[Gorillaz The Mountain Analysis #5] The Hardest Thing | Tony Allen's Voice, How Far?, and Moving Forward While Carrying Despair

To Gorillaz fans around the world: what happens when a voice from the past tells the living to stand up and keep moving?

This is my reading of “The Hardest Thing.”

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I felt this song was about "moving forward even while carrying deep despair."

"The Hardest Thing" is a song about the pain of saying goodbye to a loved one.
But at the same time, it is a song about a person who must stand on stage, as the curtain rises and daily life begins.

Continuing the journey even while holding a heart that feels like it might collapse.
I believe it is a song of quiet, profound loss at the starting point of that journey.

Please note that this article is my personal interpretation and not an official view.
I hope that this analysis, filtered through my perspective, brings you a new viewpoint.

Also, this article is long, so feel free to skip to the parts that interest you.
It might be a good idea to bookmark it and read it in several sittings.

The position of this song within the album

In the first track "The Mountain", the "mountain" was presented as a "tough path as a training ground for life."

In the second track "The Moon Cave", "I" could not connect with the dead because I had lost my purity.

In the third track "The Happy Dictator", people who chose "fictional happiness" and lost their purity were depicted.

This song depicts "I" trying to move forward even while being crushed by sadness.

Overview

The intro of this song uses past recordings of Tony Allen, who passed away in 2020.

Tony Allen was a legendary drummer and composer from Nigeria.
In the 1960s, he co-founded the music genre known as "Afrobeat" with Fela Kuti.

I was once shocked by Tony Allen's drumming when I listened to the album "Zombie" by Fela Kuti and Afrika 70.

Afrobeat has had a huge influence on modern mainstream sound.
Tony Allen is, in a sense, one of the great fathers of "modern grooving music."

Damon Albarn deeply respected Tony Allen, and the two collaborated on many projects over the years.
These include Tony's participation in Gorillaz, and the supergroup "The Good, the Bad & the Queen" that both Damon and Tony were part of.

When Tony Allen passed away, Damon responded as follows in an interview on the French TV show "Encore!"

For Damon, summoning Tony, who could be called his musical father, carries great significance.
From this song, I feel a great, unhealed sense of loss and a strong love for the deceased.

Theme and Lyric Analysis

My interpretation of this song's theme is "Moving forward while carrying heartbreak."

At first, I listened to this song as a short bridge to the next track, "Orange County."
But the moment I realized where Tony Allen's voice was coming from, the landscape of this song changed completely.

Intro

The intro of this song uses material from the session for "How Far?," which was included on the Gorillaz album "Song Machine: Season One - Strange Timez" (2020).

At the time, the album was released on October 23, 2020, but following Tony Allen's sudden passing on April 30, 2020, the original schedule was moved up, and "How Far?" was released early on May 2 as a tribute, just two days later.

In "How Far?," Tony Allen also repeats the chant "Oya, ẹ dide, ẹrori."
It is likely that the recording used in this song is from that same session or an alternate take.

In "How Far?," Tony's voice was within the groove of his own drums and the track.
On the other hand, in this song, his voice is draped in deep reverb, sounding as if it is reaching out from the depths of a distant memory, detached from his body.

《Reference: How Far?》
You can hear Tony Allen's chant in the song's bridge (around 2:06).
And above all, the drums played by Tony Allen are a highlight.
This unique groove is something only he could create.

From deep within the reverb, the late Tony Allen is calling out to the "I" who is still alive.
Interpretations of the accurate translation of "Oya, ẹ dide, ẹrori" vary depending on the source.
My Japanese translation is as follows.

Oya: "Come on"
ẹ dide: "Stand up"
ẹrori: "Stir up your heart"

"Stir up your heart" is just my liberal translation.
In Yoruba, "ẹrori" alone can have multiple translations.
Given the context of the lyrics in this song, "Stir up your heart" seems like the most appropriate interpretation to me.

Tony Allen's voice has deep reverb applied to it.
And even though the same lyrics as "How Far?" are used, it feels like they have a different meaning in this song.

In "How Far?," Tony's chant rang out as part of a living groove.
However, in "The Hardest Thing," that voice is placed within deep reverb, sounding like the voice of the dead reaching out from the back of a cave.

In the second track, "The Moon Cave," the "I" who failed to communicate with the dead leaves the cave and sets out on a "journey to regain purity."
To me, the intro of this song sounds as if the father, who is dead, is scolding and encouraging the back of that "I" from within the cave.

Verse

The lyrics in this verse are very abstract.
It is not clearly stated who is singing to whom, or what they are singing about.

I felt that this was the 'I' singing to themselves.
I will explain these lyrics based on that premise.

The sorrow of losing a loved one comes through vividly.

I feel a double meaning in 'And when the curtains rise' and 'And the party begins'.
One is that even if a loved one passes away, the curtain of the stage called life rises, and daily life begins as if nothing happened.
The other is the image of Damon himself actually standing on stage.

There is an intense split between the outside and the inside in 'Do you laugh? Or do you break down inside?'

When the curtain rises, you have to laugh in front of the audience.
When the party begins, you have to participate.
But inside, you are on the verge of breaking down, unable to bear the sadness of losing a loved one.

To me, this sounds like a depiction of a person who must return to their daily life or the stage while still carrying their loss.

