The Manifesto

The Manifesto
Song Credits
Author(s)	Gorillaz
Featured Artist(s)	Trueno • Proof
Producer(s)	Gorillaz • Remi Kabaka Jr. • James Ford • Samuel Egglenton
Additonal Information	Brass Instruments: Jea Band Jaipur Choir: The Mountain Choir Strings: The Demon Strings
Artwork	Jamie Hewlett
Overview
Type	Single
Album	The Mountain
Edits	Pt. 1 • Pt. 2 (radio edits)
Phase	8
Released	8 October 2025
Recorded	2001, 2023-2025
Format	CD • Vinyl • Streaming
Genre	Progressive rap • trip hop
Length	7:19 (full) 3:26 (Pt. 1) 3:47 (Pt. 2)
Language	English • Spanish
Track Listing
← Previous	The Empty Dream Machine
Next →	The Plastic Guru
Singles Chronology
← Previous	The Happy Dictator
Next →	The God of Lying

“

Oh, the mountain it is high Yeah, the mountain is sad so the mountain cry

„

The Manifesto (also stylized in Devanagari^W as ऐलान, elān, 'announcement' in Hindi) is the second single and eighth track from Gorillaz' ninth studio album, The Mountain. The song features Argentine rapper and singer Trueno and late American rapper Proof, in addition to various Hindu musicians, providing bansuri, sarod and brass instruments.

On 13 October, the single was split into two parts, in the form of radio edits, and added to streaming services as a separate entry alongside the original single upload.

Background

The Manifesto debuted alongside the rest of the album during the House of Kong "Mystery Show" on 3 September at the Copper Box Arena^W in London. On 27 September, the song's duration was revealed via the Spotify^W web player, indicating that it would be released as the next single after being performed live once again at the Pulse of Gaia festival in Madrid on 20 September. On October 6, a snippet was made available on the Groove Bones Selecta Juke Box at Kong Studios. The following day, Trueno confirmed that the single would be released at 1 pm ART tomorrow.

The collaboration with Trueno was supposedly first hinted at in May 2025 in the music video for his track Fresh, in which a picture of him with Damon appears for a split second. Trueno previously collaborated with Gorillaz during their 2022 world tour, when he unexpectedly joined them to perform Clint Eastwood at the Quilmes Rock^W festival. The song will also posthumously feature a previously unheard verse from Proof, who had previously collaborated with the band on the non-album single 911 as part of D12.

Lyrics

[Part 1]

[Intro: Female voice]
(?)

[The Mountain Choir]
Hey, ah
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

[Chorus: Trueno]
Yo no sé qué va a pasar mañana
Cuando atienda la luz que me llama
Mami mi futuro me reclama
Camino hacia la luz, woah-oh
I have nothing to lose, woah-oh

[Verse 1: Trueno]
Cruce la puerta y hoy me siento libre
Dejé el pasado y me fijé en lo simple
Solo dame veintiuno gramos pa sentirme firme
Y yo te dejo mi legado, antes de irme
Cada paso una enseñanza, sigo con confianza
Tan rápido que el tiempo no me alcanza
No busco alabanzas menos falsas esperanzas
Descansa, como cuando estabas en la panza
Y despierta, toma las cartas en el asunto
Para poder mirar la vida diferentes puntos
Pregunto que habrá en ese mundo que viene después del mundo?
Lo bueno es que vamos todos juntos
Yo voy con mis valores
También florezco regando las flores
Me llevo los aromas y los colores
Hago que el cielo se enamore
Y si las nubes lloran que no lloren
Tengo a los árboles de profesores
Me encanta sentir el viento
Subir la montaña sin aliento
Al final lo que importa es el intento
Solo me acompañan mis hazañas, mi virtud y mi sentimiento
Para escribir la parte de todo del cuento

[Chorus: Trueno]
Yo no sé qué va a pasar mañana (Yo no sé, yo no sé)
Cuando atienda la luz que me llama (qe me llama)
Mami, mi futuro me reclama (Yes, yes, yes)
Camino hacia la luz, woah-oh (Camino, camino, huh, yeah)
I have nothing to lose, woah-oh (Camino hacia la luz, ma, camino, camino hacia la luz, ma)

[Bridge: 2-D]
Oh, the mountain it is high
Yeah, the mountain is sad so the mountain cry
Tin god, the braided day
The mountain stays on
Still don't lose yourself
If you don't stop now, then you're never gonna be done
Living under your gilded sun
On the mountain

[Post-Chorus: Trueno]

