The Ecstasy of Gold

"The Ecstasy of Gold" (Italian: L'estasi dell'oro) is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It is played while Tuco (Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. Sung by Edda Dell'Orso, it stands as one of the most well known of Morricone's themes.

"The Ecstasy of Gold"
Song by Ennio Morricone
from the album The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Released	1966
Genre	Film score, western
Length	3:22
Songwriter(s)	Ennio Morricone

Appearances in other media

By other musicians

• American metal band Metallica has used "The Ecstasy of Gold" as the introductory music for its concerts since 1983;[1] it is included on the live albums Metallica Through the Never, S&M, Live Shit: Binge & Purge and S&M2 (being played live by the San Francisco Symphony in the case of both S&M concerts). It also appears on remastered deluxe versions on many of their albums, ...And Justice for All include a full studio version of the song as well. An instrumental metal cover by Metallica (with minimal vocals and lead guitar work by lead singer James Hetfield) appears on the 2007 Morricone tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone. This metal version was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance. It was also used in the trailer for and appears in Guitar Hero: Metallica, in its original form as composed by Morricone; however, it is not a playable track. It reached #21 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts in April of that year.
• New York City-based punk rock band Ramones used "The Ecstasy of Gold" as the outro music for their concerts since 1991. This can be heard at the end of their live albums Loco Live, Greatest Hits Live and We're Outta Here!. The band uses "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", another one of Morricone's compositions at the beginning of their concerts since the same year.
• Famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma recorded this song in his tribute album, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone.[2]
• Sampled by Jay-Z in the song "Blueprint²" in his album by the same name released in 2002.
• Remixed by Bandini for the Ennio Morricone Remixes 2 album released on February 10, 2004 by Compost Records.[3][4]
• Sampled by rapper Immortal Technique in the song "Land of the Gun".
• Used by the DCI group Carolina Crown in their 2016 show “Relentless”.
• The Dolly Rocker Movement heavily sampled the accords in their song "The Ecstacy Once Told".

Films

• The 1975 film adaptation of The Rocky Horror Show uses an excerpt as incidental music during the climax when Rocky grieves and carries the dead Dr. Frank-N-Furter up the RKO Tower.[5]
• Appears in the 2014 film The Book of Life as Manolo fights a bull
• The opening scene of Jackass Number Two (2006), in which the cast is chased through a suburban neighborhood by bulls, is accompanied by this piece.[6]
• Appears in the 2015 film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water as SpongeBob gives a speech.[7]
• Is used during a climactic scene in the 2017 Korean period film The Battleship Island.

Television

• The song is used as incidental music in The Simpsons episode "Super Franchise Me", the third episode of the show's 26th season.
• The episode "XCIII" in Samurai Jack's 5th season pays homage to the cemetery scene when Jack hides from the Daughters of Aku in a stone coffin within a ruined temple (complete with a reimagining of The Ecstasy of Gold).[8]
• A song heavily derived from The Ecstasy of Gold is used as opening theme for Miracle Workers.

Video games

• An arranged version, composed by Michiko Naruke, titled "Lone Bird in the Shire" is featured as the overworld theme in the 1996 PlayStation RPG Wild ARMs.
• Bandini's remix is used in the introduction sequence of the 2010 Activision racing game, Blur.[9]
• Used in Ubisoft Entertainment's "Free-to-play Weekend" trailer for the game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.[10]

Commercials

• A commercial for Nike entitled "Fate" used the song within an overall "immovable object vs. unstoppable force" theme.[11]
• A commercial for Modelo Especial beer using the Bandini remix has been circulating since at least 2015.[12][13]
• A commercial for L.L. Bean entitled "The Pitch", showing friends playing wiffle ball in the rain, used the song in 2018.[14]
• A commercial fór Virgin Media featuring children with TVs, a remote Control tree and a man confused about how to plug a laptop to a TV.
• A commercial for KFC in the UK showing a Mexican standoff between a chicken and a turkey used the song.[15]
• A commercial for Dolce & Gabbana released in 2019 promoting their K fragrance features the Bandini Remix version of the song.[16]

Radio and podcasts

• The theme music for Daniele Bolelli's "History on Fire" Podcast.[17]
• Used as the opening theme song for The Opie & Anthony Show on WNEW radio (1998-2002) and XM Satellite Radio (2004-2014)

Sports

• The first half of "The Ecstasy of Gold" is played before every home game of Los Angeles FC, right before the players take to the pitch.
• Parts of "The Ecstasy of Gold" is played with historical highlights of sc Heerenveen, right before the players take to the pitch.

References

1. "We All Love Ennio Morricone". Metallica.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-24. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
2. "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone". Yo-yoma.com. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
3. "Remixes 2: Ennio Morricone: Music". Retrieved 2012-02-14.
4. Ennio Morricone - Remixes Vol. 2 (2-CD). "Ennio Morricone - Remixes Vol. 2 (2-CD)Compost Records". Compost-rec.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
5. Cletus Hunnicutt (2015-07-19), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - Super 8mm Digest - Film Print from the 1970s? (2 of 2), retrieved 2017-03-19
6. "Movie connections for Jackass Number Two (2006)". Imdb.com. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
7. "Clip from 'Sponge Out of Water'".
8. Fashwath _07 (2017-03-18), Samurai Jack Season 5 Episode 2 - XCIII, retrieved 2017-03-19
9. PlayFront.de, BLUR The Game Intro Video HD, retrieved 2020-10-23
10. PlayStation Europe, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | Free Weekend Trailer | PS4, retrieved 2019-01-06
11. "Nike "Fate" Leave Nothing commercial w/ LT & Polamalu". Oct 10, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2018 – via YouTube.
12. "Modelo Especial commercial". Archived from the original on 2017-04-07 – via YouTube.
13. "Javier Lezama - Modelo - Modelo Especial TV Commercial, Fighting for Honor". May 12, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2018 – via YouTube.
14. "L.L.Bean: The Pitch". September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018 – via YouTube.
15. "KFC UK Christmas Advert 2018". November 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018 – via YouTube.
16. "Dolce and Gabbana K commercial". August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
17. "About History on Fire".