Global InformationBucky Done Gun information
| "Bucky Done Gun" | ||||
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| Single by M.I.A. | ||||
| from the album Arular | ||||
| B-side | "Pull Up the People" | |||
| Released | 11 July 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
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| Length | 3:46 | |||
| Label | XL Recordings | |||
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| M.I.A. singles chronology | ||||
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"Bucky Done Gun" is the third single from musician M.I.A.'s album Arular. The song was composed in London in 2004 as one of the last compositions for her debut album and credited to Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Carol Conners, Bill Conti, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, Ayn Robbins and Deize Tigrona. It was released by XL Recordings in the UK, Interscope Records in the US and Remote Control Records in Australia on 11 July 2005 in 12-inch vinyl and CD single formats. The B-side of the release is the song "Pull Up the People" from Arular. Upon release, the song reached number 88 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Bucky Done Gun" is an uptempo baile funk-dancehall song, combining elements of electro, grime, hip hop and pop music. The song is inspired from Tigrona's funk carioca song "Injeção" from where a drum loop is included and flipped and airhorns are sampled but recomposed from the song "Gonna Fly Now" composed by Conti, Conners and Robbins.[1][2] The song is produced by Diplo with additional production by Dave "A. Brucker" Taylor, P. Byrne and Wizard. The song's title word "Bucky" is a reference to the London grime slang word for a gun, while the composition is lyrically influenced by her experiences of civil war in Sri Lanka and how the songwriter viewed the journey of rap music. The song was a critical success, with many contemporary critics[who?] complimenting the tough yet raw themes of revolution and sexuality in the song's music direction and lyrics.
The song's accompanying music video directed by Anthony Mandler was filmed on a desert in Nevada, US. M.I.A. intended for the video to be shot in the favelas in Brazil, but could not shift filming there due to time and budget constraints. The video portrays the singer performing live in an underground nightclub and a desolate wasteland, mixed with scenes of teenagers throwing grenades of smoking colour at buildings. M.I.A and her live backup singer Cherry Byron-Withers provocatively grind against a chain-linked fence and giggling children play in dirty streets and damp landscapes amidst flags of her single artwork. The release of the song and the video's rotation on MTV Brasil marked the first time that a funk carioca-inspired song was played on mainstream radio and music television in Brazil, the genre's country of origin, and contributed towards her rise in popularity there.
M.I.A. performed the song on 3 May 2005 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and performs the song on her concert tours, first on the Arular Tour and most recently on the /\/\ /\ Y /\ Tour where it was well appreciated by fans.[citation needed] M.I.A.'s performance of the song and "Injeção" with Tigrona at the 2005 TIM Festival in Brazil was a critical and fan success. "Bucky Done Gun" was included in the soundtrack of NBA Live 06, renamed and re-edited as "Bucky Done."
- ^ "Brazilian Wax". The New Yorker. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "Ghetto fabulous". The Guardian. London. 18 September 2005.