Dracula

Dracula
Dracula (Gorillaz Live Tour 2001)
Dracula (Demon Detour)

"I just slip away and I'm gone"
- Damon Albarn, "Beetlebum"

"Dracula," is a record of Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz crew fully giving into the sound of dubby reggae. Damon Albarn's sly guitar work duets with his melodica and his multiple layers of synthesizers to provide the basis and atmosphere of the song. Junior Dan's all consuming bass riff and Jason Cox's earth shattering drum work are what pace the song and keep its mysterious groove running. However, what seals the deal on this song is the production. Outside producer Curtis Lynch, Jr. goes all out on the dub groove taking instruments in and out of the mix as he pleases, soaking instruments in echo, reverb, phasers and other various processors. He also occasionally drops in samples of "Looney Tunes" villain Count Bloodcount, tying in with the song's vampiric title. (EDIT: another sample that is used is the score from "Get Carter").

Damon's vocals are often followed or proceeded by a section of saxophones played by Mike Smith, Damon Albarn's right hand man and his go to arranger and touring keyboardist. His vocals are minimal, repeating a simple chant: "Percentage of us tow the line, the rest of us is out of reach. Everybody party time. Some of us will never sleep again." It is hard to tell what Damon Albarn is talking about in these lyrics. He could be making fun of "clubbing" culture and comparing it to that of a vampire, or he could be comparing his cravings for heroin to Dracula's lust for blood as he was still going through withdrawal during this period. However the most likely option, is that the lyrics don't have any particular meaning. In dubby reggae, the focus of the song is the instrumental and the mood it brings, any lyrics are often brief and repeated, only there to fill empty space in the song's groove.

When played live the song's groove got even tighter and was often extended to make room for every instrument. The guitars got noisier bringing the song's dub direction into a more gothic and post-punk territory. The song's slight shift gave way for some to recognize another band who was a huge influence on Gorillaz sound and this song in particular, the goth punks Bauhaus (who often explored into dubby territories and wrote the first gothic dub song about a vampire, "Bela Lugosi's Dead.") The song was a constant for the band's first couple tours, and is one of only a few b-sides that have been taken to the stage. Often played near the end of a set, it became a centerpiece of their shows as well as their finest outing in the field of dubby reggae.