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"Feel Good Inc."
Single by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul
from the album Demon Days
B-side	"Spitting Out the Demons" "Bill Murray" "68 State"
Released	9 May 2005 (2005-05-09)
Studio	Kong (Essex, England) 13 (London, England)
Genre	Alternative rock hip hop rap rock funk rock
Length	3:42 (album version) 3:28 (radio edit)
Label	Parlophone Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Damon Albarn David Jolicoeur
Producer(s)	Gorillaz Danger Mouse Jason Cox James Dring
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) "Thou Shalt Always Kill" (2009)
Music video
"Feel Good Inc." on YouTube

"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 No. 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 five times platinum in Canada and New Zealand, and triple-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 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. 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 OK (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

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the European maxi-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)

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

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12. Feel Good Inc (UK CD single liner notes). Gorillaz. Parlophone. 2005. CDR 6663, 7243 869882 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
13. Feel Good Inc (UK DVD single liner notes). Gorillaz. Parlophone. 2005. DVDR 6663, 7243 8 69883 9 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
14. Feel Good Inc (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Gorillaz. Parlophone. 2005. R 6663, 07243 872447 7 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
15. ^ Feel Good Inc (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Gorillaz. Parlophone. 2005. 07243 872842 0 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
16. Feel Good Inc (Japanese CD EP liner notes). Gorillaz. Parlophone. 2005. TOCP-61100.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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External links

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

• 2005 singles
• 2005 songs
• De La Soul songs
• Funk rock songs
• Gorillaz 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 Damon Albarn
• Songs written by David Jude Jolicoeur
• Virgin Records singles