"East Hastings" is a 1997

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

by the Canadian rock band

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located i ...

from the 1998 CD release of their debut album ''

F♯ A♯ ∞ ''F♯ A♯ ∞'' (pronounced "F-sharp, A-sharp, Infinity") is the debut studio album by Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was first released on August 14, 1997 through Constellation Records on a single LP and on June 8 ...

'' and is perhaps best known for its use in the film ''

28 Days Later ''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...

'' in an edited version. The song is named after East Hastings Street in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

Structure

Nothing's Alrite in Our Life... / The Dead Flag Blues (Reprise)

"East Hastings" begins with a bagpipe reprise of the main theme of the previous track, "The Dead Flag Blues", accompanied by a recording of a street preacher. Both recordings fade out into a soft drone, which begins the next movement.

The Sad Mafioso...

The second section, "The Sad Mafioso..." begins with a slow, repeating guitar theme, slowly building as drums and strings are added. The music becomes faster and more aggressive before switching to double time, ending, and transitioning into the third and final section.

Drugs in Tokyo / Black Helicopter

A pulsating drone starts the final movement, and fades into a guitar loop, before being overtaken by a buzzing, electronic drone, which ends the song.

Use in ''28 Days Later''

During an interview with ''

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 ...

'', ''28 Days Later'' director

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including ''Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel ''T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' Su ...

explained, "I always try to have a soundtrack in my mind hen creating a film Like when we did ''

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...

'', it was

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

. For me, the soundtrack to ''28 Days Later'' was Godspeed. The whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head." The song does not appear on '' 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album'' because the rights to the song could not be obtained.

References

Godspeed You! Black Emperor songs 1997 songs {{1990s-rock-song-stub