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Feel Good Inc.
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Feel Good Inc.
| cover = Feel Good Inc. Artwork.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Gorillaz featuring De La Soul
| album = Demon Days
| B-side =
| released = 9 May 2005
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
| length =
| label =
| writer =
| producer =
| chronology = Gorillaz
| prev_title = Lil' Dub Chefin'
| prev_year = 2002
| next_title = Dare
| next_year = 2005
| misc =
}}
"'Feel Good Inc.'" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring American hip-hop group De La Soul. The song was released as the lead single from the band's second studio album, 'Demon Days', on 9 May 2005, preceding the release of the album by two 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 15 countries, reaching No. 1 in Spain and Greece. "Feel Good Inc." has been certified five times platinum in Canada and double-platinum in the United Kingdom. "Feel Good Inc." currently has over 950 million plays on Spotify.
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 2006 Grammy Awards, 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 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.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 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. 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.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 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 OK (as if he is brainwashing himself to believe it), instead of facing the harsh truth of the situation. The music video for "El Maana" is a continuation of this video, depicting two helicopter gunships catching up to Noodle's floating windmill island and attacking it.
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
Track listings
'UK CD single'
# "Feel Good Inc." 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" 5:10
'UK DVD single'
# "Feel Good Inc." (music video) 4:13
# "Spitting Out the Demons" 5:10
# "Bill Murray" 3:51
'UK 7-inch single'
:A. "Feel Good Inc." 3:42
:B. "68 State" 4:48
'European enhanced CD single'
# "Feel Good Inc." 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" 5:10
# "Bill Murray" 3:51
# "Feel Good Inc." (music 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." (music video) 4:13
'US digital EP'
# "Feel Good Inc." 3:42
# "Spitting Out the Demons" 5:09
# "Bill Murray" 3:52
# "Dare" (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
* David Jolicoeur writing
* De La Soul featured vocals
* Simon Tong additional guitar
* Morgan Nicholls bass 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
Sales and certifications
Release history
References
Buy Feel Good Inc. now from Amazon
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