Humility
by Gorillaz (featuring George Benson)

Album: The Now Now (2018)
Charted: 85
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Songfacts®:

  • This breezy summer jam finds 2-D (Damon Albarn) singing about escaping loneliness and isolation. While the song title does not necessarily connect to the melody or the lyrics, according to Albarn they are "informed by that word."
  • Like the rest of the songs on The Now Now, this was penned by Albarn while touring USA in 2017. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said the listener should not "read too much" into some of the song titles. He added: "Sometimes my original GarageBand [software] titles just stay. I know where the words came from, but not why."
  • "Humity" entered the Hot 100 at number 85. The last time Gorillaz made an appearance on that chart was in 2006, when they peaked at #87 with "DARE."
  • The song features vocals and guitar work by jazz musician George Benson. It gave Benson his first entry on the Hot 100 since "20/20" peaked at #48 in 1985.
  • The music video was directed by Gorillaz illustrator Jamie Hewitt. Filmed in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, it intersperses shots of 2-D roller-skating with Jack Black playing a guitar. Hewitt told The Sun:

    "We shot it on Venice Beach on that little stretch where the world comes to an end. You have all the madness of America in one strip...homeless junkies, prostitutes, gang bangers and then holidaymakers."

    Hewitt added that they had to film Jack Black's scenes "really quickly" as big crowds tend to rapidly gather when the Hollywood star is around.
  • Damon Albarn's lyrics for The Now Now are more introspective than previous Gorillaz albums; he credited producer James Ford for extensively contributing to the album's lyrical cohesion. Albarn explained to Q magazine: "The Now Now is basically a dream within an imagined reality. I don't know how you translate that. It's a record within a record. It's the voice of 2-D singing about isolation and an inability to understand or find his way."

Comments: 1

  • Mjs from New York, NyThat Gorillaz shot this video for this song where George Benson is the guest artist at Venice Beach is no coincidence. George himself shot part of the video for his 1980 hit “Give Me the Night” at Venice Beach, improbably smooth on his roller skates while playing his guitar.
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