Clint Eastwood (song)

Demo versions of "Clint Eastwood" were originally recorded by Damon Albarn on a four-track using a drum machine and guitar. A re-recording similar to these demos was recorded into Logic for use as a backing track. 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.^[10] 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.^[10] The instrumental beat originated from the first preset of the Omnichord, an electronic instrument.^[11]

Rapper Del the Funky Homosapien was brought onto the track at the last minute. The rap verses had originally been recorded by British group Phi Life Cypher, but producer Dan the Automator asked Del to quickly record his own verses for the song during a recording session for the 2000 album Deltron 3030 which he was recording with Del and the group Deltron 3030 at the same time. Del then wrote and recorded his verses in 30 minutes, utilizing the book How to Write a Hit Song gifted to him by his mother.^[12] Del later said that he was completely unaware of the song's release on the album Gorillaz and its success until people he personally knew began telling him that it was being played all over the radio.^[13]

Of the song's title, Albarn explained during a Reddit Ask Me Anything: "We were recording in Jamaica and listening to a lot of dancehall music and we imagined a cool moniker to have would be Clint Eastwood. Also I'm a great fan of the actor and of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone".^[14]

"Clint Eastwood" received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the catchiness and the blend of hip-hop with alternative rock. Alex Needham of NME praised the Ed Case Remix, stating that it "hauls [the track] down the dancefloor of Twice As Nice, where all the disparate elements fall into place and the jarring culture clash suddenly makes perfect sense. A little shift in perspective and, suddenly, you've got a West London Basement Jaxx, embodying a more interesting – and accurate – vision of England than anything Blur (Albarn's other project) have dared to attempt."^[21]

In 2001, Jamie Hewlett and Albarn indicated that they had not received any feedback from Clint Eastwood himself over the song.^[22] Albarn expressed a desire to send the actor some of the band's merchandise as a mark of respect, and said, "I'm sure Clint Eastwood would like [the song]. He's an intelligent man."^[22]

The animated music video was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland. It starts with the Gorillaz logo in red against a black screen, and the following quote from the 1978 film 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 version was produced that omits this intro. The video and song name is a reference to the famous Western starring actor Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. An interpolation of the yell from the film's theme song, in particular that film's protagonist Tuco Ramirez (Eli Wallach)'s leitmotif, can be heard at the beginning of the video, followed by sinister laughter from Murdoc Niccals. The notes that the melodica plays are also based on the yell.

The band is seen playing their music against a completely white backdrop. 2-D is seen wearing a T-Virus shirt most likely referencing Resident Evil. Russel Hobbs' 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 the other band members dumbfounded, and the backdrop slowly develops dark clouds in the sky. Enormous tombstones start to burst out of the ground, and the scene becomes that of a cemetery, as a shower of rain and thunderstorm begins. Shortly afterwards, zombie gorilla hands rise up from the ground. Murdoc is grabbed by the crotch and pulled to the ground, a reference to the Peter Jackson zombie film Braindead. Seconds later, the zombie gorillas themselves rise up. Murdoc immediately flees at the sight of them, with a number of them pursuing 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 knocked back by a lightning bolt; this dance routine is similar to the choreography of Michael Jackson's music video "Thriller".^[23]

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. The video has a running time of 4:32, which is significantly different from the album version, which runs for approximately 5:42, however, the album version features about 1:10 of the backing track playing with no vocals over the top. The BPM of the music video is also slightly slower than that of the album version, and the music video version has an ending after the last time "My future" is sung, whilst the album version fades out at the end.

The video for "Clint Eastwood" won an award at the Rushes Soho Short Film Festival Awards in 2001, defeating entries by Blur, Fatboy Slim, Radiohead and Robbie Williams.^[24]

Personnel are adapted from the liner notes and Tidal.^[30]

• Damon Albarn – vocals, Melodica^[31]
• Del tha Funky Homosapien – rap
• Dan the Automator – production
• Gorillaz – production
• Tom Girling – co-production, engineering, Pro Tools
• Jason Cox – co-production, engineering
• Toby Whelan – engineering assistance
• Tim Burrell – mastering engineer

• List of number-one hits of 2001 (Italy)