Gorillaz Wiki

Hello, and welcome to the Gorillaz Wiki! A community-maintained environment where you can find or share information about everything regarding the virtual band Gorillaz. Before editing, take note of the following:

We are happy to welcome you to our community and we hope you enjoy your stay!

READ MORE

Gorillaz Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Gorillaz Wiki
005d9e3826014445b97b10921833f25e
ClintCD

CD

Clint Eastwood is the 5th track on Gorillaz, and it was the first proper Gorillaz single. The song is named after the actor of the same name due to its similarity to the theme music of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

In Rise of the Ogre, the song is claimed as Gorillaz' big signature tune.

A huge smash initially in the UK, where it remained in the charts for months and the top 10 for weeks.

At around the same time radio in Europe also went mad for the song. Slightly later in 2001 the song would also become a massive radio hit in the US and central and South America. Bigger than his previous smash, Song 2 (with Blur), this song remains Damon Albarn's biggest hit.

In the UK the Ed Case Refix (available on all formats) actually got far more airplay than the A-side, probably resulting in the inclusion of said remix on the debut LP. B-side Dracula was probably the best of the off cuts from the 'Gorillaz' sessions, and tour rap group Phi-Life Cypher also contributed a version.

Because of legal issues that Damon Albarn had with Del The Funkee Homosapien, his rapping parts could not be used during live performances, and so various rappers have contributed different raps to the song, including De La Soul with Bootie Brown or Jamal Grey in Demon Detour, Tinie Tempah (Johnathan Ross Show), Snoop Dogg (Glastonbury), Bashy & Kano (Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour), and Eslam Jawaad (Damascus).

However, after both Del and Damon sorted out their problems, in most recent shows the original rap has been used again.

Recording

Real life backstory

Gorillaz_-_Clint_Eastwood

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

Demo versions were originally recorded by Damon Albarn on a four-track using a drum machine and guitar. A re-recording similar to these demos were recorded into Logic for use as a backing track.

The original rap was done by Phi-Life Cypher and planned to keep that as the album version. However, Del tha Funkee Homosapien happened to be in the studio and was asked to do a rap for it. It was considered superior and stuck as the album version.

The strings featured in the song are from a string machine, the Solina String Ensemble. According to engineer, Jason Cox, "Damon gave us the OK to set fire to it on stage, but we said 'No, you can't set fire to that! It's a classic!", and it ended up being used on the song as well as some other tracks on the album. The drums are provided by a drum machine and the main instrument used in the song is the melodica, which Albarn used to make the basic track as well.

Virtual band backstory

Clinte

While recording at Kong Studios, 2-D started fiddling around with his melodica and Russel took the good bits out of it, while Murdoc wrote the melody and 2-D then sang it.

2-D also claimed he had a cold when he did the vocals but still really worked.

Murdoc jokingly said that when he did the song he just pushed the reggae setting button on his Honda Z-Chord autoharp, turned the knob from 'flop' to 'hit' and popped out the song.

The original recording featured Murdoc signing "colourless, atonal vocals", but Dan the Automator, the producer of the album, suggested the song could be improved by replacing his sections with a rap.

Such suggestion seemed to trigger a ghostly summoning which shook all of Kong, and Del's phantom erupted from Russel's head and sang his own lines while Russel was sent to a coma. Russel later claimed that Del transformed the whole sound.

After finishing the song, they called it 'Clint Eastwood' because it had a "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" feel to the melodica line. 2-D also said that because of its dub feel, it was a tip of the hat to all 1970's reggae stars who used names like that.

Lyrics

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

Ahhh yeah! Hahah
Finally someone let me out of my cage
Now, time for me is nothing cause I'm counting no age
No, I couldn't be there
Now you shouldn't be scared
I'm good at repairs
And I'm under each snare
Intangible
Bet you didn't think so I command you to
Panoramic view, look, I'll make it all manageable
Pick and choose, sit and lose, all you different crews
Chicks and dudes, who you think is really kickin' tunes?
Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube
Like you lit the fuse
You think it's fictional? Mystical? Maybe
Spiritual. Hero who appears in you to clear your view when you're too crazy
Lifeless, to know the definition for what life is
Priceless to you because I put you on the hype shit
You like it?
Gun smokin', righteous with one token
Psychic among those
Possess you with one go

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

The essence, the basics
Without it, you make it
Allow me to make this child-like in nature
Rhythm, you have it or you don't, that's a fallacy
I'm in them
Every sprouting tree, every child of peace
Every cloud and sea
You see with your eyes
I see destruction and demise, corruption in disguise
From this fuckin' enterprise
Now I'm sucked into your lies
Through Russel, not his muscles but percussion he provides
With me as a guide
Y'all can see me now 'cause you don't see with your eye
You perceive with your mind
That's the inner
So I'm gonna stick around with Russ and be a mentor
Bust a few rhymes so motherfuckers remember where the thought is
I brought all this so you can survive when law is lawless
Feelings, sensations that you thought was dead
No squealing, remember that it's all in your head

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I've got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future

UK Formats

Enhanced CD

1-2

12"

1. Clint Eastwood (Edit)
2. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix Edit)
3. Dracula
4. Clint Eastwood (Video)

Cassette

1. Clint Eastwood (Edit)
2. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix Edit)
3. Dracula

12"

A. Clint Eastwood (Album Version)
B1. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix Edit)
B2. Clint Eastwood (Phi Life Cypher Version)

Release dates and chart positions

UK : 05/03/01 – highest chart position: 3

  • AUS : 07/05/01 – highest chart position: unknown

USA: 26/03/01 - highest chart position: 57

List of officially released versions

  • Original full length version (5:39) - on 12" single, Gorillaz and The Singles Collection 2001-2011
  • Single edit (3:44) - on various single formats
  • Ed Case Re-fix (4:30) - on 12" promo and some versions of Gorillaz
  • Ed Case Re-fix edit (3:42) - on many single formats, some versions of Gorillaz, and The SIngles Collection 2001-2011
  • Phi Life Cypher version (4:50) - on various single formats and G-Sides
  • Live in Manchester version on Demon Days Live DVD and DARE single
  • A rare, but official, promo CD of unmastered tracks intended for the Gorillaz album contains the full unfaded version of "Clint Eastwood" running 6:33. This version was never properly released.

Trivia

  • Clint Eastwood is the first track to directly address a band member by name in the lyrics. In one verse Del states, "Through Russel, not his muscles but percussion he provides..."
    • Funnily enough, the Phi-Life Cypher version addresses Noodle instead, in the verse "I smash the top of your head with a guitar I borrowed from Noodle"


Advertisement