Peak
57
Weeks
11
Score
660
Chart Year
2001
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's leitmotif, can be heard at the beginning of the video, followed by sinister laughter from Murdoc. 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'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 the other band members dumbfounded, and the backdrop slowly develops dark clouds in the sky, and 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.
This song is named after the famous Western movie actor. The theme from Eastwood's movie The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly can be heard periodically throughout the song. Eastwood is most famously known for his portrayal of a western character with no name in Sergio Leone Italian westerns of the late '60s. He played Dirty Harry Callahan in the movies Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool, and was the Mayor of Carmel, California in the '80s. Eastwood is also a huge fan and supporter of jazz, and is a somewhat accomplished self-taught jazz pianist. The reason the song is called Clint Eastwood is because of the strange harmonica-like instrument used in the background, which is called a melodica. It is a keyboard instrument that is played by blowing through a tube and pressing its keys. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz plays it throughout the track, and he thought it sounded a lot like the score to the Clint Eastwood's movie A Fistful of Dollars. Also, Clint Eastwood is the name of a Jamaican reggae artist who the band heard about when they were recording the album in Jamaica. Albarn explained during a Reddit AMA: "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." The "Laika Come Home" remix of this song is called "A Fistful of Peanuts." >> The basic rhythm track was based on a preset on an Omnichord, which is a small instrument with a keyboard and slider played on the lap. A band called The High Fidelity used the same preset on their track "Pig Might Fly" in 2001. Albarn recalled to Vulture in a 2020 interview: "It came from switching on the Suzuki Omnichord and the first preset was the beat. That can only happen once: [you take an] electronic instrument and the first thing you play you use, and it becomes a massive hit. As a result of that, in the proceeding 20 years I've bought a lot of electronic instruments hoping that that eventually would happen again. I mean, maybe we just peaked early!" The music video introduced most of the world to the four animated band members of Gorillaz (2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, Russel). The real mastermind behind the music is Blur frontman Damon Albarn. The characters were created by comic illustrator Jamie Hewlett. Report this ad Albarn sang the chorus. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien rapped the verses. The line, " I got sunshine in a bag" is probably a reference to marijuana, or at least to contraband of some sort. The line comes from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly when Eastwood refers to a saddlebag full of gold as sunshine in a bag. Seven million global sales of the Gorillaz album earned the group an entry in The Guinness Book of Records as the world's most successful virtual band. This garnered the band three MTV Video Music Award nominations, so Gorillaz created an animated acceptance speech to continue the theme of cartoon band members. Unfortunately, they spent tens of thousands of dollars on a speech they never used, because they lost in all three categories.
Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad I 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 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 Yeah Finally, someone let me out of my cage Now time for me is nothing 'cause I'm counting no age Now 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 those 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 toke You're psychic among those Possess you with one go I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad I 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 got sunshine in a bag I'm useless, but not for long The future (that's right) is coming on It's 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 Childlike 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 (that's right) Corruption in disguise From this fuckin' enterprise Now I'm sucked into your lies Through Russel, not his muscles but percussion he provides For 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'ma 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 (right here) 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 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 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
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 25, 2001 | 73 | 53 |
| 2 | Sep 1, 2001 | 70 | 56 |
| 3 | Sep 8, 2001 | 65 | 61 |
| 4 | Sep 15, 2001 | 63 | 63 |
| 5 | Sep 22, 2001 | 57 | 69 |
| 6 | Sep 29, 2001 | 57 | 69 |
| 7 | Oct 6, 2001 | 68 | 58 |
| 8 | Oct 13, 2001 | 66 | 60 |
| 9 | Oct 20, 2001 | 71 | 55 |
| 10 | Oct 27, 2001 | 86 | 40 |
| 11 | Nov 3, 2001 | 94 | 32 |