"Bucky Done Gun" is the third single from musician M.I.A.'s album ''

Arular ''Arular'' is the debut studio album by British recording artist M.I.A. It was released on 22 March 2005 in the United States, and one month later in the United Kingdom, with a slightly different track listing. In 2004, the album's release was ...

''. 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 William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...

, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz,

Ayn Robbins Ayn Robbins is a lyricist and poet. She is best known for co-writing with Carol Connors the lyrics for two Academy Award and Grammy nominated songs, "Gonna Fly Now" from ''Rocky'' (1976; music by Bill Conti) and "Someone's Waiting for You" from ...

and

Deize Tigrona Deize Tigrona is a Brazilian funk carioca musician. Born in the São Conrado neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Deize worked as a house cleaner until her music career became successful. Her song “Injeção” was used as the basis for the M.I.A. ...

. It was released by

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six album ...

in the UK,

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

in the US and

Remote Control Records Remote Control Records was established in 2001 by Steve Cross and Harvey Saward. It provides publicity, label management, distribution and marketing services to international and local artists and labels. Remote Control's roster of internatio ...

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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Bucky Done Gun" is an uptempo baile funk-

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

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 "Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from ''Rocky''", is the theme song from the movie ''Rocky'', composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with ''Rocky ...

" composed by Conti, Conners and Robbins. 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 Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. The song was a critical success, with many contemporary critics complimenting the tough yet raw themes of revolution and sexuality in the song's music direction and lyrics. The song's accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on s ...

was filmed on a desert in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, US. M.I.A. intended for the video to be shot in the

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

s 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 MTV Brasil was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril focused on the youth. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming the local version ...

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! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' and performs the song on her concert tours, first on the

Arular Tour The Arular Tour is a global concert tour by M.I.A. performed in support of her first studio album '' Arular'' (2005). It took place from 2005 to 2006. The tour featured dates across North America, South America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Aust ...

and most recently on the /\/\ /\ Y /\ Tour where it was well appreciated by fans. 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 ''NBA Live 06'' is a 2005 installment of the '' NBA Live'' series released on the Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Mobile. It was developed by EA Sports. The game features several game modes, i ...

'', renamed and re-edited as "Bucky Done."

Composition

Music video

The

for "Bucky Done Gun" was directed by

. Filming took place in the

Mojave desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

. It features Arulpragasam rapping aggressively against a desolate wasteland with erratic flags bearing her album artwork, erratically interspersed with scenes of her performing live in an underground nightclub, filmed in an artsy, guerrilla style. The video is also mixed with images of teenagers throwing grenades of smoking colour at buildings; Arulpragasam's live backup singer Ms. Cherry provocatively grinding against a chain-linked fence and giggling children playing in dirty streets and damp landscapes.

Cultural impact and use in media

"Bucky Done Gun", as writer W. H. from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' notes, led to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

being where M.I.A. had enjoyed her most remarkable resonance after the release of ''Arular''. The song became a hit on

after its release, a first for the

indigenous music Indigenous music is a term for the traditional music of the indigenous peoples of the world, that is, the music of an "original" ethnic group that inhabits any geographic region alongside more recent immigrants who may be greater in number. The ter ...

scene of the

s or urban ghettos in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. She stated in an interview from the country during her

"There's a big divide between the classes. Favela Funk is seen as music of the poor people, and 'Bucky' is the first time they've played that sound on commercial radio. It's my first visit here and it's mayhem - me turning up at a funk ball is a big deal. It's kinda complicated." Critics have praised the development as encouraging and reflective of the emerging new reality, "the idea of

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

art and populist technology dissolving cultural borders not with some

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world ...

stand-up-for-love sap ballad, but with a politicised 'let's fuck' anthem by a

British Sri Lankan British Sri Lankans ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්, , ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கையர்) are an ethnic group referring to British people who can trace their a ...

, produced by a

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

-born American DJ using a Rio de Janeiro ghetto groove." Hattie Collins of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' highlights M.I.A. as a baile funk/

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

pop pioneer with the release paving the way for bands

CSS Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...

and

Bonde do Rolê Bonde do Rolê () is a Brazilian funk carioca-influenced electropop group from Curitiba, Paraná state, and consists of MC's Pedro D'Eyrot, Laura Taylor, and DJ/MC Rodrigo Gorky. In 2006, ''Rolling Stone'' described the group as "Brazilian Party ...

to emerge in her wake. The musician

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocali ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

bands

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

and

Fort Minor Fort Minor was a hip hop side project by American musician Mike Shinoda, who is better known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, producer, and rapper of the rock band Linkin Park. The project's only album, ''The Rising Tied'', was released in ...

highlighted the song as the latter band's anthem during the European leg of their 2005 tour. A remix of the song was played by

DJ AM Adam Michael Goldstein (March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009), known professionally as DJ AM, was an American disc jockey (DJ). Born in Philadelphia, Goldstein became interested in deejaying as a child after watching Herbie Hancock perform his 1 ...

and

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transpla ...

during the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The song was named the 215th best song of the decade by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''.

Track listings and formats

;CD 1 #"Bucky Done Gun"

adio edit Adio may refer to: Business *Adio (company), the former skateboard footwear and apparel company Music Songs * "Adio" (song), a song by Montenegrin recording artist Knez that represented Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 *"Adio", a 19 ...

– 3:45 #"Pull Up the People" 'Explicit remix– 3:35 ;CD 2 / Australian CD single #"Bucky Done Gun" – 3:45 #"Bucky Done Gun" J Marlboro's Funk Carioca remix– 2:37 #"Bucky Done Gun" �£$ Productions's remix– 3:26 #"Bucky Done Gun" aVinChe remix– 3:00 #"Bucky Done Gun" nstrumental – 3:46 #"Bucky Done Gun" capella– 3:17 ;12" vinyl single #"Bucky Done Gun" – 3:45 #"Bucky Done Gun" aVinChe remix– 3:00 #"Pull Up the People" 'Explicit remix– 3:35

Credits and personnel

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Mathangi Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Carol Conners,

, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz,

*Main performer - Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

- Diplo, Dave "A. Brucker" Taylor, P. Byrne *Additional production - Wizard * Mixing, final mix – Wizard, Dave "A. Brucker" Taylor, P. Byrne *Programming - Wizard *

Artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

- Mathangi Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam Adapted from album liner notes:

Charts

References

{{authority control 2005 singles 2005 songs M.I.A. (rapper) songs XL Recordings singles Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler Song recordings produced by Diplo Songs written by M.I.A. (rapper) Songs written by Bill Conti Songs written by Diplo