"Machine Gun" is a song by English band Portishead. The song made its radio and download debut on 24 March 2008, acting as the lead single from their third studio album, ''

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

'' (2008). It premiered on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show and was made available for download on the band's official website. A UK one-sided 12 inch vinyl was released on 14 April 2008.

Release

The 12-inch vinyl was released on 14 April, while a digital version was made available from the official site on 10 April. A

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

for the song was released. It features the band playing the song at the studio. On 29 May, during the first concert at the Estrella Damm Primavera Sound Festival in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

joined the band onstage to perform a rap section on the instrumental part at the end of the song. The song's beat was sampled by

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

on his song "

Belong to the World Belong may refer to: Music * Belong (band), an American experimental music duo Albums * ''Belong'' (Kevin Walker album) or the title song, 2013 * ''Belong'' (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart album) or the title song, 2011 * ''Belong'', by Sa ...

" from his debut album ''

Kiss Land ''Kiss Land'' is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on September 10, 2013, through XO and Republic Records. The album was supported by the lead single of the same name, as well as " Belong to the Wo ...

''. According to

Geoff Barrow Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak, and Quakers, and he has scored several films. Portishead was formed in 1991. He named the band after the ...

, the sample was used without the band's permission. The song’s beat was also sampled in “

Field Trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of associated peers, such as coworkers or school students, to a place away from their normal environment for the purpose of education or leisure, either within their country or abroad. When ar ...

” by

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

supergroup

¥$ ¥$ is an American hip-hop superduo composed of rapper Kanye West and singer Ty Dolla Sign. With the two maintaining a strong relationship during 2023, West invited Ty Dolla Sign to record songs in Tokyo, Italy, and later Saudi Arabia. During t ...

, composed of American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and singer

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

. According to a tweet made by Geoff Barrow, he seemed to hint that the sample was also used without the band’s permission.

Track listing

#"Machine Gun" – 4:45

In popular culture

*A different version of the song appeared in the teaser for the video game '' Metro: Last Light''. *The song was used in a trailer for " The National Anthem", the series premiere of ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

''. *The song was featured in an episode of the British teen drama '' Skins'', which is set in Bristol, where the band is from. *The song was used in the credit sequence of "Well This Took a Dark Turn", a season 6 episode of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

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''. *The song was also featured at the end of Netflix Italian drama '' Curon'' as a closure with the lyrics depicting some instances of the plot of the series.

Charts

"Machine Gun" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 52 on 30 March 2008, their first singles chart entry for ten years since " Only You" in March 1998.

References

External links

Machine Gun
vinyl 12-inch edition at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Machine Gun (Portishead Song) 2008 singles Portishead (band) songs Songs written by Geoff Barrow Songs written by Beth Gibbons 2008 songs Island Records singles