@@cheerio4000 Yeah, but he had to do that on Gorillaz before, that Kids With Guns song got him in some trouble with the choir kids moms or something lol
@@v.9439 People can have opinions. Artists are not your friends, they create and we consume. We have the right to criticize them. I don't like his singing voice all that much but he's still an incredible musician. We can appreciate what we like and point out what we don't, it's called feedback.
Sometimes I thought in this age, with how much pro tools and autotune and stuff are used, I thought he might use some autotune. But man this proves he doesn't for me, his voice is just as melodic as ever.
@@Mr.SoggyShoes He does but it's usually quite obvious and for effect rather than to mask his voice. For Albarn it seems like putting distortion on a guitar, for effect.
@@SeanSMST he does use autotune and I’m sure it’s different now but before it was pretty cool. He described it not as autotune but as a digital voice. “2Ds” singing still sounds pretty similar so I’m sure it’s a similar type of technology.
I feel that Damon has that immediately recognizable voice, yk? speaking or singing we just know it’s him. I have been such a big fan of Gorillaz in general over the years, I love their music, and the fact that they even give an amazing story and deep lore to their characters. Lots of love and effort has been put into their music videos, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
@@romany921 rn I can’t remember, I know there are a few but I can only recall Rocket Juice & The Moon also didn’t he do like to musicals??? Dr Dee(apple carts) and Journey to the west(the art was also made by Jamie!!)
At this point the cartoon and the music are completely separate but i dont mind it sometimes, jamie has his own stories to tell and so does damon they just do it under the same band
Actually, the parallelism in the band is part of the lore since phase 2. The musicians play as a Gorillaz tribute band and they were a warm-up band for phase 3. Also, Damon helps 2D with singing lessons and Murdoc stole Damon's demos for Plastic Beach lol, among other things.
@C1999 it really shows how different Damon can sound while singing as 2D and the audio bit at the end that us supposed to be him I do still think he should have voiced 2D.
I like how he “explains” the lyrics by describing emotions, abstract concepts, and visions. It’s not that the lyrics are meaningless, but they’re written in a subconscious almost automatic way, so he has to be careful not to take the audience out of the feeling they give by making too much sense. I think I can understand that.
He might not be the best technical singer, but my god is his voice amazing. Even in this interview, you can feel the passion as he sings each line. He's definitely one of my all time favorite artists. When you look at what he did with Blur and now the Gorillaz, dude is a legend. I had a friend who also got to meet Damon after one of his solo shows many years back. He said Albarn literally chatted with him for an hour, and was the nicest guy.
If you want to listen to Damon's a cappella version: 0:55 - Verse 1 1:40 - Pt2 2:20 - Pre-chorus 3:02 - Chorus 3:37 - Verse 2 4:07 - Pt2 4:43 - Outro He's brilliant, this video is brilliant, this song is brilliant
Gorillaz is one of the best, most energetic bands I've seen live and Damon is one of the kindest human-beings I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Grateful for that.
"... it's all a bit of odd nonsense..." Something I love about the lyrics in Gorillaz songs is that it exists in the same whacky, extra-dimensional universe as the characters. At times they feel quite random and nonsensical, but its always phonetically consistent, with all the wordplay working in tandem to create a cohesive world. It's a freeing form of songwriting that I think is largely unappreciated by casual listeners and fans alike. I've seen some listeners online attempt to dig into the deeper meaning of their tracks, but they always end up extrapolating another run-of-the-mill "I miss you" theme. I find that so boring, frankly, I like to think that a song like 'Empire Ants' really is about an insect colony and the wonders of their tiny world.
I love that there’s so much imagination involved in his storytelling. Always levels. Some artists you can really tell know and love good music…that’s why they’re able to experiment with it in new ways.
Some of my fav memories are listening to Gorillaz while flying on a overnight flight and watching the sunrise from the plane and being completely overwhelmed by the beauty made even better by the accompanying music.
What I love about gorillaz music is that when you first listen, you’re taken to a place. Whether that place be what the lyrics are intending, such as Damon’s explanation, or a place where you have felt you’ve been before, or if it’s both, it’s always done in a very deep and melodic way. It hits me in my feels each time! Damon, you charming 54 year old genius, I love you, thank you for this explanation. 🫶
Am I the only one to notice he whistles with every s? It might be the grills. Damon is a genius. My favorite Damon project is The Good the Bad and the Queen.
