given a beatmap in the freeware rhythm game OSU!.
• The song was licensed for use in a commercial for Apple's iPod devices.
• Key elements of the music video were later reused for the final video release from Demon Days, El Manana.
• The song is on the setlist of Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3.
• The song appears twice in Activision's DJ Hero: once mixed with "Heard it through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, and once mixed with "Atomic" by Blondie.

References

External links

• Pitchfork Media review 3/25/2005
• Music video from official fansite