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Charli xcx has opened her ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour with Underscores in Philadelphia•
Cara Delevingne, Keo, Lizzy McAlpine and Tove Lo all star in the new issue of Dork - order now!•
Bleachers have shared their ‘Practical Magic 2’ single ‘Caught Myself Believing’•
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Geese respond to ‘psyop’ allegations: “Just come to the show, and fucking tell me how many bots you see”•
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Harry Styles has announced 25 new ‘Together, Together’ tour dates for 2027•
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  4. Meanwhile

TRACK

Gorillaz

Meanwhile

Release date: 26th August 2021

From Meanwhile
Spotify
More on Gorillaz

About This Track

'Meanwhile' by Gorillaz is a 2021 track from the album 'Meanwhile'. The lyrics sound upbeat and bracing, leaning into a love of change while pushing back against hate. There is a sense of momentum too, with a repeated idea of sound systems breaking and the scene responding by shaking everything up. The verse also turns to street life and flirtation, then widens into a more pointed reflection on how easy it is to lose moral certainties, as the line “Imagine no saints” suggests.

"Meanwhile" is a track by Gorillaz, from the album Meanwhile, released 26th August 2021. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 20 articles about Gorillaz.

About the Artist

Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Lyrics

Meanwhile

[Verse 1: Jelani Blackman]

Hey, I don't mind change

I don't like hate (Nah)

See when the sound system break

We make the system shake (Bullet)

When a girl wanna swing my way

Play street with the street that I played

But I'm on a street over here, all saints

Imagine no saints when you wake, aye

That's a good taste, hmm, that's a good space

Hey, this ain't my place

Like that's a real wave (Hmm)

I miss it so deeply

Well, put that shit on my grave

I buck and sway (And sway)

Ten toes for the rave in the ring, aye (Let's)

[Chorus: Jelani Blackman]

I love carnival bass (Go)

Ya don't feel the samе? (Let's)

That's cool, don't get in my way (Go)

In fact, don't migrate

(Lеt's) Yeah, and we like champagne

But we like Red Stripe and we like Wray (Go)

Ya don't feel the same?

That's cool, don't get in my way (Let's go)

[Verse 2: Jelani Blackman]

Oh, back in day

Notting Hill weren't no film

Teddy boys on my granddad outside, buy it back

Take 'cause his bones lie still (Hmm)

Salon in Ireland, they were really out there in the field

When the vibe was real, that's why I get in my feels (Let's go)

And I know that I can't fucking live here still (Go)

[Chorus: Jelani Blackman]

Ya don't feel the same? (Let's)

That's cool, don't get in my way (Go)

In fact, don't migrate

(Let's) Yeah, we like champagne

But we like Red Stripe and we like Wray (Go)

Ya don't feel the same?

That's cool, don't get in my way (Let's go)

[Bridge: 2-D & Barrington Levy]

Yeah, it's just the same as I thought it would be

When I was in carnival

I followed your principle

Do you really think I'd leave you?

Meanwhile

[Chorus: Jelani Blackman]

(Let's)

Uh, I love carnival bass (Go)

Ya don't feel the same? (Let's)

That's cool, don't get in my way (Go)

In fact, don't migrate (Let's)

Yeah, we like champagne

But we like Red Stripe and we like Wray (Go)

Ya don't feel the same?

That's cool, don't get in my way (Let's go)

[Bridge: 2-D & Barrington Levy]

Yeah, it's just the same as I thought it would be

When I was in carnival

Dancing on protocol

Do you really think I'd forget you?

Meanwhile

Meanwhile

Meanwhile

Meanwhile

[Chorus: Jelani Blackman]

Said I love carnival bass

Ya don't feel the same?

That's cool, don't get in my way

In fact, don't migrate

Mmm, we like champagne

But we like Red Stripe and we like Wray

Ya don't feel the same?

That's cool, don't get in my way

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Meanwhile

2021
Listen
Album
Meanwhile
Meanwhile
Gorillaz
Release year
2021
  1. —Déjà Vu (Live from NW10)
  2. —Jimmy Jimmy
  3. —Meanwhile

More from Gorillaz

Albums & EPs

The Mountain
The Mountain
2026
Cracker Island (Deluxe)
Cracker Island (Deluxe)
2023
Cracker Island
Cracker Island
2023
Meanwhile EP
Meanwhile EP
2021
Meanwhile - EP
Meanwhile - EP
2021
Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Deluxe)
Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Deluxe)
2020

Explore

More tracks by Gorillaz

  1. The MountainThe Mountain
  2. Bolly Noir
  3. CasablancaThe Mountain
  4. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon & Johnny Marr)The Mountain
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  5. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman & Yasiin Bey)The Mountain
    4:04
  6. DARE (Album Version - Edit)
  7. DARE (Album Version)
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  9. DARE (Chab Remix)
  10. DARE (Dave Audé Club Mix - Edit)