[Bridge: 2-D]
Oh, the mountain it is high
Yeah, the mountain is sad so the mountain cry
Tin god, the braided day
The mountain stays on
Still don't lose yourself
If you don't stop now, then you're never gonna be done
Living under your gilded sun
On the mountain
Oh-oh, okay

[Part 2]

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 2: Proof]
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah ah-ahhhhhhhhhhh

You never seen a killer with fangs
And millimeters that bang
And killers need to be swangin'
And still I reach ya
Y'all aren't ready for death
Until I showed up, hold breath
Until you blow the one set
My n****s throw up
How many times I gotta prove
Y'all not to test me, this uz
Can be deadly slugs, move
Through your chest piece
It's all reality
Beefin' with your block
That you're creepin' with your glock
Now you sleepin' in a box

No one can convince the invincible
To be sensible
It's in the principal
My pistol won't miss you all
Why shouldn't I diss you dawg
I'm Leatherface
This E&J make me say your DNA's genetic waste
A medic case that'll detonate
Dirty Harry
A pathetic taste, a shroomhead that murder fairies
A recovering heroin addict, looking down the barrel
With my peerman's eye
I got this shotgun just swerving at it
My triggers have turned a pump
Into a uzi you chumps
Do not move me ya'll jump
Inside movies
Yeah scaredy dudes
That hide behind ya n****s
Confide inside a squealer
And died beneath a river
My urban strikes a lot
Oh, I'm just fuckin', alright come on let's go

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3: Trueno]
Let go, let go, let go, huh, huh, yeah

Entro rompiendo la puerta
Acá no tenemos miedo le estamos pegando la vuelta
Paso por tales portales que matan mortales
Contrales que el mundo revienta
Ti-Ti-Ti-Tiemblan las placas tectónicas
Suena la armónica, rinden las cuentas
TR1 te saca la venda para que veas
Que la realidad no está en venta (Boom)
Sigo buscando el final del túnel
Busco esa luz que al final nos une
Solo los buenos son los que suben
Las almas levitando como el volumen
Solo uno más en el cardumen
Busco la paz, todos los lunes
Soy de los que asumen a su mentira
de lo que respiran cuando no hay perfume

Move thirty seven^W
Game over

[Outro: 2-D]
You're not alone, you're not alone, you're not even close
You’re open, then you’re closed, then you’re open
You're not alone, you're not alone, you're not even close
You’re true, then you’re untrue, then you’re true again

Only automatic now
Only automatic now
Only automatic now
Only automatic now

Slow release pills
You take them today
(Only automatic now) You take them for tomorrow
(Only automatic now) You take them for tomorrow

Only automatic now-now-now-now
Only automatic now-now-now-now-now-now...

Personnel

• Damon Albarn — lead vocals, songwriter, production
• Trueno — lead vocals, songwriter
• Proof — lead vocals, songwriter
• Remi Kabaka Jr. — production
• James Ford — production
• Samuel Egglenton — production
• Ajay Prasanna — bansuri
• Viraj Acharya — percussion
• Bharat Singh — tabla
• Ayaan Ali Bangash — sarod
• Amaan Ali Bangash — sarod
• The Mountain Choir — backing vocals
  • Vijayaa Shanker — choral director
  • Vaishnavi Shanker
  • Raja Lakshimi Sanjay
  • Rahul Pandey
  • Pulkit Rajvanshi
  • Ritika Sahni
  • Sanskar Vaidya
  • Pari Thakur
  • Vamsee Kotaru
• The Demon Strings
  • Izzi Dunn — cello
  • Kotono Sato — violin
  • Sarah Tuke — violin
  • Ciara Ismail — viola
• Chris Storr — trumpet
• Matthew Gunner — French horn
• Jea Band Jaipur — brass instruments
• Marta Salogni — mixing
• Heba Kadry — mastering

Videos

Gorillaz - The Manifesto ft. Trueno & Proof (Official Visualiser)

Official Visualiser

The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) , Pt. 1

The Manifesto, Pt. 1

The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) , Pt. 2-2

The Manifesto, Pt. 2

Gallery

Promotional Artwork

Visualiser

Trivia

• At 7:19, The Manifesto becomes Gorillaz' second-longest song after DoYaThing, which is 13:09 long, and dethroning Hong Kong, which is only five seconds shorter.
• In Proof's verse, you can hear the line "Dirty Harry", which actually refers to his own nickname, Derty Harry, and not to the Gorillaz song of the same name, as his part was recorded years prior to its release.
  • Interestingly, Proof also has an unreleased song titled Dirty Harry, available only on an exceedingly rare acetate.