Junk boats and English boys
Crashing out into the mouths
Electric fences and guns
You swallow me
I'm a pill on your tongue
Here on the nineteenth floor
The neon lights make me numb
It begins to explode
And all the people in a dream
Wait for the machine
to Pick the shit up leave it clean
What you learning in school?
Is the rise of an eastern sun
Gonna be good for everyone?
Music turned into thin air
The DJ was the last to leave
She had well conditioned hair
Was beautiful, but nothing really was there
THESE ARE THE ACTUAL LYRICS!!! YOU SCREWED UP THERE PADRE!!
Lord, hear me now Junk boats and English boys Crashing out into the mouths Electric fences and guns You swallow me I'm a pill on your tongue Here on the nineteenth floor The neon lights make me numb
And late in a star's life It begins to explode And all the people in a dream Wait for the machine to Pick the shit up leave it clean
Kid hang over here- What you learning in school? Is the rise of an eastern sun Gonna be good for everyone?
The radio station disappears Music turned into thin air The DJ was the last to leave She had well conditioned hair Was beautiful, but nothing really was there
I believe this song to be about how depressingly beautiful Hong Kong is. It's not about some battle or anything but simply about how gorgeous the city is yet so depressing b/c it seems as if Hong Kong is slowly dying. As if it's a farewell song to Hong Kong.
The first stanza suggests that the main character of the story (Damon I guess) kicks off with his plea to god as he see's such beauty being laid to waste slowly from all the tourists and trash that fills the once respectful and powerful city. Now it just seems like everyone is fenced in by guns and electric fences. Than referring to himself as a pill on the tongue of Hong Kong being swallowed by the culture and beauty that surrounds him while looking out on Hing Kong from the nineteenth floor of a hotel. He is so overwhelmed by the culture that he feels numb.
He then resumes in singing about how Hong Kong is like a star on the verge of exploding (Burning out) and everyone can see the destruction of Hong Kong coming so they are just waiting on the downfall of Hong Kong for it to finish exploding and some machine (person or force) to come and sweep it all away as if it never happened, as if it was all a nostalgic dream upon waking. The people being depressed as they know that they have to accept the truth; that their beloved icon of happiness, hope and respect is dying and will some day soon, be gone.
He then begins a conversation with a child near by and tries to gently let him know after some small talk about school that Hong Kong is dying and that it will soon be gone. (Kind of how a father would let his son/daughter know about someone/something that is dying) He asks the child if he thinks Hong Kong will be good enough to still remain or will it be gone forever soon, hinting at the negative being the most reasonable answer.
He then begins to talk about the radio station and the music in Hong Kong as a way of describing the spirit or soul of Hong Kong. Talks about how everything else is gone except for the last thing that breathes life into Hong Kong, the spirit being the last to leave and the most important. That it's not just leaving either...that it's dead. A ghost. Something that you think is there but nothing is really there. The woman representing the last bit of life and beauty that Hong Kong still reatains.
...simply beautiful...yet tragic at the same time... The death of something truly beautiful is what Damon is trying to tell us about...what a genius of words...
@Zanderman14 It is beautiful and tragic, he's talking about how the English, went to war and forced China to get addicted to opium, Hong Kong was the city created to facilitate that inhuman thing they did to get super rich and maintain themselves as the superpower on earth. Hong Kong became the wealthiest city on earth for quite some time on the back of that mule...Damon is a genius, this song sublime.
@Zanderman14 It is beautiful and tragic, he's talking about how the English, went to war and forced China to get addicted to opium, Hong Kong was the city created to facilitate that inhuman thing they did to get super rich and maintain themselves as the superpower on earth. Hong Kong became the wealthiest city on earth for quite some time on the back of that mule...Damon is a genius, this song sublime.
and thanks for fixing the lyrics...whoever posted the first must have been wasted.
and thanks for fixing the lyrics...whoever posted the first must have been wasted.
@Zanderman14 Zanderman - you probably won't ever see this as it was almost fifteen years ago when you wrote this, and who ever really comes back to these sights. Fifteens years ago is about the time when this came out... strange, seems like worlds ago now - probably was for most of us - I was only beginning to grow up then, I left home and left a lot behind.
@Zanderman14 Zanderman - you probably won't ever see this as it was almost fifteen years ago when you wrote this, and who ever really comes back to these sights. Fifteens years ago is about the time when this came out... strange, seems like worlds ago now - probably was for most of us - I was only beginning to grow up then, I left home and left a lot behind.
I returned to this song last night and wanted to look it up - it struck me deeply, something profound, it is as painful and beautiful now as...
I returned to this song last night and wanted to look it up - it struck me deeply, something profound, it is as painful and beautiful now as it was then. This writing - your writing above - is some of the most beautiful I've read. Thanks for this. You made the song even greater. Makes me think about who you were then - where you are now - a romantic I think - I hope you still are.
This song is absolutely breathtaking. It sent chills down my spine the first time I heard it, literally. Definitely one of the best Gorillaz songs I've ever heard. The zither in the beginning is gorgeous.
I think it's very clear that this is largely about Hong Kong's handover to China.
Lord, hear me now Junk boats and English boys Crashing out into the noise Electric fences and guns
Where once there were junk boats and English boys, soon there will be electric fences and guns (China).
You swallow me I'm a pill on your tongue Here on the nighting floor The neon lights make me numb
Yes, it is about his being lost in the astounding maze that is Hong Kong. But it is also relating to Hong Kong being swallowed, like a pill on the tongue of China. Eventually, that it will be assimilated.
And late in a star's life It begins to explode And all the people in a dream Wait for the machine Pick the shit up keep things clean
Agree with an earlier poster. It is about Hong Kong dying, and the dream of relative freedom giving into the slow erosion of communism and limits on democracy.
Kid hang over here What you learning in school? Is the rise of an eastern sun Gonna be good for everyone?
Again, questioning what children are now learning at school. How long will it be until education is controlled? The latter half of the verse is fairly clear. The rise of an Eastern sun (China). Will it be good for everyone?
The radio station disappeared Music turned into thin air The DJ was the last to leave She had well conditioned hair Was beautiful but nothing really was there
Free speech and expression slowly disappearing.
i couldn’t agree more
i couldn’t agree more
and i should add that I interpret the "is the rise of an eastern sun/gonna be good for everyone" line as a pointed reference to Hong Kong being handed back to China - what does the future hold?
it's actually "Late in a Star's life".
Just amazing - I first heard "Hong Kong" at the Manchester Demon Days live gig in November 2005 and I have come to absolutely love it. I had been in Hong Kong in August 2005 and I think it was a quite straightforward optomistic happy time in my life...the "you swallow me.." and "kid hang over here..." bits cause me to have, er, grit in my eye, almost every time!
Lord, hear me now Junk boats and English boys Crashing out into the noise Electric fences and guns
You swallow me I'm just a pill on your tongue Up here on the nineteenth floor The neon lights make me numb
And late in a star's life It begins to explode And all the people in a dream Wait for the machine Pick the shit up keep things clean
Kid hang over here What you learning in school? Is the rise of an eastern sun Gonna be alright for everyone?
The radio station disappeared Music turned into thin air The DJ was the last to leave She had well conditioned hair Was beautiful but nothing really was there
The Gorillaz song from Help: A Day In the Life. I'm not 100% sure about the accuracy of some of the lines so if there's any corrections just say.
this is one of their best either way
Gorillaz surprised me by producing what is clearly the best song on the Help album. It's amazing how Damon just keeps getting better at singing and writing lyrics as he gets older. The only correction I can see is that he says 'shit' rather than 'great', as in "Pick the shit up leave it clean".