Gorillaz - Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)
The official music video for the song Saturnz Barz by Gorillaz featuring Popcaan, lead single of album Humanz. It was released on 23 March 2017 along with the single itself and was produced and animated by film production company Passion Pictures.
Synopsis[]
The music video starts off with the band arriving in a vintage red car whilst the song "Ascension" from their new album Humanz plays in the background. They get out of the car and arrive at what appears to be their new home, which appears to be unkempt and decrepit. They ring the doorbell, only for a storm to suddenly brew. The door creaks open. Murdoc comments on how loud the doorbell is, being the loudest he has ever heard. As they walk in, Murdoc further comments on the interior of the house being too welcoming and the house's dirty floor. Russel suggests that they split up and explore the house.
A tired Russel goes to the bedroom (where he falls asleep), 2-D goes to the kitchen to find a fridge full of food that opens just as he walks in the room, Murdoc goes to the bathroom (where he takes a bath), and Noodle goes into the basement where she finds a record player and some vinyl records. As they all partake in their activities, Noodle plays one of the records, then the haunting and the song begin.
2-D finds a large cake which he proceeds to eat while a plastic golf figurine comes alive and says, "Press the button to begin" to the viewer. Murdoc sinks underwater in the bathtub, entering a euphoric state of mind as he floats nude in space. Meanwhile, Russel is tormented by a black snake-like creature with a large head, many arms, one eye, and a small arm where its other eye should be. Noodle is constricted by a cycloptic worm-like creature. While this is happening, food begins launching out of the fridge, knocking 2-D back and eventually shoving itself down his throat, with the implication that the food itself is haunted.
Throughout the music video, while everyone is suffering, Murdoc does not appear to be harmed by it at all. By the end, there is a shot of all four of them, suggesting that Murdoc is actually as terrified as his bandmates. One theory is that Murdoc is simply shivering from the cold water in the tub.
A light fills the house, then suddenly the storm disappears. The four leave the house to go eat breakfast, seemingly unaffected by the haunting they just experienced. 2-D, however, the only one truly traumatized by the experience, only wants a peppermint tea. They drive off while "Andromeda" and later "We Got The Power," both from Humanz, play in the background.
360 Video[]
The 360° version of the music video was released on the same day as the regular version and set the record for the biggest debut of a 360° music video in YouTube's history, receiving over three million views within the first 48 hours of it's premiere.[1]
Censorship[]
In both versions of the music video, Murdoc's penis was originally uncensored before being taken down not too long after their debut. They later uploaded a censored version with his private parts edited to be pixelated, which remains on the channel to this day. However, the original uncensored versions are still available on the Internet Archive and on Vimeo.
Jamie Hewlett told Juxtapoz Magazine in 2017 that they originally planned on making the video in a way that the audience would never see Murdoc's genitals when floating around naked, but later got permission from their legal department and YouTube themselves to have them exposed. When production was completed, YouTube backtracked their previous decision after viewing the finalized video, leading Jamie and Passion Pictures to create a censored version.[2]
| “ | Just as it was about to go live, some poor guy at the animation company had to spend an entire day pixelating Murdoc's penis. He came to work and they said, "Guess what you’re doing today?" Not really a fun job. We're scared of penises, we're scared of nudity, but we're happy to watch people killing and beating each other. Show a penis or vagina, and people get upset. Why is that? What's wrong with us? | „ |
| ~ Jamie Hewlett |
Commentary[]
On the 1st of May 2022, a commentary edition of the music video by band member Murdoc Niccals was posted to Gorillaz' official YouTube channel, as part of a series of commentaries on some of the band's music videos.
Availability[]
Music Video[]
Censored[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Uncensored[]
Official Gorillaz YouTube channel(taken down);- Alex Holman's official Vimeo account.
360 Video[]
Censored[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Uncensored[]
Official Gorillaz YouTube channel(taken down);- Unoffical Internet Archive uploads.
Commentary Edition[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Credits[3] [4][]
- Director: Jamie Hewlett
- Producer: Cara Speller
- Animation Directors: Robert Valley and Daryl Graham.
