Good Morning (Kanye West song)

Infobox Song
Name = Good Morning


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Artist = Kanye West
Album = Graduation
A-side =
B-side =
Released = August 26, 2008
track_no = 1
Format = Videoclip
Recorded = 2006-2007
Genre = Hip hop, Rap
Length = 3:15
Label = Roc-A-Fella, Island Def Jam
Writer = B. Taupin, E. John and K. West
Producer = Kanye West
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prev =
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next = "Champion"
next_no = 2

"Good Morning" is a song by rap artist Kanye West and the album-opener for his third studio album, "Graduation". The song was produced by West himself and co-written with Bernie Taupin and Elton John. It contains samples from "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," as sung by Elton John as well as additional vocals by Connie Mitchell and Tony "Penafire" Williams, concluding with Jay-Z's reiteration of a lyric taken from his own album intro track "The Ruler's Back."Digital Booklet - Graduation]

Release

Though not released as a single, a music video directed by "Graduation" album artwork designer Takashi Murakami was produced for the intro track "Good Morning," with an edited version of the video used as pre-release promotion for the album's release. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbjDYHEq2g "Graduation" Commercial] ] The music video was shown in its full length during a museum tour of Murakami's work in early of 2008. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/arts/design/02mura.html?pagewanted=all Takashi Murakami - Brooklyn Museum] . "The New York Times"] The full-length music video was not made available to the public until its release in the iTunes Store on August 26, 2008. [ [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewVideo?id=288895406&s=143441 Good Morning - iTunes Store] ]

Music video

Takashi Murakami, under the guidance of Kanye West, directed the music video for "Good Morning". The video is essentially the result of Murakami bringing to life the various designs he composed for "Graduation"'s album artwork through the use of Cel-shaded animation.

The video takes place within a futuristic metropolis known as "Universe City", where all the inhabitants are anthromorphic creatures. The protagonist of the video is "Dropout Bear," Kanye's West's longtime mascot who, like previous albums, appears on "Graduation"'s front cover. The story chronicles Dropout Bear overcoming various obstacles in an effort to reach his college campus in time for his graduation ceremony.

The music video begins on a rainy day with "Dropout Bear" being woken up by an alarm clock. He quickly jumps out of bed and runs into the bathroom where he gets ready for the day before leaving his apartment. Once he is outside, he enters his "flying car," modeled after a DeLorean, but once he starts it, the engine dies. Bear tries to get on a bus but the line is too long. He then attempts to hail a cab but it speeds right past him, soaking him with puddle water. Finally, he tries to get onto a train but the door closes in his face. With no other options, Dropout is reduced to pursuing his goal on foot. As he races down the sidewalks, all of a sudden, a monsterous rain cloud comes up and swallows him whole. Dropout then finds himself in a bizarre dimension populated with multi-eyed, living mushrooms where he is assaulted by lightning bolts and pursued by a raging whirlwind. After falling through a hole, the cloud pukes up Dropout back onto the streets where the sun comes up and he realizes that he's arrived at the University. After mistakenly becoming apart of a football game and scoring a touchdown, Dropout finally makes it to the graduation ceremony and receives his diploma. The video ends with Dropout Bear and his fellow graduates celebrating before blasting off through space.

References