Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head

By Gorillaz

Narrated by Dennis Hopper

Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head

Once upon a time, at the foot of a great mountain

There was a town where the people known as Happy Folk lived

Their very existence, a mystery to the rest of the world

Obscured as it was by great clouds

Here they played out their peaceful lives

Innocent of the litany of excess and violence

That was growing in the world below

To live in harmony with the spirit

Of the mountain called Monkey was enough

Then one day, strange folk arrived in the town

They came in camouflage, hidden behind dark glasses

But no one noticed them

They only saw shadows, you see

Without the truth of the eyes, the Happy Folk were blind

Falling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes

Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home

Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head

Now everybody dancing the dance of the dead

The dance of the dead, the dance of the dead

In time, the strange folk found their way

Into the higher reaches of the mountain

And it was there that they found

The caves of unimaginable sincerity and giving

By chance, they stumbled upon the place

Where all good souls come to rest

The strange folk, they coveted the jewels

In these caves above all things

And soon they began to mine the mountain

It’s rich seam fueling the chaos of their own world

Meanwhile, down in the town, the Happy Folk slept restlessly

Their dreams invaded by shadowy figures digging away at their souls

Every day, people would wake and stare at the mountain

Why was it bringing darkness into their lives?

And as the strange folk mined deeper and deeper into the mountain

Holes began to appear, bringing with them a cold and bitter wind

That chilled the very soul of the Monkey

For the first time, the happy folk felt fearful

For they knew that soon the Monkey would stir from its deep sleep

Then there came a sound, distant first, it grew into castrophany

So immense that it could be heard far away in space

There were no screams, there was no time

The mountain called Monkey had spoken

It was only fire and then, nothing

Oh, little town in USA, the time has come to see

There’s nothing you believe you want

But where were you when it all came down on me?

Did you call me? No.

No.

  I can't get this song/story out of my head; it's quite an eerie piece. There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning. Some believe the Happy Folk were too ignorant and brought their downfall upon themselves, others believe it’s the old story of greed and power corrupting. There is also a lot of debate about what events the song is actually alluding too; 9/11, genocide of Zimbabwe, the stolen land from Native Americans. Everyone has applied their own meaning to the words, which, I think, is where the real beauty of it lies.

  One thing we know is that “Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is the first part of a trilogy of songs on the album Demon Days. The second part is “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” the third “Demon Days”.