Gorillaz - Humility - Why short shorts are coming back

Shout out to the chillest song of 2018. Just in time for the USA summer.

With 12 million views so far, Gorillaz’s Humility will get you humming, strumming, and grinning. And chillin'.

In the video, 2-D roller-skates along Venice Beach, with its feast of icons—Gold’s outdoor gym, basketball courts—and cameos from Jack Black, Ace, and Remi Kabaka.

Oh ... and the shortest of shorts.

Venice Beach is the mecca of chill. Somehow the sky is always blue. The sand is white. And the same people you saw here in the 1990s, are still here. No-one has left. Nothing has changed. No-one has moved on.

You see, Venice Beach is also the mecca of escapism. As a cultural rite of passage, we’ve all back-packed and slummed here for a period of time. Who of us hasn’t spent a Sunday afternoon—sipping a chai latte, getting a body-piercing, or maybe even a tattoo!—at Venice Beach?

But Humility also deconstructs its own chilled message.

The song's chorus sings, "I don't want this isolation."

And the video ends with 2-D crashing down to earth, literally. And 2-D wakes up to the slogan on Russel Hobb’s shirt—NO MORE UNICORNS.

NO MORE UNICORNS? No more isolation?

Chillin' is good. But we can only chill for so long. Sooner or later we have to come back to earth and connect with reality. The pavement hurts. And there are no unicorns.

There’s something sad about those of us who don’t move on. Sooner or later, we can’t only be roller-skating. We can’t only be playing outdoor hoops. We can’t only be slumming at Venice Beach.

We can't wear short shorts for the rest of our life!

We need a life. We need direction. We need to be moving forward.

But what if our purpose is to chill? Then we can both chill and move forward at the same time!

Believe it or not, that's what the God of the bible offers us. In the Bible’s story of creation, God himself chills—or rests—on the final day of creation. The purpose of creation is to chill in God! Our ultimate purpose—as people loved and made by God—is to find our chill in God.

That’s why when Jesus, the Son of God, comes, he offers us both purpose (come follow him!) and chill.

Jesus invitation to us is, "Come ... and I will give you chill."

Chai latte is an optional extra. Along with the body piercing and tattoo. And short shorts.

Genesis 2:1-3
Hebrews 4:9-11
Matthew 11:28-30

LIKE us on our FACEBOOK page
and follow Dr Sam Chan at Twitter @drsamchan