- Production Designer: Reuben McNaughton
- 3D modelling: Alex Holman and Ian Brown
- Additional matte painting: Dan Lambert
- Opening shot compositing: John Taylor
- Production Company: Passion Pictures
- Animation: In collaboration with Google Spotlight Stories
- Supported by: YouTube
- Managed by: Eleven Management
Videos[]
Gallery[]
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| The full image gallery for Saturnz Barz (Music Video) may be viewed at Saturnz Barz (Music Video)/Gallery. |
Popcaan Monsters[]
Popcaan, a Jamaican Reggae rapper, takes the form in the video of three monsters that torment the band members. He takes the form of a pizza slice, a worm and a snake monster.
Trivia[]
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The Detroit house in which the spirit house is heavily based off of.
- According to Damon Albarn, the music video cost $800,000 to produce.[5]
- The sentence on Russel's shirt, "IT'S NOT RAEL", is a reference to the RaëlismW UFO religion.[6]
- Noodle is the only member who doesn't speak throughout the video.
- The house depicted in the video is based on a house at 220 Hendrie Street in Detroit, Michigan.
- During the beginning of the video a disturbing face can be seen in the broken window of a house's basement.
- Peppermint tea can be used for problems with digestion, something that 2-D may have had due to being stuffed with food.
- The license plate on the band's car reads "BASS TZAR RUN" which is a close anagram for "Saturnz Bars".
- In the storyboard of Saturnz Barz a few differences can be seen; it was already raining, the song title would appear in the upper right corner with bright red during the wide shot, 2-D was wearing a denim jacket, Russel was wearing a baseball cap instead of a beanie, Noodle had a different hairstyle and the band looked surprised when the door opened by itself.
- Murdoc's quote, "The Bath" has been made into an internet meme, which is spelled "Da Baff" due to Murdoc's accent. Features of the meme include Murdoc's ecstatic face he makes (eyes gaping and his long tongue sticking out) as he pulls off his clothes to take a bath and poorly photo manipulated images of bathtubs.
- Saturnz Barz could be considered the Phase 4 equivalent to Clint Eastwood and Rock the House as it involves the band members being tormented by yet another supernatural being throughout the entirety of the music video before having everything revert back to normal by the time the music video ends.
- There are many references to Gorillaz' previous single DoYaThing and it's music video.
- 2-D is wearing the same shirt (or at least a shirt that's really similar to it) that is seen on the DoYaThing cover.
- DoYaThing's music video ends with 2-D getting an eviction notice, while Saturnz Barz' music video starts with Gorillaz searching for a new home.
- A trash bag can be seen moving could be seen in both music videos, with DoYaThing's being at the end and Saturnz Barz' being at the start.
- Portions of the uncensored version were used in the live visual for Saturnz Barz during the "album launch" concert at Printworks, London, on 24 March 2017. This was most likely due to the censored version not yet being completed, as the music video premiered the day prior. Ironically, the official upload of this performance by Telekom Electronic Beats is still available on YouTube.[7]
References[]
- ↑ Havens, Lyndsey (30 March 2017). "Gorillaz' 'Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)' Has the Most Successful Debut for a VR Music Video: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved on 15 August 2025.
- ↑ Farr, Kristin. "Gorillaz: The Humanz Condition". Juxstapoz Magazine. Retrieved on 13 October 2025.
- ↑ Saturnz Barz opening shot Vimeo upload by John Taylor
- ↑ GORILLAZ "SATURNZ BARZ" — REUBEN MCNAUGHTON (reuben-mcnaughton.com)
- ↑ Brown, Lane (25 April 2017). "Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher on the Making of Gorillaz’s 'We Got the Power'". Vulture. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved on 15 August 2025.
- ↑ u/itsnotrael (2017). "The "It's Not RAEL" shirt from Saturnz Bars". Reddit. Retrieved on 8 April 2025.
- ↑ @ElectronicBeatsTV (19 April 2017). "Gorillaz - Saturnz Barz - Live At Printworks London". YouTube.