Hong Kong

Hong Kong
Hong Kong (Demon Days Live)
Hong Kong (Escape To Plastic Beach Tour)

"This is a song about your city"
- Damon Albarn to an audience at Hong Kong Asia World Arena, 2010

"Hong Kong" is a beautiful song with a message that someone like Damon Albarn would write. And by Damon Albarn, I mean the man himself and not his cartoon alter ego. Yes, this song became big when after hiding his face for so many years, he finally came out of the silhouette and into the spotlight to deliver this heartfelt song. He finally caved in and the illusion of "Gorillaz" was never the same again (but that's a topic for another entry). On "Hong Kong", we have a soft artistic symphonic piece that could easily have fit on one of Damon's solo records or even his latter day Blur record, "The Magic Whip" (an album which was made in and about the city of Hong Kong).

The song's original release was on a 2004 War Child compilation, "Help! A Day In The Life" and an official version would be released by the band on their compilation, "D-Sides". The only difference between the version is that Damon added strings into the official version to give the track a more cinematic feel. War Child being an organization which uses musicians to help charitable causes is probably what influenced Damon to write about the heartbroken city of Hong Kong. The groove is a simple mellow romp by Damon's acoustic guitar and piano backed up by Jason Cox on a light bass guitar and James Dring on subtle percussion. The main focus on this song however, is Zheng Zheng on the elegant guzheng zither, a Chinese harp. Her playing provokes so much emotion that a good half of this 7 minute epic is just her playing simple melodies to fill the gaps between Damon's verses.

Damon's vocals start with a plea to god (of course), "Lord, hear me now". But he's also asking for the attention of any of those around in a classic show tune type manner (Damon being the theatrical he is), "junk boats and English boys". The "junk boats" also refer to World War 2 imagery, back when Britain once owned Hong Kong, whose impact is still felt on Hong Kong with the "crashing" presence "super marts" all over. And to complete the WWII imagery he brings up, "electric fences and guns".  He "swallows" his message, comparing Hong Kong to a "pill" on China's "tongue", referring to the fact that the communist country controls the fair city. But while he condemns the gentrification brought into the city he also admits that "the neon lights" make him "calm".

We are now in Damon's idyllic dream, stars "begin to explode" and "all the people" in his "dream" wait for the "machine to pick the shit up" and "leave it clean". He dreams of a Hong Kong where the people are no longer in fear of their communist monarchs from China. Zheng Zheng's playing further enhances Damon's dream like state but soon he wakes up. After he has woken up, Damon calls a child to come talk to him ("Kid, hang over here") and asks him "what he's learning in school", referring to how China takes out certain things in their textbooks to paint their country in the best light possible. He then blatantly questions if China ruling Hong Kong is a good idea, "is the rise of an Eastern sun gonna be alright for everyone?" Tackling censorship again he notices that "the radio station disappears, music turning to thin air. The DJ was the last to live, she had well conditioned hair. It was beautiful but nothing really was there". "The DJ" as in many rebellious songs, is an object of the government, only playing the soft meaningless crap that they deem "safe" to hear. Damon paint the DJ as beautiful and shiny, but he sees under the surface seeing how despite it's attractive packaging, there is no substance to be found. While this can compare to the way Gorillaz have always rebelled against pop music, it more accurately portrays the shiny city of Hong Kong. It looks nice, but something's amiss underneath the surface. The song ends with Zheng Zheng's zither and Damon Albarn's piano duetting. In the last couple seconds everything drops out but Damon's piano, a melancholic ending for a melancholic song.

"Hong Kong" got it's reputation as a fan favorite from it's dazzling performances as an encore at the "Demon Days Live" showcases. Everyone is on point here and Zheng Zheng is an amazing force to watch play. The song was brought back to the stage at Gorillaz first show in Hong Kong in 2010 where the band reunited with Zheng Zheng to play a somewhat shortened, but still meaningful, version. I'm sure Gorillaz will play the song again, as it seems to be a favorite of Damon's who often plays it live in some of his acoustic sets to this day. "Hong Kong" adds another depth of commentary to the Gorillaz library and it's performances gave us the first peek behind the scenes at the men pulling the strings of the operation (for better or for worse).