Empire Ants Lyrics

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1: 2-D]
Oh, joys arise, the sun has come again to hold you
Sailing out the doldrums of the week
The polyphonic prayer is here, it's all around you
It's all around you, out here


[Bridge: 2-D]
And if the whole world is crashing down (on you)
Fall through space out of mind with me


[Verse 2: 2-D]
Where the emptiness we leave behind on warm air rising
Blows all the shadows far away
The falling of the whole empire, is here to hold you
Rolling out and haunted till it sleeps

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus: Yukimi Nagano]
Little memories, marching on
Your little feet, working the machine

Say will it spin, will it soar?
My little dream, working the machine
Soon, like a wave, empires will fall
And closing in on you, they're going on

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About

Genius Annotation

“Empire Ants” compares mankind’s doings to the orderly march of an empire of ants. This empire is powered by each little ant’s pre-calculated steps and off-shore dreams. The song, as a whole, is about those few opportunities we have to slow down, to breathe, and to look at the ant farm from outside the glass. In those moments, we see the world as it really is – we find peace, and we reconnect with our true selves. Still, Monday comes, and we go on marching. We now approach a total, empire-wide exhaustion; the colony will collapse, and the moments before our deaths will hardly be different from those surreal moments of clarity and quiet harmony.

Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn is more natural when working in the kind of ornate Village Green Preservation Society-style of pop that dominates Plastic Beach. His collaborations with Little Dragon, “Empire Ants” and “To Binge”, are two of the most emotionally arresting tracks on the album–they’re airy, elusive, and mysteriously beautiful.

Music/Storyboard Video:

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Gorillaz say about "Empire Ants"?
Genius Answer

“A moment’s peace amongst the rush. I sampled a lot of this from the theme music to Tomorrow’s World, and the vocalist is Yukimi Nagano from Little Dragon, an electronic band from Sweden.

It was actually 2D who got me into Little Dragon. He played me this lovely song of theirs called ‘Twice’, which he first heard on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy.“ – band member Murdoc Niccals in an interview with NME

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