You’d think Genius being such a huge music company would have the wherewithal to remove sibilance (hard S sound) from a basic audio track. Any audio mixing program can do it. This is so distracting.
If you listen again the record you'll notice he never removed that, he just lowered that with a De-esser. Probably the whistle also makes the lyrics more Clear... That is also an issue you can find in Chris Martin from Coldplay. That's why I always use Coldplay to test sibilance on speakers 😅. Coldplay decide a more conservative master while Gorillaz a more overprocessed (still punchy).
The thing with gorillaz is that you can tell that everyone has grown up with how the art is to the songs, each album reflects the era it was released in. It’s honestly beautiful, there’s a lot of growth in between “ghost Train” and “Silent Running” One has simplistic lyrics and the other really goes in depth. It’s amazing how you can tell that everyone has gotten older and wiser
I recently heard this song for the first time about a month and a half ago, and I became absolutely obsessed with the hypnotic nature of it. I never knew who these guys were until I heard that song. I saw the official video and lots funny- The opening image is 10 blocks from whereI live in Los Angeles. The song feels like that weird strange hypnotic impossible to resist pull of this city. Hearing him talk now I see why.
Getting Damon Albarn to commit to one specific set of lyrics is quite possibly the most significant achievement of our times. You had a good run, modern science.
this is insane, he really embodies all of his characters in one person such a unique voice too, he really does sound like 2D (maybe they are the same person...)
It's so interesting to hear him explain his intentions vs how I actually interpreted the song. I had thought it was about technology (internet) addiction and FOMO. And I thought "silent running" was like avoiding the real world because it's too painful to acknowledge. Silently (doom) scrolling through infinite pages.
I would really love to see this unedited. I wonder if there was more context that maybe didn't feel concise enough to the editor. It's such a great track. So interesting to think about it from this perspective :D
It seems to be a recurring thing in interviews with him lol. Though I think damon is one of those artists that welcomes interpretation from the audience. It helps the music feel alive.
The opening of their video makes it so clear that the record label ruined the marketing for this album. He seems like he really doesn't want to do this 💀
Thank you ❤️ I'm so sick of kids (some) miss-quoting verses and claiming interpretations that don't even make sense... he should have a rep do this for his other records to clear up some things.
Seeing Damon doing a genius interview is like walking into an alternate universe
Agreed
fr😭
😂 fact
@@liamkelly1848 Fr lmao
FRR
Damon explaining his lyrics is like the devil curing cancer
Right??? I never expected this
fr I thought it was opposed to him like spiritually
@@cheerio4000 I feel like he must have planned this in advance. Like "and to really throw everyone off, I'll explain the lyrics."
@@cheerio4000 Yeah, but he had to do that on Gorillaz before, that Kids With Guns song got him in some trouble with the choir kids moms or something lol
@@lowlink534 Dirty Harry, not Kids With Guns
His speaking voice is so incredibly soothing ☺️
no its not
@@horatio2560uh yes it is, just as much as his singing voice
@@v.9439 no it ugly
His “Ss” are whistles..
@@v.9439 People can have opinions. Artists are not your friends, they create and we consume. We have the right to criticize them. I don't like his singing voice all that much but he's still an incredible musician. We can appreciate what we like and point out what we don't, it's called feedback.
I never would’ve guessed Damon would do this!
Neither🤣
i can picture a gun to his head off camera
Kinda surprised but kinda cool to hear him describe his process and his voice is really relaxing
the lyrics for every gorillaz song is always so interesting despite how we can never understand them sometimes
Yea
Yall 🤠
Yeah facts like idk what the heck dare is about other than it’s a vibe
And just when we need him the most, he returns
he never left ❤
@@mariarb5252 it's just a Batman reference
@@s3psis_ i know!! just wanted to add that :)
I love how melodic his voice is even without any music. Its so pleasant to sing along to!
Sometimes I thought in this age, with how much pro tools and autotune and stuff are used, I thought he might use some autotune. But man this proves he doesn't for me, his voice is just as melodic as ever.
@@SeanSMST He does use some autotune, just not as much as a lot of artists do
@@Mr.SoggyShoes He does but it's usually quite obvious and for effect rather than to mask his voice. For Albarn it seems like putting distortion on a guitar, for effect.
@@SeanSMST he does use autotune and I’m sure it’s different now but before it was pretty cool. He described it not as autotune but as a digital voice. “2Ds” singing still sounds pretty similar so I’m sure it’s a similar type of technology.
