Music Monday :: Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood" - Interpret a song (Nebberz post!)

I would like to take the time to share my interpretation of one of many songs that have been influential in my life. It is a fairly well-known one and I still remember some of my first times hearing it, thinking it was interesting and "different" but never paid much more attention to it than that. Many years later, I listened to the song again while under alternative influences and what I heard that time, left me sort of stunned. This interpretation, as with most any artistic interpretation, will unlikely represent the true meaning that the artists may have originally intended (if they even knew!). However, it will be correct in the sense of what it has meant to me, and for me it certainly has a strong spiritual message. Parts of what I say may not make sense until you take some of the later lyrics into consideration, or I'm crazy. (:

Gorillaz

Clint Eastwood

(In researching others' thoughts on the meaning of this song, one recurring theme that comes up was of course drugs. Many would focus on the "sunshine in a bag, I'm useless" section, and considered that to be someone under the influence and lazy. Though this is certainly possible, there is a reference to the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. (excellent movie by the way) In the movie, the kid asks “you gonna be alright?” to which he responds “Ya, kid. I got sunshine in a bag.” referring to the gold he has in his bag. One of a few likely reasons the song received it's title. Other reasons for the title include the fact that there is a Jamaican Reggae artist by the name of Clint Eastwood who it seems they heard of while recording the album there. Additonally, in the background of the song, they use a melodica which Damon Albarn of Gorillaz plays throughout the track, and he thought it sounded a lot like the score to the Clint Eastwood's movie A Fistful of Dollars. Also just came across the fact on wikipedia that David also plays for the alternative supergroup The Good, The Bad and the Queen, so he certainly appears to be quite the fan of Clint Eastwood.)

Here is the video in case you have not seen it yet.

[Hook]

Oh oh oh oh oh

I ain't happy,

I'm feeling glad

(Things may be sucky now, but he's feeling some relief, maybe somewhat because of the next line.)

I got sunshine in a bag

(Sunshine in a bag can be a metaphor for whatever makes us happy. Medicinal plants being one likely option especially when considering the fact that plants are partly comprised of light/sun energy through photosynthesis. He may feel he literally has "sunshine" in a bag.)

I'm useless but

(In this day and age, with the way things are going and the systems that are in place, there is little place for people like him but)

Not for long

(that is about to change.)

The future is coming on

(The current way of stagnant socities, conglomerates, and corrupted governments is beginning to deteriorate. The time is coming when people like him are going to be far from useless, and in fact may be pivotal.)

[Hook]

[Verse 1 with Del the Funkee Homosapien]

Yeah... Ha Ha!

Finally someone let me out of my cage

(At this point in the music video, a genie or spirit appears above Russel. He appears a bit staticy like a TV station, I believe the point being that the entity is of a different frequency than our reality, representing a spirit guide or some sort of cosmic power.)

Now, time for me is nothing cos I'm counting no age

(Time is an idea invented by humans, this being does not pay attention nor is he affected by such concepts. On his plane, things might work very differently.)

Now I couldn't be there

(They know that once we are aware of them, we will most likely experience disbelief at first.)

Now you shouldn't be scared

(But it is a benevolent being that is...)

I'm good at repairs

(here to help fix the wrongs many of us are experiencing.)

And I'm under each snare

(Vibrations are a large part of what exists, even on our so-called physical plane, without the vibrations of light waves, we would see nothing. Even solid material objects are made up of bouncing atoms. This being exists from such vibrations, an example they give being the vibrations created underneath a struck drum snare.)

Intangible

(Not a part of the physical word, immaterial.)

Bet you didn't think so I command you to

(We have been lulled to sleep and rendered unaware of these things, we have forgotten, it commands us to remember what true thought is.)

Panoramic view

(The big picture, to think beyond ourselves, and beyond only what we see around us.)

Look I'll make it all manageable

(They will explain these concepts to us simply and help us to handle them.)

Pick and choose

(We have the option to either stand up and accept these changes...)

Sit and lose

(or to sit and do nothing, and fade it to the purple hazy twilight)

All you different crews

(he's talking to everyone as a whole, no matter how much we would like to consider ourselves separate from one another.)

Chicks and dudes

Who you think is really kickin' tunes?

(Many believe they are already thinking for themselves and calling the shots in their lives, but the messages sent through television, news, radio has more impact on our choices and "free will" than we would like to believe.)

Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube

(We watch so much television, we have forgotten who we are and fantasize about being a part of what we idolize.)

Like you lit the fuse

(To make it big and be one of the "awesome" celebrities that so many worship.)

You think it's fictional

(We may believe all these things being said are not real)

Mystical? Maybe

(Maybe we might want to just write it all off as mystical nonsense. That might be close to the truth though, yet still important.)

Spiritual

(Believing it's crazy nonsense doesn't change the fact that we are likely moving into an age of spiritual awakening and all that nonsense might end up being an integral part of our new reality.)

