RockIt

RockIt

"Quite a bit of the "Demon Days" story came directly from things that were in (the unmade Gorillaz movie) "Celebrity Harvest", especially the darkness. "RockIt" has some similarities from some of these things."
- Jamie Hewlett

In 2003, Damon Albarn was touring and recording a new album with his "main" band Blur, but his mind was elsewhere. The album in question, "Think Tank", ended up sounding like a Gorillaz record minus Del and Jamie, and Damon would often spend his free time on tour writing songs for the next Gorillaz album. So in 2004, Damon had finally come back to Jamie with material that fit the movie Jamie was writing with Cass Browne. However by this point the movie was put on hold, so they decided to use some of the movie's themes in the album as well as the character's backstories during this phase. "RockIt" was one of the tracks which took a huge cue from what the movie was going to be.

Before we get into the song, the album that became "Demon Days" was recorded in three parts throughout the years of 2004 and 2005. The first part was Damon mainly making 4 track demos and taking his favorites at that moment to the studio. During this part the album was going to be "Reject False Icons". The second part of recording involved Damon evolving some more of the demos as well as making new tracks. It was during this part that the album started to evolve into the album we know it as today, changing the name of the album from it's second name, "We Are Happy Landfill", to it's final name, "Demon Days". The third and final part of recording involved getting producer Danger Mouse in to record new songs and expand upon older songs, as well as demos that Danger Mouse favored that Damon had not done much with.

"RockIt" was recorded during the first part of the studio sessions for "Demon Days", and it may have been the first track taken to 13 Studios. The song is steeped in electronica influences: from the weird & lo-fi tendencies of no wave to the delectable sounds of dance. In particular, the song bears a similarity to another song called "RockIt" made by hip hop & electronic fusion pioneer Herbie Hancock. Damon plays everything on it: the simple drum machine loop, all the crazy synths and even the groovy bass guitar riff. The vocals show Damon getting back into character as 2D, and were most likely done in one take as Damon ends up sounding more like himself than his blue haired alter ego (also you can hear Damon mess up one of his lines and laugh his way through it).

One thing that's notable about this song is that while 2D takes the lead for the most part, all four of the characters sing lines on this track. This means that this song isn't as much from the perspective of 2D as it is all four of the members. The song as well as the video expand upon the themes that would have been present in the band's movie, "Celebrity Harvest". The frequent usage of "blah blah blah" show how vapid music is these days. Nothing new is being stated, it's all the same ol thing. The people around them in the video are brain dead and consumed by the useless culture that surrounds them, spitting out meaningless catchphrases like "rock it", "collapse", "tazar yoot" as well as the dribble of "blah blah blah". These people are zombies, but not like the creatures Gorillaz have fought in the past, these people are real and they surround us everyday. As the band walks through they can't help but become one of them, 2D's song about his problem with drugs and alcohol becomes vapid and meaningless as he says "blah blah blah" more and more. But was it really his song to begin with? 2D's songs about heartbreak and drug addiction are much more personal, this sounds like it could have been written by anyone. Is this the most manufactured Damon & Jamie has ever gotten the band to sound? Does this best sum up what one of their original intentions was with the band back in the days of Phase 1? Because this has been done before, but hasn't everything been done before? What's new and original these days anyway, it's all just- BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

"RockIt" was never going to be a single, it was to be used to announce the band's comeback and spark interest for the upcoming album (similar to what the band did later with "Hallelujah Money" for "Humanz"). At the time this could have been the album's centerpiece, "Reject False Icons" being the new phrase Gorillaz were promoting as well as the album title at that point. But the album evolved into something that meant and would say so much more. "RockIt" not only gives us a taste of what the Gorillaz movie could have been, but serves as a link between the band's old style in Phase 1 and the new sound the band would develop during Phase 2.