Herculean

The lines "Standing by the old canal / By the gasworks" always remind me of "Dirty Old Town" by The Pogues. I think it's an hommage.

I love this song. Have no Idea what it's about though. Life I guess.

Can't stop listening to this one... Easily one of the catchiest songs of '07.

[The Letterman performance made me love this song even more... beautiful violins...]

Lovely song... but there are unfortunately a few little mistakes I feel the need to nitpick, shrodes.

Standing on the dark canal = Standing BY the OLD canal on the way to heaven so = .... SLOWLY the ghost gone by = ... FLOW by The wind keeps singing it's not too late = and WE WILL keep singing.... (I actually like your line better than the real one, but there we are).

N.B. I got this from the booklet with the TGTB&TQ album.

OK, on with the meaning..... first 5 lines, I think signify somebody mourning a dead loved one, or a loved one who they parted with for whatever reason.

"And the medicine man here 24/7 You can get it fast in ArmaggeddoN everyone on the way to Heaven/So.... " = Medicine is provided so readily to so many older people nearing death (Everyone on their way to heaven).... maybe to with euthanasia?

"Call for prayer is common round here/In the morning We wash our faces go to work There is no warning That it all gets better when life is straight It's bigger than you and the Welfare State The wind keeps singing it's not too late For you" = People pray for good things to happen to them, and then suddenly good things happen when they least expect them to.....

Also, how did they create those boopy-type noises at the start?

The song is sort of set in W1 London, By the Kensal gasworks and the old Kensal Green cemetary that lies there.

W1 is a cool place, because it´s not overly hip and over-commercialized, like Nothing Hill just to the south (God I hate Nothing Hill).

Like all good poetry, this song defies explanation. But there are some traits to pick up for us Navaho Indians:

Our protaganist is sort of melancholic, feeling the wings of history by the gasworks, but luckily "The medicin Men" are there (The infamous W1 Drug dealers obviously).

"The welfare state" is british socialism, and perhaps Albarn is commenting on the control state and the CCTV cameras rigged all over town.

Ultimately a dark song, but still a very hopeful one.

Damon is up there with my favorite poets. Fantastic song and like everyone else im still trying to make sence of it. Hey Homertown whats W1?

I think it's about death. Something that's gonna happen to all of us sometime. But that you should do something with your life, before it's to late.

It's a very dark and sad song.

This song sounds like something Radiohead would do circa Amnesiac.

Best song on the album, bar none. Like choan said, it is very dark and sad...perhaps the protagonist knows that his existence means nothing to the rest of the world, that history will go on no matter what he does.

Rather amibguous lyrics,

For those who don't know what W1 is, it's a postcode in West London (hence the W).

I read that it was inspired by a whale that swam up the Thames.