Mowgli's Road is a single by Marina Diamandis, released under her previous stage name 'Marina and the Diamonds'. Appearing on her first studio album The Family Jewels, it is the 5th track on the album, and was released as the 2nd single.
The song was written by Marina and Liam Howe, who produced the track.
The B-side to Mowgli's Road's vinyl release was a cover of Space and the Woods, originally by the band Late of The Pier.
Background[]
In response to being asked if she was a big fan of the Jungle Book, Marina said:[1]
❝ It just had a bit of a Disney vibe to it on the chorus "and I don't know don't know don't know don't know" and I just thought of like Baloo the bear singing it, and then I suddenly went cuckoo in the studio and that's how the Mowgli's Road theme started to seep in. ❞
Trivia[]
- The song's intro uses a free-to-use recording of a Furreal Friends toy monkey, titled "03_Furreal_Friends_Monkey.wav". It was created by Freesound.org user Raymond67.[2]
- In the music video, Marina had puppet legs and hands. It took up to 17 hours to film the entire video.
- This is the only song on The Family Jewels to be in 12/8 time signature.
- During a webcam chat in October 2011, Marina stated the song and I Am Not a Robot were her favorite to perform live.[3]
Artwork[]
|
Photoshoot  Unedited Media  Single artwork  Promo CD  Vinyl artwork  Vinyl artwork  Original double A-side vinyl |
Videos[]
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Title | Mowgli's Road | |
| Premiere | 20 Oct 2009 (YouTube) / 16 Nov 2009 (679/Atlantic) | |
| Length | 3:09 | |
| Director | Chris Sweeney | |
| Producer | Sarah Tognazzi | |
| Production company | Colonel Blimp | |
| Editor | Darren Baldwin | |
| Choreographer | Natricia Bernard | |
Behind the Scenes
_1-001.jpg "Monica Corder (2009) 1-001.jpg (155 KB)")
_1-002.jpg "Monica Corder (2009) 1-002.jpg (170 KB)")
_1-003.jpg "Monica Corder (2009) 1-003.jpg (164 KB)")
Lost Behind the Scenes Video
Image associated with the video.
On October 2, 2009, 679 published a blog post, in which they shared four behind the scenes images of the music video for Mowgli's Road, prior to its YouTube release. The images showed the origami limbs in the video were operated by puppeteers.[4]
Weeks later, on the 21st, the music video for the song was released, along with a blog post on Marina's site, sharing a link to the YouTube upload:[5]
❝ Directed by Chris Sweeney. Here you go, my diamonds!!!
The 'Making Of' will be on the blog later this week.. x x ❞
On the 27th, Marina posted "THE MAKING OF MOWGLI.", in which she also shared four images, and explained the process behind the video's choreography, origami limbs, filming and editing. The images shared in the blog post have yet to resurface. However, they are presumed to be the same four pictures previously posted by 679, as the descriptions given by Marina matched the images.[5]
Despite the eventual deletion of both of 679 and Marina's blogs, the behind the scenes images of Mowgli's Road's music video continued to be spread by fans on other social media throughout the years.[6][7]
Years later, on March 21, 2021, Reddit and Fandom user Potasioxd and Potasioxdd respectively, made a post in a Marina and the Diamonds subreddit, revealing many fans claimed to remember a behind the scenes video of Mowgli's Road, that had since been taken down from YouTube:[8]
❝ Does anyone remember the behind the scenes video of Mowgli's Road? On Facebook some people remember this vid, but we don't know if it's a kind of Mandela Effect or actually existed. ❞
That same day, the user created a page for Mowgli's Road's behind the scenes video on a Spanish lost media Fandom wiki.[9] The video was additionally mentioned in an iceberg chart titled "Lost Music Videos Media" by user equarep on IcebergCharts.com, posted on October 10, 2022.[10] However, both sites categorize the behind the scenes video of Mowgli's Road under "existence unconfirmed".
As Marina shared behind the scenes and other exclusive material on blogs from between 2007 and 2011, the existence of a Mowgli's Road behind the scenes video may be possible. However, such video was neither mentioned or published by 679 nor Marina, as all was ever shared were the aforementioned four images. As of December 2023, there are no archives or leaks of a Mowgli's Road 'making of' video, and it would have yet to resurface. It is likely for the video to be an example of Mandela effect.Background
Director Chris Sweeney explained how the music video was shot:[11]
❝ We had puppet legs and arms made for Marina that she then wore on the shoot so we could get it all in camera. The shoot was very funny with a lovely team of puppeteers all dancing around in white body socks as they controlled Marina's puppet limbs with sticks and fishing wire, all choreographed by Natricia Bernard. Then Gary Brown at Munky and an army of flame artists worked 27 hours a day painting out Marina and the dancers' real legs and arms and putting in a new shadow for her. I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who worked on the video, it was a lot of fun. ❞
Additionally, Marina told WalesOnline:[12]
❝ Wearing a pair of plastic legs attached to my waist was pretty weird. I wore a pair of white leggings and we had two puppeteers moving the joints at each side of me who were later erased frame by frame. They had to erase the leggings and my arms and repaint in the background, at 25 frames per second, and then they simulated the shadows. The shoot took ages but all the work was in the post-editing – it took two weeks! ❞
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Title | Mowgli's Road (Acoustic) | |
| Premiere | Unknown | |
| Length | 3:19 | |
| Notes | Low quality reupload. | |
Official Versions[]
| Version | Released on | Date | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▶ | Album (Has intro) | The Family Jewels | 15 Feb 2010 | 3:12 |
| ▶ | Single (No intro) | Mowgli's Road | 13 Nov 2009 | 3:05 |
| B-Side (Has intro and outro) | Obsessions | 14 Feb 2009 | 4:10 | |
| Radio Edit (Has intro and outro) | 14 Feb 2009 | 3:07 | ||
| Remixes | ||||
| ▶ | Russ Chimes Remix | Mowgli's Road - EP | ~Oct 2009 | 5:09 |
| ▶ | The Phenomenal Handclap Band Remix | Mowgli's Road - EP | 17 Nov 2009 | 4:53 |
| ▶ | Mille Remix (Promo remix) | Mowgli's Road - EP | ~Oct 2009 | 5:37 |
| Acoustic/Live | ||||
| Acoustic | YouTube (Deleted) | 3:19 | ||
| Live | ITunes Live: London Festival '09 | 15 Jun 2009 | 3:14 | |
| Demos | ||||
| Home Demo (Incomplete) | N/A - Unreleased | Unknown | ||
Lyrics[]
Differences between the album and acoustic version have been italicised.
