Before delving deeper into acting, Clint Eastwood was already immersed in jazz music and playing piano. In 1959, Eastwood released his debut album Cowboy Favorites, a collection of covers, including Bob Wills’ “San Antonio Rose” and Cole Porter’s “Don’t Fence Me In” and other covers of cowboy classics linked to his role on the Western TV series Rawhide.
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A music aficionado, pianist, and composer, Eastwood also ended up composing many of the scores to his films throughout his career, along with writing songs for other artists.
Throughout the decades, Eastwood and his films, have also inspired a number of other songs outside of his core catalog.
[RELATED: 4 Songs You Didn’t Know Clint Eastwood Wrote for Artists]
Here’s a look at four songs inspired by Eastwood and his work.
1. “Shoot to Thrill,” AC/DC (1980)
Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Brian Johnson
Originally released on AC/DC‘s Back in Black in 1980, “Shoot to Thrill” was inspired by the iconic shoot-out scene in Sergio Leone’s 1966 spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, starring Eastwood.
The breakdown in the song, following the main solo, was inspired by the gun battle in the film where Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef stare one another down for minutes before their shoot out while standing in the middle of a Civil War cemetery. The breakdown in the song was written to mimic composer Ennio Morricone’s score during the scene.
Throughout the decades, “Shoot to Thrill” has appeared in several films, including the Marvel films Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Avengers (2012).
Shoot to thrill, play to kill
Too many women with too many pills, yeah
Shoot to thrill, play to kill
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will, yeah
I’m like evil, I get under your skin
Just like a bomb that’s ready to blow
‘Cause I’m illegal, I got everything
That all you women might need to know
I’m gonna take you down
Yeah, down, down, down
So, don’t you fool around
I’m gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger
2. “Clint Eastwood,” Gorillaz (2001)
Written by Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett, Teren Jones
“Clint Eastwood” was the introduction of Gorillaz. Produced by Dan the Automator and featuring Del Tha Funky Homosapien, “Clint Eastwood” was the band’s debut single in 2001. Featured on their self-titled album, the dub-bent track was named after Eastwood because of the similar sound, linked to the theme music used in the Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
“The whole Clint Eastwood thing got out of hand,” said 2-D of Gorillaz. “We called the first single ”Clint Eastwood’,’ because it had a kind of ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ feel to the melodic line, kind of like Ennio Morricone.”
I ain’t happy / I’m feeling glad / I got sunshine in a bag may have given a subtle nod to Eastwood’s Man with No Name character in The Bad, and The Ugly, but the Gorillaz’s more cryptic lyrics are left open to interpretation.
I ain’t happy, I’m feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I’m useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain’t happy, I’m feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I’m useless but not for long
The future is coming on
It’s coming on, it’s coming on
It’s coming on, it’s coming on
Finally someone let me out of my cage
Now time for me is nothin’, ’cause I’m countin’ no age
Now I couldn’t be there, now you shouldn’t be scared
I’m good at repairs, and I’m under each snare
3. “Dirty Harry,” Gorillaz (2005)
Written by Damon Albarn and Romye Robinson
Gorillaz followed up their namesake song for Eastwood on their second album Demon Days in 2005 with another track named after one of his most popular films. Though the song is named after Eastwood’s 1971 film Dirty Harry, its lyrics address more social and political issues, and cite a lack of concern by the administration under then-president George W. Bush for soldiers who were in the Middle East at the time: The war is over so said the speaker, with a flight suit on / Maybe to him I’m just a pawn.
Featuring rapper Bootie Brown, “Dirty Harry” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
I need a gun to keep myself among
The poor people who are burning in the sun
But they ain’t got a chance
They ain’t got a chance
I need a gun
‘Cause all I do is dance
‘Cause all I do is dance
I need a gun to keep myself among
The poor people who are burning in the sun
But they ain’t got a chance
They ain’t got a chance
I need a gun
‘Cause all I do is dance
‘Cause all I do is dance
4. “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” Toby Keith (2018)
Written by Toby Keith
“Don’t Let the Old Man In” was originally written by Toby Keith for Clint Eastwood’s 2018 film The Mule, based on the true story of a WWII veteran in his 80s who worked as a courier (mule) for a Mexican drug cartel. Keith was inspired to write the song after a conversation he had with Eastwood while the two played golf.
Eastwood, who was about to turn 88, revealed he was going to start working on a new movie called The Mule. When Keith asked him “How do you do it, man?” Eastwood responded, “I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.”
That was enough to inspire Keith to write a song around his words. In the song, the “old man” is a metaphor for death. The lyrics face mortality, the fight to live and survive, regardless of one’s situation.
Don’t let the old man in
I wanna leave this alone
Can’t leave it up to him
He’s knocking on my door
And I knew all of my life
That someday it would end
Get up and go outside
Don’t let the old man in
Many moons I have lived
My body’s weathered and worn
Ask yourself how would you be
If you didn’t know the day you were born
Read the full meaning behind “Don’t Let the Old Man In” HERE.
Photo by EDDIE SANDERSON/SCOPE FEATURES.COM
