Dirty Harry (song)

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This article is about the song by the Gorillaz. "Dirty Harry" is also a song by Adam & the Ants. For other meanings, see Dirty Harry (disambiguation).
"Dirty Harry"
"Dirty Harry" cover
Single by Gorillaz
from the album Demon Days
Released 21 November 2005
Format 12", CD, Maxi-CD, DVD
Recorded 2004
Genre Alternative
Length 3:49
Label Parlophone
Producer(s) Gorillaz, Danger Mouse
Chart positions
Gorillaz singles chronology
"DARE"
(2005)		 "Dirty Harry"
(2005)		 "Kids With Guns" / El Mañana""
(2006)

"Dirty Harry" is a song from Gorillaz' second album Demon Days. It was the third single from the album, released 21 November 2005. It peaked at #6 in the UK. It was also released as a promo and onto iTunes earlier that year. An early version of "Dirty Harry" titled "I Need A Gun" was included on Damon Albarn's album Democrazy (album). On 8 December 2005 it was announced that "Dirty Harry" had been nominated for a Grammy under the category "Urban/Alternative Performance".

One of the song's noted lyrics is the line "The war is over so says the speaker with the flight suit on", apparently referring to George W. Bush's televised speech of May 1, 2003, delivered from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, in which he declared an end to "major combat operations" resulting from the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Bush had flown to the aircraft carrier aboard a Navy jet, and emerged on camera wearing a flight suit, although he was not actually wearing it during the speech.

Dirty Harry is also a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel. One of Gorillaz's earlier singles is also the name of this movie's actor, Clint Eastwood.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] UK releases

  1. "Dirty Harry" - 3:49
  2. "Dirty Harry" (instrumental) - 3:49
  3. "Dirty Harry" (a cappella) - 3:49
  1. "Dirty Harry" - 3:49
  2. "All Alone" (live) - 3:39
    • From the summer 2005 Demon Detour radio program
  • CD CDRS6676
  1. "Dirty Harry" - 3:49
  2. "Hongkongaton" - 3:34
  3. "Dirty Harry" (Chopper remix) - 3:39
  • DVD DVDR6676
  1. "Dirty Harry" (video) - 3:49
  2. "Murdoc Is God" - 2:25
  3. "Dirty Harry" (animatic with "Dirty Harry" instrumental)

[edit] Japan release

  1. "Dirty Harry" - 3:49
  2. "All Alone" (live) - 3:39
    • From the summer 2005 Demon Detour radio program.
  3. "Dirty Harry (Chopper remix)" - 3:39
  4. "Hongkongaton" - 3:34
  5. "Dirty Harry" (video)

[edit] Australia release

  1. "Dirty Harry" - 3:49
  2. "Dirty Harry (Chopper remix)" - 3:39
  3. "Hongkongaton" - 3:34
  4. "Dirty Harry" (video)
  5. "Dirty Harry" (animatic with "Dirty Harry" instrumental)

[edit] US iTunes EP

  1. "Dirty Harry" (video)
  2. "Dirty Harry" (Demon Days Live in Harlem - video)
  3. "Highway (Under Construction)" (audio)
  4. "Hongkongaton" (audio)

[edit] Music video

The video was first released on 25 October to subscribers of the Gorillaz website mailing list.

Dirty Harry is the only Gorillaz music video to be filmed on-location. The band were going to use a computer animated desert, but it turned out simply flying the crew and band to the desert was cheaper and easier. Most of the video features shirtless 2-D and an animated version of the Children's Choir San Fernandez stranded in the middle of a desert, following what appears to have been a helicopter crash (which may be a relation to El Mañana, but most likely isn't, as Noodle is completely unharmed in the video). The survivors keep themselves entertained with the song while awaiting the arrival of rescuers, portrayed by Noodle and Murdoc crewing a South African Defence Force Casspir mine-proof vehicle driven by Russel (who has grown a Fu Manchu). The song and video feature a guest appearance by Pharcyde rapper Bootie Brown, who leaps out of a sand dune in military fatigues to perform his verse of the song.

In the end of the video the Gorillaz, the children and Bootie Brown depart the crash site in the military vehicle, which unfortunately breaks down meters away. The video also features a reference to the film Napoleon Dynamite where 2-D makes his hands resembling a bird flying (a film 2-D claims to admire).

One can interpret this video as a commentary on the Iraq war. 2D is convincing the kids to go to war. He says that they need guns to 'keep themselves from harm' (protect their nation). The children are convinced and join in quickly. The band members arrive in the Casspir so that they can take the kids off to war. Bootie Brown, also being sent off to war, voices a protest against Bush and describes the life of soldier in Iraq, including the lines "The war is over /So said the speaker with the flight suit on/Maybe to him I'm just a pawn/So he can advance", referring to Bush's arguably premature declaration of "Mission Accomplished." Notice that Bootie Brown is the only rapper in any Gorillaz video to be 3-dimensional (The other rappers are 2-dimensional because they are purely imaginary, while Bootie Brown is a real character in Demon Days). Bootie's character (a soldier in Iraq) is 3-dimensional in all senses of the word. The kids are convinced to go to war and they are taken off. The Casspir drives for a few seconds and quickly breaks down, symbolizing the swift failure of the war effort.

The themes in the single, as well as the themes in the entire album are all based on Damon Albarns observations on the state that the world is in today[1].

The helmet which appears on the single cover and the poster for the video (seen in the cinema section of the Gorillaz website) is reminiscent of the Full Metal Jacket movie poster, hinting that the album follows a story much like the movie. This song is the part in the story while the soldier (Bootie Brown) is being sent off to war unjustly, now separated from his lover at home.

[edit] Cover images

UK Promo (12")

UK Promo (CD)

UK (CD)

UK (Maxi-CD), Australia

UK (DVD), Japan (EP)

[edit] External links

Gorillaz
2D | Murdoc Niccals | Noodle | Russel Hobbs
Gorillaz discography
Albums and EPs: Tomorrow Comes Today | Gorillaz | G-Sides | Laika Come Home | Demon Days
DVDs: Phase One: Celebrity Take Down | Demon Days Live | Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades
Singles: "Clint Eastwood" | "19-2000" | "Rock the House" | "911" | "Tomorrow Comes Today" | "Lil' Dub Chefin'" | "Feel Good Inc." | "DARE" | "Dirty Harry" | "Kids With Guns" / "El Mañana"
Related articles
Britpop | Blur | The Good, the Bad and the Queen | Damon Albarn | Jamie Hewlett | Dan the Automator | Danger Mouse | Del tha Funkee Homosapien | Nelson De Freitas | Phil Cornwell | Haruka Kuroda | Remi Kabaka | Zombie Flesh Eaters | Passion Pictures | Gorillaz movie | Rise of the Ogre
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