On Melancholy Hill

"On Melancholy Hill"
Single by Gorillaz
from the album Plastic Beach
Released	26 July 2010[1]
Format	CD Single
Recorded	2009
Genre	Synthpop, alternative rock
Length	3:53 (album version) 2:58 (UK radio edit) 3:27 (US radio edit)
Label	Parlophone
Writer(s)	Gorillaz
Producer	Gorillaz
Gorillaz singles chronology
"Stylo" (2010) "On Melancholy Hill" (2010) "Rhinestone Eyes" (2010)

"On Melancholy Hill" is the third single from British alternative group Gorillaz' third studio album, Plastic Beach. The song was originally written by Damon Albarn during the production time for The Good The Bad and The Queen's self titled album.^[2][3][4] The single was released on 26 July 2010.^[1] Band member Murdoc Niccals stated the following about "On Melancholy Hill" in a track-by-track commentary:

"The Melancholy Hill - it's that feeling, that place, that you get in your soul sometimes, like someone's let your tyres down. It's nice to break up the album with something a little lighter. It's good to have something that's a genuine pop moment on every album. And this is one of those."

Music video

Release

The music video (directed by Hewlett) was released worldwide on the 15th of June^[5] "exclusively" on iTunes, but was uploaded to the YouTube channel a few days later. A teaser for the video was released on the 9th of June.^[6] Stills of the video were put on writteninmusic.com on 11 June.

Synopsis

A huge ocean liner (the M. Harriet), is under attack by two planes. A ship attendant finds Noodle in her room, offering to escort her to the lifeboats, but she opens a gun briefcase and walks down the hall past the attendant with a Tommy gun. The song begins with Noodle opening fire at the two oncoming planes that are attacking the ship. She manages to shoot one plane down but does not have enough time to shoot the other. The other plane drops a bomb on the ship. As the ship sinks, Noodle is shown to have survived and climbs into a lifeboat with only her guitar and some supplies. Later on, a gigantic version of drummer Russel Hobbs lifts out of the water underneath Noodle's lifeboat. The rest of the video shows Murdoc, 2-D and Cyborg Noodle traveling through the deep ocean with a fleet of submarines, crewed by all of the collaborators that helped make the album (e.g. De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, and Gruff Rhys). As they travel, a swarm of Superfast Jellyfish are seen and inadvertently sucked into some of the submarines. The submarines then rise to the surface, where a large manatee is sitting atop a tall plateau. Murdoc spots the Boogieman character leaning over the creature and, shocked by the sight, orders Cyborg to attack it. Cyborg shoots at the Boogieman but the bullets do him no harm, hitting his clothes. He grabs the manatee and dives into the ocean. When the fog behind the plateau clears, it reveals Plastic Beach.

Speculation has it that this occurs right after the "Stylo" video, as they are in the same shark submarine, 2-D is still wearing his clown mask, and the bullet hole is still in Cyborg Noodle's head. However, according to Murdoc's Twitter feed, he, 2D and Cyborg Noodle had been on Plastic Beach for a while, and they had asked all of the collaborators to assist them in finding Noodle after receiving some leads as to her location.

The following characters and people appear in the music video. The number preceding each listing refers to roughly where in the video they first appear.

• 0:12 - Noodle
• 1:18 - Murdoc
• 1:22 - 2D
• 1:23 - Cyborg Noodle
• 2:03 - Lou Reed
• 2:07 - Gruff Rhys
• 2:11 - Snoop Dogg
• 2:17 - Mick Jones and Paul Simonon
• 2:33 - Superfast Jellyfish (reference to the song on the album)
• 2:45 - De La Soul (left to right: Maseo, Dave and Posdnous)
• 3:16 - Russel
• 3:39 - Boogieman (Sun Moon Stars)

Chart performance

"On Melancholy Hill" was recorded to have reached number 133 on 28 June 2010, before climbing into the Top 100 at number 78 on 4 July 2010. After reaching number 20 on the UK Dance Chart, the single climbed to its current peak of number 13 on 4 July 2010. On 26 January, "On Melancholy Hill" came in at number 42 on the Australian JJJ Hottest 100 for 2010.

Chart (2010)	Peak position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[7]	78
UK Dance (The Official Charts Company)[8]	13

Track listing

UK promotional single #1

1. "On Melancholy Hill" (UK radio edit) – 2:58
2. "On Melancholy Hill" (album version) – 3:53
3. "On Melancholy Hill" (instrumental) – 3:53

UK promotional single #2

1. "On Melancholy Hill" (Josh Wink Remix) – 5:04
2. "On Melancholy Hill" (Josh Wink Dub) – 7:41
3. "On Melancholy Hill" (The Japanese Popstars Remix) – 7:35
4. "On Melancholy Hill" (She Is Danger Remix) – 4:21
5. "On Melancholy Hill" (We Have Band Remix) – 5:14

Digital download single

1. "On Melancholy Hill" (album version) – 3:53
2. "On Melancholy Hill" (The Japanese Popstars Remix) – 7:35
3. "On Melancholy Hill" (She Is Danger Remix) – 4:21
4. "Stylo" (Labrinth SNES Remix featuring Tinie Tempah) – 4:12
5. "On Melancholy Hill" (video) – 4:26
6. "On Melancholy Hill" (animatic) – 3:30
7. "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" (live visuals) – 3:36

American promotional single

1. "On Melancholy Hill" (American radio edit) – 3:27
2. "On Melancholy Hill" (album version) – 3:53
3. "On Melancholy Hill" (instrumental) – 3:53

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Melancholy Hill available as a special download". NME. 2010-06-14. http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/51510. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
2. ^ theZFE (28 Sep 2006). "The Good, The Bad and The Queen - Tony Allen". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrjWJPJqq2c. 
3. ^ chrisranfordays (18 Dec 2006). "The Good The Bad And The Queen - Teaser 1". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYUwxlz2UQ. 
4. ^ GBQvideos (3 May 2008). "The Good The Bad And The Queen - PAUL SIMONON CLIP". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz8NLkcQz8U. 
5. ^ "AOL Radio Blog". AOL. 03-06-2010. http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/06/02/gorillaz-on-melancholy-hill. Retrieved 03-06-2010. 
6. ^ "Gorillaz – “On Melancholy Hill” Teaser Video". Soul Culture. 09-06-2010. http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/gorillaz-on-melancholy-hill-teaser-video/. Retrieved 11-06-2010. 
7. ^ "Chart Stats – Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats.
8. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Dance Chart. The Official Charts Company.