M83’s “Midnight City” Lyrics Meaning
The metaphors used throughout the song “Midnight City” are based on the singer being enraptured by the bright lights of the big city. This is a sentiment which anyone who has visited a large metropolis at “midnight” can likely relate to. And the specific place which inspired Anthony Gonzalez to pen this tune was Downtown Los Angeles, with Los Angeles being one of the biggest cities in the United States.
And what the singer is expressing is that he experiences something akin to spiritual gratification riding through the city at night. So basically Gonzalez has taken a more or less common experience – relishing a nighttime drive through a neon-imbued city – and turned it into a hit song.
Meaning of the Music Video of “Midnight City”
The plot of the music video to “Midnight City” is not directly related to the song’s lyrical content. Rather it is centered on a group of children, who for the sake of simplicity can be classified as mutants. In other words, they have superpowers, specifically telekinesis. And similar to “Akira”, they are being held in a facility where experiments are being conducted to ascertain the range of their powers.
At the beginning of the clip, a new boy, maybe like 10 years old, is admitted to the facility. He goes on to lead an escape where he and some of the other inmates, if you will, bounce. So they set out on their own, evading authorities and basically having a good time with their powers.
And the video ultimately climaxes with the five of them using these abilities, presumably to their full extent, in unison to make the sun set in the middle of the day. And the city that serves as the background is immediately cast into darkness. So perhaps that is how the visual is meant to tie into the song itself. But overall, as aforementioned, there appears to have been a minimal attempt, if any, to make this min-movie related to the actual lyrics of “Midnight City”.
Video Director and Location
Prominent music clip directors Fleur & Manu handled the official video to this song. It was influenced by the movies “Village of the Damned” (1960), “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and “Akira” (1988). Moreover the clip was filmed in Paris.
Release Date of “Midnight City”
This song was released on 26 September 2011. The labels behind it are Naïve Records and Mute Records. And it was featured on M83’s album “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”.
Writing Credits
“Midnight City” was written by M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez, as well as his brother, Yann. The pair was assisted in writing the track by songwriters B. Laner, M. Kibby and J. Meidal-Johnsen. And the last musician on that list also assisted Gonzalez in producing the track.
Anthony Gonzalez is recognized as the primary writer of this song. And he reportedly penned, under the influence of weed. He reportedly penned this hit within a timespan of three hours.
Notable Usage
In France this song was utilized by a television network called TF1. The network used it as the closing theme song after soccer matches which were played during UEFA Euro 2012.
That same year the song became extra-popular in Britain also, as the BBC opted to use it regularly during their airing of the 2012 Summer Olympics, which were played in London.
Accolades
Pitchfork Media dubbed “Midnight City” ‘The Top Track of 2011’.
“Midnight City” also made America’s Hot 100 and UK Singles Charts. It also charted in a few other countries and scored a number 1 on Ultratop’s Belgium Dance listing. And the song eventually went Platinum in the UK, US and France.
In fact “Midnight City” was extremely popular. This is evident by how many prominent brands have utilized it throughout the years. For instance, it has been used by companies such as Gucci, Nissan and Victoria’s Secret. It has also been heavily utilized by pop-media franchises such as “Black Mirror”, “Grand Theft Auto” and “Made in Chelsea”.