[Hook]
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
[Verse 1]
Ten silver spoons coming after me
One life with one dream on repeat
I'll escape if I try hard enough
Till King of the Jungle calls my bluff
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Oh, Lord (Oh, Lord)
I have been told (I have been told)
That I must take the unforsaken road (Forsaken road)
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I'll do as I am told
And I don't know (Don't know, don't know, don't know)
Who I wanna be
[Hook]
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
[Verse 2]
You say Y-E-S to everything
Will that guarantee you a win?
Do you think you will be good enough
To love others and to be loved?
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Oh, Lord (Oh, Lord)
Now I can see (Now I can see)
The cutlery will keep on chasing me (Forsaken road)
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I'll do as I am told
And I don't know (Don't know, don't know, don't know)
Who I wanna be
[Bridge]
We are the spoons, metal-ly mean
We scooped our way into your dreams
To knock the knives out bloody cold
And lead you down the unforsaken road (Forsaken road)
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I'll do as I am told
And I don't know (Don't know, don't know, don't know)
Who I wanna be
[Hook]
Cuckoo
[Hook]
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
[Verse 1]
Ten silver spoons coming after me
One life with one dream on repeat
I'll escape if I try hard enough
Till King of the Jungle calls my bluff
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Oh, Lord
I have been told
That I must take the unforsaken road
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I do as I am told
And I don't know, don't know, don't know, don't know
Who I wanna be
[Hook]
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
[Verse 2]
You say Y-E-S to everything
Will that guarantee you a win?
Do you think you will be good enough
To love others and to be loved?
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Oh, Lord
Now I can see
The cutlery will keep on chasing me
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I do as I am told
And I don't know don't know, don't know, don't know
Who I wanna be
[Bridge]
We are the spoons, metal-ly mean
We scooped our way into your dreams
To knock the knives out bloody cold
And lead you down the unforsaken road
Ooh
Ooh
[Chorus]
There's a fork in the road
I do as I am told
And I don't know don't know, don't know, don't know
Who I wanna be
Credits[]
Personnel[]
- Vocals - Marina Diamandis
- Spoons, philicorda, whistle, glockenspiel, bass, acoustic guitar - Liam Howe
- Harpsichord, drums - Alex MacKenzie
- Mechanical monkey - Raymond67 (Freesound Project)
- Human Monkey - Sandyrb (Freesound Project)
Technical[]
- Writer - Marina Diamandis
- Additional writer, programmer, engineer - Liam Howe
- Producer - Liam Howe for This Much Talent
- Mixer - Liam Howe at The Ivory Tower
- Protools - Dougal Lott
- Recorded at - The Ivory Tower, Konk, London
- Master - Guy Davie at Electric Mastering, London
- Publisher - Warner Chappell Music Publishing Ltd, Sony ATV
Registration[]
On ASCAP/BMI Mowgli's Road was registered once,[13] and twice on GEMA,[14] the reregistration on GEMA lists Marina's own publishing company Primadonna Girl Limited, and was likely done to have legal ownership over her songs.
References[]
- ↑ https://youtu.be/DBkDPYQ6Qik?t=218
- ↑ https://freesound.org/people/Raymond67/sounds/46118
- ↑ https://youtu.be/FeR9MqCmVQQ?t=501
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20091106222645/http://blog.679artists.com/2009/10/cuckoo-were-behind-scenes-at-marinas.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20100111070613/http://marinaandthediamonds.com
- ↑ https://twitter.com/diamandisgifs/status/605843861462609920
Archive: https://archive.li/96OFi - ↑ https://youtu.be/jNkSk4KvXsY
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MarinaAndTheDiamonds/comments/ma8rna
Archive: https://archive.ph/xoAhx - ↑ https://lostmedia.fandom.com/es/wiki/Mowgli%27s_Road_(detr%C3%A1s_de_c%C3%A1maras_de_v%C3%ADdeoclip_de_Marina_and_The_Diamonds;_existencia_no_confirmada;_2009)
- ↑ https://icebergcharts.com/i/Lost_Music_Videos_Media
Archive: https://archive.ph/RvwwF - ↑ https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2009/11/02/marina-diamonds%E2%80%99-mowgli%E2%80%99s-road-chris-sweeney/3678
- ↑ https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/no-strings-pop-star-marina-2070302
- ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#
ISWC: T9066398207 Work ID: 434005597 - ↑ https://online.gema.de/werke/search.faces?lang=en
GEMA work no.: 10728223-001 GEMA work no.: 10728223-004