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Credits

Production & Engineering

Writer
Barrington Levy, Damon Albarn, Jelani Blackman, Remi Kabaka Jr.
Producer
Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka Jr.
Engineer
Samuel Egglenton
Bass
Damon Albarn
Drums
Femi Koleoso
Keyboards
Damon Albarn
Vocals
Barrington Levy, Damon Albarn, Jelani Blackman
Background Vocals
Jorja Smith
Cello
Isabelle Dunn
Drum Programmer
Remi Kabaka Jr.
Mastering Engineer
John Davis
Mixing Engineer
Stephen Sedgwick
Percussion
Remi Kabaka Jr.
Steelpan
Damon Albarn
Violin
Nina Foster, Oli Langford, Sarah Tuke
READ MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZ
READ MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZREAD MORE ABOUT GORILLAZ
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Gorillaz and their all-star cast inspire hope at Margate's Demon Dayz
Live

Gorillaz and their all-star cast inspire hope at Margate's Demon Dayz

“It’s been a really weird week in this country,” says Damon Albarn after ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’, and he’s not wrong; “...with a real surprise, but then an inevitable bullshit outcome.” “But this is only the beginning,” he adds. “It’s going to grow.” It’s fitting that Gorillaz chose to name today’s one-day festival after ‘Demon Days’. Released in the post-Iraq invasion early ‘00s, in an atmosphere of uncertainty and anger, it was the album where the playful mask of the cartoon side-project started to slip, revealing melancholy, slyly subversive, but ultimately uplifting depths. And it’s fitting too that they should hold it here in Thanet, where 64% of voters opted for Brexit - triggering the chaos currently taking shape on the horizon - but where the revamped Margate Dreamland has played a part in revitalising one of Britain’s oldest seaside towns, run-down for many years. ‘Uncertainty leaves room for hope’ was scrawled by Albarn on the wall of his studio during the recording of ‘Demon Days’; it’s a phrase that definitely rings true today. The clarity of the concept behind ‘Demon Days’ is missing on this year’s ‘Humanz’, which with its succession of guest spots plays more like a mixtape. But that should make it ideally suited to a live setting, and most of the album’s guests are here today; a selection of supporting attractions to amuse as we queue for candy floss or a spin on the waltzers. In the Hall by the Sea, Kilo Kish dances a dizzying line between R&B, alt-pop and musical theatre, before De La Soul stir up the Main Stage crowd with daisy-age positivity and a run through ‘A Roller Skatin' Jam Named "Saturdays"’ which couldn’t fail in this heat. Kali Uchis and Vince Staples both underwhelm slightly, Staples not helped by the usual 6pm rush to the food stalls, but back in the Hall there’s a commanding set from Little Simz, mixing light (picking up a guitar for the tender ‘Interlude’) and dark (‘Dead Body’), before a vicious ‘Bars Simzson’. There’s a tough choice next, between Kano, leaning mostly on last year’s ‘Made in the Manor’ - a brass-assisted ‘New Banger’, ‘This is England’, and the apt ‘T-Shirt Weather in the Manor’ are highlights - and Danny Brown. Both are excellent, but those who make it into a near-capacity Hall for Brown are treated to ‘Dip’,‘Grown Up’ and a frenzied ‘Ain’t It Funny’ ramping up the bass, and wild-eyed intensity, to sweat-inducing levels. As fans have wandered past street food stalls, tin can alleys and chainsaw-juggling unicyclists today, black-clad figures have been silently stalking the site, holding all-seeing-eye flags and looking like an invasion from Doctor Who. They start assembling on the Main Stage, ominously tolling bells, before removing their masks. It’s Gorillaz, and they’re soon joined by Vince Staples - and Albarn - for the rousing opener ‘Ascension’. A ‘Humanz’-heavy set follows - along with airings for the recently debuted ‘Sleeping Powder’ and the brand new ‘Garage Palace’ - but there are other early highlights in the shape of a searching ‘Last Living Souls’, and ‘Stylo’ - dedicated to the late Bobby Womack - which strikes a chord here (“Sing yourself out of depression/rise above... Electric is the love”). Grace Jones is sadly absent for ‘Charger’, and there’s no sign of Noel Gallagher either, his place on a triumphant ‘We Got The Power’ taken by one Graham Coxon, but the parade of guests still dazzles: De La Soul’s Pos for ‘Momentz’, with Maseo and Dave joining for an inevitable ‘Feel Good Inc.’ ending; Danny Brown, Coxon and Kelela for ‘Submission’ and Kilo Kish, who joins Albarn - who explains that they met for only the first time three hours before - for a stunning ‘Out of Body’. Perhaps best of all are the return of Kelela for ‘Humanz’ stand-out ‘Busted and Blue’ - that particular kind of fragile, spaced ballad Albarn does so well - a re-worked ‘Clint Eastwood’, with Kano and Little Simz trading bars in place of Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and, of course, a beaming Shaun Ryder, given a hero’s welcome for ‘DARE’. It’s hard to find much to fault about Demon Dayz, and, for the time spent here, it’s easy to forget the uncertainty that surrounds us. There’s an encore, but the words echoing in fans ears as they leave, climbing off Gorillaz’ carousel and back onto 2017’s, hanging on for dear life, are the last of the main set: “We got the power to be loving each other / No matter what happens / We've got the power to do that.”

12 Jun 2017 • 11:58 am