I am a diehard Gorillaz fan, the only band that I like better is The Beatles. I read "Rise of the Ogre," and from what the fictional members of Gorillaz said about "Kids With Guns," I believe that I can safely conclude that I understand what this song is about.
To understand why this song is about what it is about, you must first know that the entire album of Demon Days is about mainly how the general public respects false icons and about what humanity has done, the chaos that we rose out of and recreated ourselves. Damon Albarn, the actual mastermind behind Gorillaz, has a history of writing songs about what has been going on around him. "Girls and Boys," one of his best songs with Blur, his original band, was about how he was disgusted yet fascinated after he learned that people who went to his concerts would get drunk or high on drugs and have sex with each other, despite being total strangers.
Anyways, onto the point.
What Albarn is trying to say in the song is that the recent generations that have determined the fate of the world have created a future in which people will have to arm their own children with guns so that they can protect themselves from the chaos and terror that will surely erupt throughout the world if we continue to prosper, as we are too smart for our own good, so to speak. Albarn is trying to say that, now that we have the ability to destroy our entire race (nuclear technology, etc.), and have the resources and equipment ready, we will surely use it, whether we should or should not.
"Kids with Guns
Kids with guns
taking over
why won't they run?"
Here, Albarn is saying that in this inevitable chaos this is the future, the generations that begin in that chaos will not know that there was a safer past, an oasis of happiness that their own ancestors destroyed (Why won't they run?). The line, "Taking Over" means that this generation of people who know no safety, no happiness, will then be in control of the human race, so they will continue to feed the chaos that is humanity.
"They mesmerize
skeletons
Kids with guns
kids with guns"
The line, "They mesmerize/ skeletons" means that they will kill others, for they know no other, safer, better life. Therefore, the generation who will take charge of humanity will have been convinced by the generation that was in charge before them that they must kill others, so therefore, they are all already dead, as everyone will try to kill everyone else. So, this means that everyone is a "mesmerize skeleton" who will convince the next generation the same.
"And they're turning us into monsters (repeats)"
This line is pretty self- explanatory. It means that each generation turns the next generation into monsters to kill, as the older generation was never taught otherwise because of the inevitable chaos.
"Drinkin' out
Push it real"
This is probably just gibberish. But catchy gibberish, nonetheless.
This song is Albarn trying to tell the generation of people who are the next in line to take control of humanity that they can't continue what their predecessors started, and try as hard as they can to keep the said chaos from arising. I support this, and I hope that this interpretation meets your needs!
