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5/4 (song)

2001 song by Gorillaz

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ4639694 ↗
Source-derived summary

"5/4" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz and is the second track on their 2001 self-titled debut album. According to the Gorillaz biography Rise of the Ogre, "5/4" was originally intended to follow "Clint Eastwood" as a single, but was instead replaced by "19-2000" at the "last minute." The storyboards Jamie Hewlett had started for the accompanying music video before the switch were later included on the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down. The title is a reference to the 54 time signature of the guitar riff that appears throughout the track. The song was performed live by the band on their first tour, and was subsequently brought back on the Humanz Tour, with Jehnny Beth taking lead vocals.

Music video

Although production for the track's music video was never finished, a storyboard from Gorillaz' 2002 compilation DVD, Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, includes an animatic for the scrapped "5/4" music video. The video opens with a brief image of a woman masturbating that is censored by the Gorillaz logo. Each of her breasts is covered by a blue star. It proceeds with Gorillaz performing for a crowd upon a raised platform (the platform is in the shape of a bone). Murdoc is playing with the band when he sees a group of women on a platform next to theirs; however, the platform is too far away to get to. Murdoc then takes off his clothes until he is in completely nude, then attempts to jump to the platform with the women on it, but he instead fails to reach it and he falls into the crowd below.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “5/4 (song)” as 2001 song by Gorillaz. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2001, 2000, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2001-03-26. The account is most persuasive where song and Gorillaz can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2001 song by Gorillaz. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4639694. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2001, 2000 and 2002.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “5/4 (song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 5/4 (song) primary sources, 5/4 (song) archive and song research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “5/4 (song)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “5/4 (song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.