Feel Good Inc.

"Feel Good Inc." is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring American hip-hop group De La Soul. Released on 9 May 2005 as the lead single from the band's second studio album, ''Demon Days'', the single peaked at 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 14 in the United States, topping the US ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart for eight consecutive weeks and appearing on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 year-end rankings for both 2005 and 2006. The song peaked within the top 10 in 16 countries, reaching No. 1 in Spain, Poland and Greece. The song has been certified six times platinum in New Zealand, five times Platinum in Canada, and four times platinum in the United Kingdom.

The song was listed in ''Pitchfork Media'' and ''Rolling Stone''s Best Songs of the 2000s. "Feel Good Inc." was nominated for three Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006, including Record of the Year, ultimately winning for Best Pop Collaboration. ''Popdose'' ranked it 26th on their list of 100 best songs of the decade.

Music video

Background

The main themes of the "Feel Good Inc." video are intellectual freedom and the media's dumbing down of mass culture. Jamie Hewlett said 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''. On 26 April 2022, the video was re-uploaded to the Gorillaz YouTube channel with commentary from virtual band member Murdoc Niccals. The music video was filmed in February of 2005.

Synopsis

At the beginning of the video, the camera rises up to the top of the Feel Good Inc. tower, and a sample of the Spacemonkeyz dub of "Clint Eastwood", entitled "A Fistful of Peanuts", can be heard. The camera focuses into the tower, where 2-D 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. 2-D attempts to awaken all the people lying on the floor from their half-dead state by yelling at them through his megaphone, in the style of a political activist. Ominous helicopters, which closely resemble Korean War-era Bell H-13s, chase the floating island, 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.

Back in the tower, De La Soul appear as larger-than life, seemingly omnipotent images on surrounding television screens, taunting the Gorillaz band members and driving 2-D into a wild, hypnotic frenzy as he tries to resist the urge to be dumbed down. At the end of the video, 2-D, beaten by his surroundings, 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 2-D is convincing himself that everything is okay (as if he is brainwashing himself to believe it), instead of confronting the harsh truth of the situation. The music video for " El Mañana" continues the narrative, depicting two helicopter gunships catching up to Noodle's floating windmill island.

Awards and nominations

Awards

* 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
** Breakthrough Video
** Best Special Effects in a Video
* 2006 Grammy Awards
** Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals

Nominations

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

Formats and track listings

Australian, European and UK 2-track CD single
# "Feel Good Inc." – 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" – 5:10

European CD maxi-single
# "Feel Good Inc." – 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" – 5:10
# "Bill Murray" – 3:51
# "Feel Good Inc." (video) – 4:13

Japanese CD EP
# "Feel Good Inc." – 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" – 5:10
# "Bill Murray" – 3:51
# "Murdoc Is God" – 2:26
# "Feel Good Inc." (video) – 4:13

European and UK DVD single
# "Feel Good Inc." (video) – 4:13
# "Spitting Out the Demons" – 5:10
# "Bill Murray" – 3:51

European and UK 7-inch picture disc
:A. "Feel Good Inc." – 3:42
:B. "68 State" – 4:48

European digital single 1
# "Feel Good Inc." (instrumental) – 3:42

European digital single 2
# "Feel Good Inc." – 2:49
# "68 State" – 4:48

US digital EP
# "Feel Good Inc." – 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" – 5:09
# "Bill Murray" – 3:52
# "Dare" featuring Shaun Ryder (Soulwax remix) – 5:44

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the European CD single and ''Demon Days'' liner notes.

Studios
* Recorded at Kong Studios (Essex, England) and 13 (London, England)
* Mixed at Pierce Rooms (London, England)
* Mastered at Masterdisk (New York City)

Song personnel
* Gorillaz – writing, production, mixing
* De La Soul – featured vocals
** David Jolicoeur – writing
* Simon Tong – additional guitar
* Danger Mouse – production, mixing, programming
* Jason Cox – additional production, mixing, engineering
* James Dring – additional production, programming
* Howie Weinberg – mastering
* J.C. Hewett – artwork and design
* Zombie Flesh Eaters – artwork and design

Video personnel
* Jamie Hewlett – director
* Pete Candeland – director
* Passion Pictures – production
* Rushes – post production
* Chu-Li Shewring – sound design
* Sebastian Monk – sound design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* Pitchfork Media revie
3/25/2005


Music video
from official fansite

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2005 singles
2005 songs
Gorillaz songs
De La Soul songs
Funk rock songs
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
Number-one singles in Greece
Number-one singles in Spain
Parlophone singles
Rap rock songs
Songs about freedom
Song recordings produced by Danger Mouse (musician)
Songs written by David Jude Jolicoeur
Songs written by Danger Mouse (musician)
Songs written by Damon Albarn
Songs written by Jamie Hewlett
Virgin Records singles