CAUTION: SPOILERS! Do not read this unless you have seen the El Manana video!
My take on the last few moments of Noodle's life in the El Manana video, with a few changes of my own. It has been confirmed by Damon Albarn that she was killed off, but I still hope they'll bring her back.
Gorillaz: El Manana retold by Jemmy Bannister
If you're ever miserable beyond any reason and need a place to go, just travel until the clouds thicken and the colours around you fade to grey. There, among the ghostly streets of a melancholy town where nobody smiles, looming in dust and graffiti, you will find the Feel Good Inc. Tower; a gigantic structure built not by the living but the deceased and depressed. This is the place where the dreary and the dead come, to forget about the past and the future.
They sip on hundred year old alcohol and sing along to Zombie music, and live in the moment where they have no troubles.
A pair of humans were sat in one corner of the Feel Good Tower, sharing a glass of dry whisky, said to be from 1939. Specially selected by the eldest man, because it was the year world war two had begun, he had the most hold over it, and neglected his partner barely more than a sip every few minutes.
"Where's Noodle?" Murdoc muttered, fiddling with the strings of his bass guitar.
Slowly, he began to strum the eerie back-track to a familiar song. 2D hummed along and glanced through the smoky windows to find their guitar-girl.
There, hovering among the clouds tinted with the orange and the gold of a sunset was a floating island. And on the island sat a large red and white windmill, calmly churning the time of the day.
Noodle, the girl mentioned in an earlier question, was sitting in the grass and flowers playing a happy little tune on her acoustic, strumming out all the feeling and happiness and love a child feels at a point like this in their life, where they can look down at the ground and literally be flying. She smiled under her purple fringe and waved to her big 'brother'.
"She's in her windmill." 2D said soberly. He reached a skinny arm over towards their table to grab the whisky glass, but Murdoc snatched it from his fingertips.
He sipped it and gave 2D a dark look, "I told her to weigh that bloody deathtrap down."
"She's fine."
The bassist frowned, but placed the glass back on the table and pushed it to the pale singer. "Okay. But it'll be your fault if she crashes it."
Outside in the fresh air, little Noodle had no intention of crashing her beloved castle in the sky. Instead, she put her guitar away and steered the floating 'deathtrap' towards the sun. Her 'brothers' were probably ankle-deep in spirits by now, they wouldn't mind if she came home late. She was barely fourteen, but she was definitely mature enough to drive an island through the mist that hovered above the ghost down. It was making her nauseous, sitting in it. She needed to find a place in the sky where clouds weren't so thick.
Eventually, she realized she could see the sunset in all its glory. A cool breeze blew her hair out of her face and she grinned, closing her emerald eyes. If she could've wished for anything at that moment, it would be that her family would be sitting there with her, all four bathed in the orange glow, closer than they had been for the past few months. 2D, Russel and Murdoc would be smiling, and she would sit between them playing a new, happier song on her guitar than what she was usually accustomed to playing.
But since the rest of the band had grown a darker side and now relied more on alcohol and depressing music, and sitting in dark, murky bars all day sharing stories of fame and glory, Noodle knew she would have to get used to being on her own.
She had never had any friends, and now she was a musician she had no time to make friends. 2D was the nearest thing she had to a best friend, even though he was now deep into his twenties and usually drowsy from pill overdoses and lack of sleep (and beatings from Murdoc).
She sighed and lay back in the grass. No use worrying about the past. Someday, things would look up and she'd feel like she was part of a family again, rather than a stage-act.
Summer don't know me no more
Eager man, that's all
In the silence of the fading afternoon, Noodle could faintly make out the sound of Helicopters disturbing her peace.
Summer don't know me
He just let me love in my sea
As the sounds grew louder, Noodle opened her eyes. She looked around and saw two gleaming black Choppers in the distance. No doubt they had come to yell at her for flying in a restricted area of the sky. She growled; as far as she was concerned, the sky, the planet and everything related belonged to anyone who lived on it. Provided they take care of it. She waited for the fight to begin...
Cause I do know, Lord,
From you that
Just died, yeah
... And yet, as the loud engines got even louder and the Helicopters closed in, Noodle felt anxious rather than brave. What were they aiming at her?
I saw that day,
Lost my mind
Without warning, the Choppers suddenly, rudely, broke the calm atmosphere and opened fire on her. Noodle's eyes widened. She scrambled for her guitar and ran towards the windmill, watching bits of dirt and grass flying up where her beautiful garden was being pelted full of holes. Even as she reached the windmill, the door was studded with bullets and the windows were smashed. She hid under the nearest chair, gasping for breath and whimpering, when the island suddenly jolted sideways. Someone had flown into the top of the windmill...
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
Eventually, the racket died down, and Noodle opened her eyes. She blinked back the tears from the smoke that had filled the room, as well as her lungs. Coughing and spluttering, she reached for the door that was now hanging off its hinges, and crept into the garden...
Don't stop the buck when it comes
It's the dawn, you'll see
... It was carnage. Everything had been destroyed. Everything she had worked hard to build; the flowerbeds she'd dug with 2D; the swing she'd built with Russel. She swallowed; could smell burning. She turned to look at the windmill and started to cry.
The top had clean been cut off and was now alight with red flames. What was left of the propellers were now turning black and crashing to the ground. Then she could hear the Helicopters coming back...
Money won't get there
Ten years passed tonight
You'll flee
She turned and glared at the dark metal destroyers and gave the drivers a look of purest loathing and bitterness. However, it seemed they had never been born with sympathy and they started shooting at Noodle again. And this time, they wanted to make sure they killed her.
If you do that,
I'll be some
To find you
Noodle didn't leave them any chance to hit her; she covered her head and ran back indoors. Bullets were flying everywhere, some even miraculously managed to pierce the concrete shell of the lighthouse itself.
And once again, the firing stopped suddenly.
Noodle looked up sadly from her resting place in the middle of the floor: the tower was falling apart around her in flame and smoke. She choked and wiped her eyes. These were her memories, all of them being destroyed.
She climbed sorely to her feet and went to the window.
The Helicopters were backing off but they still wanted to make sure this was the end.
Where were 2D, Russel and Murdoc?
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
She began to feel like she was sinking... her stomach felt like it was trying to jump up her throat. Suddenly, the island tilted forwards and Noodle fell against the back wall. The door before her swung open and she realized what was happening.
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
Mission accomplished boys. The Island has been disabled. Let's go home."
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
Noodle didn't know what to do... she knew she didn't want to die, but the way the ground was flying up towards her now it would only be a matter of seconds before her home crashed and burned...
She thought about the boys...
She wondered what they would do... and what they were doing now...
She wondered what would've happened if they had been here with her, or if she had stayed in the Tower like they'd told her to...
She wondered if she'd made the right choices in her short little life...
But mostly, she wondered where she'd gone wrong.
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
If she was screaming as she fell, no one could've heard it. The noise of the creaking, smoldering island falling through the air was far too loud. Noodle reached for the door and watched as the ground came up to meet her...
"I want to go home."
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine
There was a loud crash, heat and darkness, and Noodle closed her eyes for the last time...
Somewhere in the distance, 2D could see a pillar of smoke rising up from one of the gorges. He narrowed his eyes, wondering what it could be, then turned away from the window.
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine.
THE END
RIP little Axe-Princess.
Please tell me what you think.
Jemmy x