This guy is kinda cool, he should sing in a britpop band
Maybe he should call it Blur or something
@@xxjuancena80xx24 now you're onto something!
young promise
he should write a song about Girls and Boys
He should write a song that goes like woohoo
Damon you absolute marvel you've done it again
As aunty donna would say "haven't you done well"
Gorillaz never fail to impress us
Exactly.
Damn straight
Speaking facts
i wouldnt go that far...
Except by bad bunny ...?
watching damon sing is just lovely
I never thought I'd see Damon doing this kind of stuff
I feel that Damon has that immediately recognizable voice, yk? speaking or singing we just know it’s him. I have been such a big fan of Gorillaz in general over the years, I love their music, and the fact that they even give an amazing story and deep lore to their characters. Lots of love and effort has been put into their music videos, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
i love everything from damon - blur, gorillaz, the good the bad and the queen, his solo music, can’t wait to see blur live this summer 🤩
don't forget every band he formed just to drop one album w it never to return again lmao this man can't sit still for 5 minutes
Omg are you also seeing blur in primavera sound? I'm going to see them in Porto, last year i went too just for Gorillaz, I love this man
@@ritagarcia9696 i’ll be seeing blur at wembley stadium! :)
@@sanguche6408 what one was it? 🥴
@@romany921 rn I can’t remember, I know there are a few but I can only recall Rocket Juice & The Moon also didn’t he do like to musicals??? Dr Dee(apple carts) and Journey to the west(the art was also made by Jamie!!)
I wonder who convinced Damon to do this (he killed it!)
Bet it was khali uches, lol she did her own and she’s collaborated with him
It’s probably to promote the new album
since this album was produced in America, he probably did all the typical showbiz things you do in LA when you need to promote an album
noodle
At this point the cartoon and the music are completely separate but i dont mind it sometimes, jamie has his own stories to tell and so does damon they just do it under the same band
I noticed the seperation too, but it’s nice seeing it this way too.
Actually, the parallelism in the band is part of the lore since phase 2. The musicians play as a Gorillaz tribute band and they were a warm-up band for phase 3.
Also, Damon helps 2D with singing lessons and Murdoc stole Damon's demos for Plastic Beach lol, among other things.
@@gutsypath9 yeah it’s cool how they find ways to crossover
@@2-d806 would be funny if their in universe explanation is that damon is a ghost writer and the real band members are busy with cultist stuff
@C1999 it really shows how different Damon can sound while singing as 2D and the audio bit at the end that us supposed to be him I do still think he should have voiced 2D.
I like how he “explains” the lyrics by describing emotions, abstract concepts, and visions. It’s not that the lyrics are meaningless, but they’re written in a subconscious almost automatic way, so he has to be careful not to take the audience out of the feeling they give by making too much sense. I think I can understand that.
Yeah like the abstraction is there, and if you pinpoint it too much, it loses that
I. Yes i like your explanation. I didnt got that 👌
I would pay for Damon explaining every single song of his carreer... love this guy! Love Gorillaz!
The first fews lyrics don’t make any sense really
He might not be the best technical singer, but my god is his voice amazing. Even in this interview, you can feel the passion as he sings each line. He's definitely one of my all time favorite artists. When you look at what he did with Blur and now the Gorillaz, dude is a legend.
I had a friend who also got to meet Damon after one of his solo shows many years back. He said Albarn literally chatted with him for an hour, and was the nicest guy.
If you want to listen to Damon's a cappella version:
0:55 - Verse 1
1:40 - Pt2
2:20 - Pre-chorus
3:02 - Chorus
3:37 - Verse 2
4:07 - Pt2
4:43 - Outro
He's brilliant, this video is brilliant, this song is brilliant
God I love him so much his work has motivated me through many seasons for 20 years. Gorillaz are a part of my biology.
Amen 🙏
Mnie demotywowała, ale wciąż ją lubię 🦲 gorrilaz is not for motivation imo
Watching Damon explaining his lyrics feels like a dream coming true. Never thought he would do that.
Watching Damon doing this is weird!!, sublime and satisfying at the same time
Now please make one for every Gorillaz song, thank you
Please bring Damon back for more Gorillaz lyrics. This is a blessing.🙏
Damon should make an audio book, his voice is very soothing
Gorillaz is one of the best, most energetic bands I've seen live and Damon is one of the kindest human-beings I've ever had the pleasure to meet.