'Do you break down inside?' I believe this is an intense sense of loss, the feeling that you might not be able to endure it during your daily life or when you step onto the stage.

In a June 2020 Afropop Worldwide interview, Damon said, 'He was wonderful. I think I will spend the rest of my life talking about Tony's greatness. Honestly, I can't believe he's gone.'

I feel that the loss in this song is not limited to one person, but is a layer where multiple losses overlap.
For the 'I' who is the narrator of the album, it is the loss of a late father; for Damon personally, it is the loss of his own father and Tony Allen; and for Gorillaz, it is the feelings for past companions.
Furthermore, it is also open to the sense of loss felt by us, the listeners.

I think this verse is not so much a 'farewell song to one person,' but a song about a person who must keep moving forward while carrying the voices and memories of those who have been lost.

From "How Far?" to "The Hardest Thing"

My first impression when I heard this song was just, 'Oh, Tony Allen! The dead have been summoned again.'

After that, I noticed that the lyrics in the intro of this song are similar to "How Far?", and I was surprised when I looked at the Japanese translation of the lyrics for "How Far?" again.
"How Far?" features Skepta rapping about the 'tension of the streets where life and death are side-by-side,' and Tony chanting, 'Come on, stand up, stir your heart.'

In this song, "The Hardest Thing," Tony's chant has a deep reverb, sounding like a voice echoing in a cave.
I can only hear this as 'the voice of the dead encouraging from a cave,' and my way of listening to this song has changed completely.

What is important here is that in "How Far?" and "The Hardest Thing," the same voice of Tony Allen sounds as if it is placed in completely different locations.

Tony Allen in "How Far?" is still within the groove.
Amidst Skepta's rap, 2D's vocals, and the driving force of the song as a whole, his voice resonates as part of a living rhythm.

However, in "The Hardest Thing," it is no longer the voice of a body at the center of the beat.
Rather, it is like a voice that has left the body and is echoing from within memory.
In the context of the album "The Mountain," it also sounds like a voice reaching the living from the world of the dead.

"How Far?" was a song to bid farewell to Tony Allen.
I believe "The Hardest Thing" is a song about starting to walk again, alongside a voice that remains even after that farewell.

Sound and Production

Credits

<<Production>>

• Gorillaz

• James Ford

• Samuel Eglinton

• Remi Kabaka Jr.

<<Songwriting>>

• Damon Albarn

<<Indian Instruments>>

• Bansuri (Indian bamboo flute): Ajay Prasanna

<<Orchestra>>

• Cello: Isabelle Dunn

• Violin: Sarah Tuke, Kotono Sato

• Viola: Ciara Ismail

• Trumpet: Chris Storr

Commentary

What is particularly important about the sound of this track is that Tony Allen's voice is positioned not as the "voice of someone nearby," but as a "voice echoing from somewhere far away."

His voice has deep reverb applied to it, and while the contours of the words are clear, it is ambiguous where that voice is coming from.
Rather than sounding like he is speaking right in front of you, it sounds as if it is echoing from the depths of a cave or from the bottom of a memory.

What is interesting here is that Tony Allen returns in this song not as a drummer, but as a voice.

Of course, Tony Allen is a legendary drummer who created complex and supple grooves.
However, his presence in "The Hardest Thing" lies not in the physicality of rhythm, but in the spiritual resonance of his voice.

The person who once moved people's bodies through grooves is now reduced to just a voice, speaking to the living from the depths of a profound space.
This arrangement gives the entire song a very spiritual feel.

On the other hand, 2D's voice sounds very fragile.
While Tony Allen's voice has a ritualistic, distant strength, 2D's voice is closer, more human, and on the verge of collapsing.

I believe this contrast is the core of this song.

The voice of the dead is deep, quiet, and unwavering.
The voice of the living is weak, trembling, yet continues to sing.

By having these two voices overlap in the same song, "The Hardest Thing" becomes not just a memorial song, but a piece where the dead and the living exist in the same space.

The strings, too, spread sadness like a thin film rather than flamboyantly inciting emotion.
It is not a wailing tragedy, but a sound that seems to be quietly accepting an irreparable loss.

And the tones of the bansuri and trumpet that appear toward the end open a small hole in this space of sadness.
I wouldn't call it hope, but I feel a faint light, like a thin thread of a spider web that still has strength, or a narrow beam of light shining through the clouds.

Tony's chants and Damon's heartbreaking vocals are wonderful, but what strikes me the most are the bansuri and trumpet in this outro.

It is not a complete salvation.
It is not that the sadness has disappeared.
Even so, a little bit of outside air flows into the closed cave.
That is how the ending of this song sounds to me.

I don't think this is a song of despair.
Rather, it is a song about starting to walk again while still in the midst of deep heartbreak.
"The Hardest Thing" feels like a short ritual for the living to start walking again, encouraged by the voice of the dead.

Finally

Thank you for reading until the end.

How did you feel about this song?
Music is an open narrative.
I think it's fine for there to be as many interpretations and impressions as there are listeners.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments or by clicking "Like".

If you enjoyed the interpretation in this article, please check out the other articles in the series.

I hope my perspective can provide Gorillaz fans with a new gateway to "The Mountain".

Thank you for reading.

Next, the journey continues with “Orange County,” where the story takes a new turn.

I hope you’ll join me for the next step.

《Link to the next article》

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