He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
(Ohh)
(Ahh)
Up on Melancholy Hill
There's a plastic tree
Are you here with me?
Just looking out on the day
Of another dream
Where you can't get what you want
But you can get me
So let's set out to sea, love
'Cause you are my medicine
When you're close to me
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
So call in the submarines
'Round the world we'll go
Does anybody know, love
If we're looking out on the day
Of another dream?
(Ahh)
If you can't get what you want
Then come with me (me)
Up on Melancholy Hill
Sits the manatee, love
Just looking out for the day
When you're close to me
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
(Ahh)
(Ahh)
Up on Melancholy Hill
There's a plastic tree
Are you here with me?
Just looking out on the day
Of another dream
Where you can't get what you want
But you can get me
So let's set out to sea, love
'Cause you are my medicine
When you're close to me
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
So call in the submarines
'Round the world we'll go
Does anybody know, love
If we're looking out on the day
Of another dream?
(Ahh)
If you can't get what you want
Then come with me (me)
Up on Melancholy Hill
Sits the manatee, love
Just looking out for the day
When you're close to me
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
When you're close to me
(Ahh)
(Ahh)
Lyrics submitted by rhinestoneeyes, edited by 23Tonality, Mbtravis99, dingjob, Pyrocrastinate, itsEdh
On Melancholy Hill Lyrics as written by Jamie Hewlett Damon Albarn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I absolutely adore the vocals in this song. It's so nonchalant and relaxed, but at the same time it's charming as fuck.
As for the meaning of this song I think it's about trying to get out of the friend zone. Both the narrator and his friend are unhappy with their lives, thus they're on a melancholy hill, and the narrator thinks that he would be good her, and that they could make each other happy. This song is about him hinting that notion.