Grateful for that.
i wish i could see him perform Mr Tembo live
Considering I went to a concert and enjoyed their music makes me happy
Gorillas in the flesh
I actually met Damon in Montreal! He was so nice and gave me some songwriting advice!
damon albarn is so cool. i hope he lives until 110
111
I was expecting a cartoon band, instead I get the WooHoo guy
4:31 that is such a beautiful quote
"... it's all a bit of odd nonsense..."
Something I love about the lyrics in Gorillaz songs is that it exists in the same whacky, extra-dimensional universe as the characters. At times they feel quite random and nonsensical, but its always phonetically consistent, with all the wordplay working in tandem to create a cohesive world. It's a freeing form of songwriting that I think is largely unappreciated by casual listeners and fans alike.
I've seen some listeners online attempt to dig into the deeper meaning of their tracks, but they always end up extrapolating another run-of-the-mill "I miss you" theme. I find that so boring, frankly, I like to think that a song like 'Empire Ants' really is about an insect colony and the wonders of their tiny world.
This
I like both, songs with just raw human emotion and also songs that feel random af lol
I love that there’s so much imagination involved in his storytelling. Always levels. Some artists you can really tell know and love good music…that’s why they’re able to experiment with it in new ways.
Damon is so iconic
Some of my fav memories are listening to Gorillaz while flying on a overnight flight and watching the sunrise from the plane and being completely overwhelmed by the beauty made even better by the accompanying music.
ohh im flying out to belfast in april from the us and this sounds like a wonderful idea. im totally going to do this
That perpetual soft whistling with every “s” sound from his every-year-warmer voice 🫠
This video gave 5+ years of life, Damon is so wholesome I could listen to his voice all day
this is such a treat I’m so happy he came on
What I love about gorillaz music is that when you first listen, you’re taken to a place. Whether that place be what the lyrics are intending, such as Damon’s explanation, or a place where you have felt you’ve been before, or if it’s both, it’s always done in a very deep and melodic way. It hits me in my feels each time! Damon, you charming 54 year old genius, I love you, thank you for this explanation. 🫶
He’s got that soothing comforting voice where he could sing you to sleep.
Something about this song makes me cry. Every single time.
I loved this Damon, cant stop listening to this, every time with a new interpretation. Love hearing what you intended to deliver!
who that guy?? he ain't a cartoon character...
Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20
Obamna
He isn't a cartoon g-_-
lmaaooo
Exactly 😅
His voice I swear it makes me feel so calm 😌
honestly makes me so happy that he finds joy in the beauty of everything but is still able to take a step back. ive still got a lot to learn
Am I the only one to notice he whistles with every s? It might be the grills. Damon is a genius. My favorite Damon project is The Good the Bad and the Queen.
He has always done that, I love it
You’d think Genius being such a huge music company would have the wherewithal to remove sibilance (hard S sound) from a basic audio track. Any audio mixing program can do it. This is so distracting.
yes it’s so distracting! audio production should’ve made it less sharp
If you listen again the record you'll notice he never removed that, he just lowered that with a De-esser.
Probably the whistle also makes the lyrics more Clear...
That is also an issue you can find in Chris Martin from Coldplay. That's why I always use Coldplay to test sibilance on speakers 😅. Coldplay decide a more conservative master while Gorillaz a more overprocessed (still punchy).
his voice is so sweet, mans dont need autotune!! i could listen to him all day 🖤✨
Damon’s voice ASMR….. 🫠
Dude literally made the most influential album of my childhood and then just pops up like this.
Damon Albarn siempre sera mi #1... gracias por traerlo 🥰
never noticed that he whistles sometimes when speaking. He’s too cool.
Damon is such a relaxing person it’s weird not seeing him in a lot of interviews anymore lol
I love the fact, that his live singing voice is as good as the "version" in songs from the studio.
Damon's voice is just godly
Im so excited for the full album to release its so good so far and im excited to see whats next to come
Man I feel like I don't understand the lyrics any better but the song and this interview are still beautiful AF
An idea for Jamie Hewlett: one of these but featuring one of the cartoon characters instead of Damon.
omg imagine 2-D explaining the lyrics of 'Souk Eye'
whoever convinced him to do this,,,,thank you 😭😭
The thing with gorillaz is that you can tell that everyone has grown up with how the art is to the songs, each album reflects the era it was released in. It’s honestly beautiful, there’s a lot of growth in between “ghost Train” and “Silent Running” One has simplistic lyrics and the other really goes in depth. It’s amazing how you can tell that everyone has gotten older and wiser
Thanks for everything! Loved writing it with you!
