Clint Eastwood (song)

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"Clint Eastwood"
Single by Gorillaz
from the album Gorillaz
Released	March 5, 2001
Format	CD, 12", MC
Recorded	2000
Genre	Electronic
Length	5 min 55 sec
Label	Parlophone
Producer(s)	Gorillaz, Dan the Automator
Chart positions
#1 (Italy) #2 (Austria, Germany) #3 (Switzerland) #4 (UK) #7 (Sweden) #11 (Belgium: Wallonia) #17 (Australia, France) #26 (Netherlands) #57 (US)
Gorillaz singles chronology
Tomorrow Comes Today EP (2000)	"Clint Eastwood" (2001)	"19-2000" (2001)

The character voiced by Del in the Clint Eastwood video, note that this is the only time he appears with some of his teeth missing.

"Clint Eastwood" is Gorillaz' debut single, released off of their self-titled album Gorillaz in March 2001. It peaked at the #4 in the UK and #57 in the US.

The song is a mix of electronic and rock with sample from the classic western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (which stars Clint Eastwood). The verses are rapped by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, portrayed as a blue phantom in the video, while the chorus is sung by Damon Albarn (as the Gorillaz member, 2D).

[edit] Track listings

• CD (CDR6552)

1. "Clint Eastwood"
2. "Clint Eastwood" (Ed Case and Sweetie Irie refix)
3. "Dracula"
4. "Clint Eastwood" (enhanced video section)

• 12" (12R6552)

1. "Clint Eastwood"
2. "Clint Eastwood" (Ed Case refix edit)
3. "Clint Eastwood" (Phi Life Cypher remix)

• MC (TC6552)

1. "Clint Eastwood"
2. "Clint Eastwood" (Ed Case and Sweetie Irie refix)
3. "Dracula"

[edit] Music video

The video is animated. It starts with the Gorillaz logo in red against a black screen, and the following quote from the movie Dawn Of The Dead: "Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill" in Japanese then in English. This phrase was deemed offensive in some countries and a censored video was produced that omits this intro.

The band is seen playing their music against a completely white backdrop. Russel's cap then begins to mysteriously rise on its own, and the ghost of Del appears to be emerging from under it. He begins to rap, leaving Gorillaz dumbfounded, and the backdrop at this point is that of a cemetery. Del then begins to summon enormous tombstones to burst out of the ground, as a heavy shower of rain and thunderstorm begins. Shortly afterwards, zombie gorillas' hands rise up from the ground. Murdoc is grabbed by the crotch and pulled to the ground. Seconds later, the zombie gorillas themselves rise up. Murdoc immediately flees at the sight of them, with a number of them pursuing after him. He then turns and glares at them out of frustration at his inability to escape, and the zombie apes engage in a bizarre dance routine before Murdoc is finally struck by lightning (this dance routine is similar to the choreography on Michael Jackson's video for the single Thriller). Noodle is then shown joyfully skipping along, almost as if she is completely unaware of her surroundings, and in her playful skipping, she delivers a hard kick to one of the zombie gorillas in the face. Immediately afterwards, Del is then sucked back into Russel's head as the gorillas all disintegrate, and the band members are left standing in the cemetery, now bright with sunlight. The video then concludes with a split screen showing each of the four band members and their names.

[edit] Trivia and mistakes

• In the video, 2D wears a shirt that appears to say "T virus," possibly referencing the T-virus responsible for creating the zombies in the Resident Evil videogames and movies.
• The video was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland in 2000.
• The backbeat for the song appears on the Arrested Development episode "Altar Egos" from season one.
• When the zombie gorillas are chasing Murdoc in the cemetery, in the side view it can be clearly seen that there are six gorillas. However, when they start to dance, there are only five.
• The song was used in an early episode of Smallville.