Hearable

(Though many of us are still unaware of these changes, messages, other vibrations etc., it is possible to hear it to those willing to listen. Meditation comes to mind. Alternative medicines are another way to become aware of it.)

What appears in you is a clearer view cos you're too crazy

(Once we are aware of these things, everything becomes much more clear, to the vast majority though, we will be shunned and considered crazy for our newfound views, especially if these realizations occurred through the use of plants. Or just be written off as a flower child hippie.)

Lifeless

To know the definition for what life is

(Without dark, light would not exist. If all there was were light, we would have no idea it even existed without comparison. For us to understand life and truly live, we must also learn to understand death/lifelessness. To accept death and truly let go, rids us of our fears and opens up the path to awakening/nirvana/life as it truly is.)

Priceless

For you because I put you on the hype shit

(They realize that once we are aware of what they are saying, we will probably find humor in the irony of them using the same media to reach out to us (television, radio) that so many have abused to manipulate our thoughts and opinions.)

You like it?

(in the end it's worth it though, isn't it?)

Gunsmokin' righteous with one toke

(All it takes is one instance with a hallucinogen, and then hear something like this, to get us up in arms about what humanity is doing and wanting to change things.)

Psychic among those

Possess you with one go

(For those who are psychic/ready to awaken, one toke and/or one experience with a song/message such as this one, begins the awakening process (possesses) even if we are unaware of it happening. Being psychic does not necessarily mean you are awakened or understand life, but certainly increases the possibility of such.)

[Hook]

[Verse 2]

The essence the basics

(The essence of life are the very basic things (music, food, water, love, family etc.))

Without it you make it

(If we don't have the things we truly need to give quality of life, we don't go to a store to buy it, we make it ourselves. Wanting things and buying them overly complicates life as it brings things such as currency, stocks, supply and demand, trade embargos, and war into existence. Not having to rely on others is far more satisfying.)

Allow me to make this

Childlike in nature

(To explain it in a way a child might see the world, simple.)

Rhythm

You have it or you don't that's a fallacy

(We are all born with the ability to do these things. To create music, dance, love, to sense and understand vibrations and how they create reality, and that to believe we are unable to do these things is completely false.)

I'm in them

Every sprouting tree

Every child apiece

Every cloud you see

(This vibrational being/spirit guide/higher power, is a part of everything. All of existence is connected no matter how much we may see things as being separate. This includes ourselves, it and us are a part of the very same energy.)

You see with your eyes

(The reason we find this difficult to understand, is because our eyes see things as existing separately and that is one of the primary ways we look and attempt to understand the world. Because of this, we limit most of our understanding to only our immediate sorroundings.)

I see destruction and demise

(They are able to see life more easily through other means, sensing vibrations or perhaps simply seeing through the mind. They are able to see the bigger picture and all of the problems at once that many of us ignore.)

Corruption in disguise

From this fuckin' enterprise

(That includes seeing through the disguises of those that pretend to help us while having alterior motives. Many from "holy" faiths and organized religions keeping people living in fear of being damned for eternity, or denying male/female equality. Political groups who claim to support freedom while waging war and stripping others of such rights. Law enforcements who are supposed to be focused on personal safety, but instead are arresting massive amounts of individuals, most for nonviolent crimes.)

Now I'm sucked into your lives

Through Russ, though not his muscles but the percussion he provides

with me as a guide

(All of these things are ok though, because we have been made aware of their existence through things like the very song we are listening to)

But y'all can see me now cos you don't see with your eye

You perceive with your mind

(This was made possible because we stopped focusing on what we could see with sight, and instead saw with our mind)

That's the inner

(We learned to see with inner sight and not just external)

So I'm gonna stick around with Russ and be a mentor

(But there is still a lot to learn, so we will get to keep learning)

Bust a few rhymes so mother fuckers

Remember where the thought is

(They will continue spreading their message through groups such as this one, so that more people will become aware and learn to think.)

I brought all this

So you can survive when law is lawless

(They are doing this, so that when these enterprises do fall apart, many of us will not panic and be prepared for it and at least be somewhat aware of we will need to do to continue living. Focusing on the basics for example.)

Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead

(Most of these things are child-like in nature, that means we knew all of these things already when we were children, magic was easy to believe in. We are taught to forget these things, to believe it is silly non-sense.

No squealing, remember

(that it's all in your head)

(but now that we are aware of these feelings, these vibrations again, be careful who we talk to about them. Remember, the vast majority will think of us as crazy drug people if we spout such nonsense to them. It scares those that are not ready to accept such ideas. Best to let them discover on their own in their own way rather than trying to force others to believe what we are now aware of. That is how religions and cults start, someone makes these great discoveries, tells everyone about them and what they have to do, the message then starts to get twisted, especially hundreds of years after the person dies, and then we have the same problems as before)

[Hook]

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment with your own thoughts and opinions.

For making it to end of this interpretation of Clint Eastwood, here is the Pli Life Cypher Version of the song. Enjoy