The way he whistles when he talks is special to me for no reason
ive been listening to gorillaz since i was 7 and to this day there making bangers
DAMON ON GENIUS 😵💚
( this is by far the most famous person on here in my opinion) it's also nice to see a dedicated fan explaining his favorite song 🥰
“How do you do fellow kids”
I recently heard this song for the first time about a month and a half ago, and I became absolutely obsessed with the hypnotic nature of it. I never knew who these guys were until I heard that song. I saw the official video and lots funny- The opening image is 10 blocks from whereI live in Los Angeles. The song feels like that weird strange hypnotic impossible to resist pull of this city. Hearing him talk now I see why.
The goat behind my childhood
Been waiting for that Damon Albarn audiobook for like 15 years now
He’s so scrunkly I love him sm 😭
My mans speech:
voice 10%
whispering 90%😊
Getting Damon Albarn to commit to one specific set of lyrics is quite possibly the most significant achievement of our times. You had a good run, modern science.
i love gorillaz i have grown up with them and to see damon do an interview makes me so happy
this is insane, he really embodies all of his characters in one person
such a unique voice too, he really does sound like 2D (maybe they are the same person...)
My absolute favorite song on the album. Thank you for this ♡
Holy crap he’s real!!!!
He has a really beautiful voice fr
Why is damn just always so interesting to watch? He’s got a super entertaining personality
That GORGEOUS baritone, and a capella, too. Heavenly!
God I need him to do an acoustic version of this song
There is one on the album it's amazing 👏
I've been obsessed with Damon Albarn since I was 14, and I was madly in love with him through the 90s LOL! Could listen to him talk forever.
It's so interesting to hear him explain his intentions vs how I actually interpreted the song. I had thought it was about technology (internet) addiction and FOMO. And I thought "silent running" was like avoiding the real world because it's too painful to acknowledge. Silently (doom) scrolling through infinite pages.
I thought very similar! I kind of love Damon's talk of almost the opposite- being amazed by nature and etc. Maybe its ironic lol
I would really love to see this unedited. I wonder if there was more context that maybe didn't feel concise enough to the editor. It's such a great track. So interesting to think about it from this perspective :D
He did say "human interaction is the antidote to silent running"
This is why great song writers are able to convey emotions they feel about a specific thing in a broad way that feels specific.
It seems to be a recurring thing in interviews with him lol. Though I think damon is one of those artists that welcomes interpretation from the audience. It helps the music feel alive.
his voice is so calming i love Damon
The opening of their video makes it so clear that the record label ruined the marketing for this album. He seems like he really doesn't want to do this 💀
Pretty sure the album would be out already if it was up to him.
For sure, he’s actually talked about it and confirmed that he wanted to release it months ago
Thank you ❤️ I'm so sick of kids (some) miss-quoting verses and claiming interpretations that don't even make sense... he should have a rep do this for his other records to clear up some things.
Got to pet this guy's head, when he was doing a gig in Finland last summer! ❤
That whistle ❤ luv my Damon boy ❤
i literally said “WHAT” aloud when i saw this video while looking up lyrics on genius cos damon feels like an entity rather than a celebrity to me
The song is incredible. Right away one of my favorites. I kept replaying it for about 1 hr. No joke.
Took some shrooms today, been on replay for 3 hours NO JOKE
Genius should've invited 2D or Murdoc through an animation 💀 but oh well we love Damon anyway
30 yrs old and I'm just seeing this guy for the first time
I wish I could get a video like this for his entire discography
as someone who have seen too many damon interviews, i'm glad he still repeats "sort of" everytime
Andy Serkis never ceases to amaze me.
Lmao
I laughed out loud at this
God yea he looks like if Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman had a child
This song coming random to him and it being my fav song from the album is crazy!
It's weird watching him sing what I've always imagined to be 2D.
Damon Albarn defining music since 90s. He is An Art-tist. The birth of Gorillaz has been amazing.
God i love damon's voice😭
Now he is a real genius. Wow this interview was completly unexpected to me 😆
Thank you for Gorillaz. ♥️
Love this. This song's been looping for me after its release
3:56 lol that was adorable 😭😭