| “ | She turned my dad on! | „ |
5/4 (sometimes written as 5-4) is a song by Gorillaz and the second track from their self-titled debut album, Gorillaz. The song has a polymetric patter, with the guitar riff being in a 5/4 time signature (hence the title) while the other instruments play in the more common 4/4 one. Additional vocals on the song are provided by Miho Hatori.
5/4 was originally intended to be the second single from the debut album, but was initially replaced by 19-2000. It was pitched as a single a second time before being dropped again in favour of Rock The House and subsequently scrapped.
Background and Recording[]
In the Rise of the Ogre autobiography, the band calls it a "picky showdown; like Godzilla versus the hulking King Kong, Noodle and 2-D battle it out for centre stage, with the vocals singing of magic, silent heartbeats, cities and suicide".
Murdoc said that he needed a proper dirty fuzz coming from the bass, so he kicked a big hole in the speaker cabinet and let the torn flappy speaker cone buzz away. 2-D, on the other hand, that it was kind of difficult to sing along to it because of the difference in time signatures.
| “ | The timing throws me a bit on this. It's like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. Bit difficult. | „ |
5/4 was originally intended to be the second proper single from the band's debut album, after the extended play release of Tomorrow Comes Today and the single Clint Eastwood (by then, a single release of Slow Country had already been discarded), but got pushed back in favour of the more radio-friendly 19-2000. After that, it was once again rejected, this time in favour of Rock The House, not only for its angry and anti-commercial sound but for the proposed music video and its heavy sexual connotations.
Music Video[]
- Main Article: 5/4 (Storyboard)
In the scrapped music video for the song, the band (in the company of Mike the Monkey) is performing the song live on a red-lit stage (shaped similarly to the silhouette of a penis and testicles) while a group of sexualized female dancers performed on a different stage in front of them. The dancers' moves attract bass player Murdoc Niccals, giving him the urge to not only take centre stage but also to reach out to them. A platform then extends out of the stage, allowing him to get close to the dancers but to also take off all of his clothes, thus revealing an uncensored cartoon penis. However, when he tries to jump across to the other side, he trips over his pants and falls naked into the crowd below.
The music video was never finished and was left on a storyboard stage, later released on the Phase One: Celebrity Take Down DVD. Short animated segments of the band members from the music video were reused on the live visuals for the song from the Gorillaz LIVE tour.
Fan-Made Versions[]
Pictures from Hooligramz' fan-made version of the music video
In 2015, a YouTube user by the name of Martin M published a fan-animated music video for the song based on the official storyboards, which could be found here. It has since been removed from YouTube but is still accessible on his NewgroundsW account, and can be viewed here.
A few years later, on 15 May 2020, a production team called Hooligramz released their own fan-made version of the music video, with the assistance of Martin M. and Mat Wakeham, uploaded to animator Jacob Polar's YouTube channel. This version had been in production since July 2019, and included brand-new animation inspired by the storyboard as well as footage from the band's live performance at La Cigale, France in June 2001 and the live visuals as background footage on the stage's screens. As of 2023, the video has amassed over 3.6 million views on YouTube.
Lyrics[]
Magic for me
Magic makes no sound
It good for me
It good for me underground
Magic on me
Really got me down
Invade the city
It made my heart beat no sound
Beat no sound
Beat no sound (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Beat no sound
Beat no sound
Beat no sound (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
And let me tell myself
Tell on
She turned my dad on
She turned my dad on, dad on, dad on
Magic for me
Magic, get me through
With magic money
People seem to walk through you
Magic's funny
Magic, get me through
All good for me
When people seem to always walk through you
Walk through you (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Walk through you
Walk through you
Walk through you
Walk through you (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Walk through you
Walk through you
Walk through you
Walk through you
Walk through you
And let me tell myself
Tell on
She turned my dad on
She turned my dad on, dad on, dad on
She made me kill myself
Come on
Come on
She turned my dad on
Come on
She turned my dad on
Come on
She turned my dad on
She turned my dad on, dad on, dad on
Videos[]
Availability[]
Song[]
- Gorillaz (all versions plus album sampler).
- Included on the G Collection and the Gorillaz 20th Anniversary Box Set.
Live Visuals[]
- Phase One: Celebrity Take Down DVD;
- Unofficial YouTube reuploads.
Trivia[]
- The hockey masks used by the female dancers on the storyboard loosely resemble the ones on the artwork for the single 19-2000, but according to Mat Wakeham this is merely a coincidence as they are not actually related.
- The Spacemonkeyz remix of the song from Laika Come Home is named P45.
- The song was brought back to live performances on the Humanz Tour after being retired on the Gorillaz LIVE tour, with Jehnny Beth taking the lead vocals.