Do or Die (song)
Encyclopedia
"Do or Die" is the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals
. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla
album and was the band's last release for Creation Records
. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart
after its release on 17 January 2000. The group had originally wanted to release "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as the final single from Guerilla but Creation instead chose "Do or Die", a decision which the band claimed not to understand.
Although "Do or Die" features "daft lyrics", its name was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India speech
which called for Indians to "Do or Die" to end British Imperial rule in the country. Critical reaction was largely positive with the song being named 'Single of the Week' by the Melody Maker
and appearing at number 55 in the NME
s single of the year
list for 2000 despite an earlier claim by the magazine that there was "no need whatsoever" to release the track as a single. The music video
for "Do or Die" was directed by Jake & Jim and features live action
footage of the group's heads on brightly coloured cartoon bodies.
"Do or Die" has a "ridiculously positive outlook" and was written in an attempt to "kickstart [the band] back into gear" after a bad period in the singer's life. The track is a "driving song
" and features sampled
car noises so that "even if you're not in a car it feels like you are". Although Rhys has called the track a "dumb pop song" with "really daft" lyrics, he has also claimed that the title was inspired by the Quit India speech
made by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank
in Bombay
in which Gandhi called for his countrymen to "Do or Die" and use non-violent resistance to end British Imperial rule in India. Rhys has stated that he feels the fact that "five-year-olds" can jump up and down to the song, singing "Gandhi lyrics", is important, as it contrasts with the "self-important ... pompous" lyrics of singers such as Jim Morrison
and Robert Plant
. The track was recorded in the middle of 1998 at Real World Studios
, Box, Wiltshire
, along with the rest of Guerrilla
, and was produced
by Super Furry Animals.
of A major
. The instruments used on the track are tuned
slightly sharper
than standard
. The song begins with an intro
featuring a lead guitar
and keyboard
melody, which plays twice, accompanied by a rhythm guitar
riff alternating between A and D chords
, drums
and bass
. The track breaks down
to just rhythm guitar, drums and bass for the first verse which begins after 13 seconds. The first chorus begins after 23 seconds with a distorted guitar playing the chord sequence D5, C5, B5 and A5 twice while Rhys sings "If we do or die we should try, if we don't try I say bye-bye, and if I say bye-bye, I'll wonder why we didn't try to do or die" backed by high harmony backing vocals
and occasional keyboard noises. The song breaks down again for a second verse before the second chorus enters at 46 seconds. An instrumental passage follows with the lead guitar and keyboard reprising the melody which plays during the intro. The instrumental leads into a double chorus. At the end of the final chorus the track crescendos
, with Rhys singing "yeah, yeah, yeah" and all instruments with the exception of the keyboard coming to an abrupt silence after 1 minute and 43 seconds. Keyboard noises continue and gradually fade out
until the track ends.
but, on returning from an American tour in 1999, found that their record company, Creation
, had not done any work regarding the release. Returning from a tour of Europe later the same year the band discovered that both their record label and record plugging company had folded and that Creation made the decision, first to release "Night Vision" instead of "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)", and then to replace "Night Vision" with "Do or Die" as the last single from Guerrilla. Singer Gruff Rhys
has expressed dissatisfaction with this choice, claiming that he is not sure how the decision was made and that he wanted "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" to be released as he "quite fancied the idea of a novelty hit". However, the group ultimately felt "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" could not be issued in any case following the December 1999 release of "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" by Jimmy Cauty
's Solid Gold Chartbusters, which was "based on the same Nokia
ringtone".
"Do or Die" was issued on CD, cassette
and 7"
on 17 January 2000, the band's last release for Creation, and reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart
. The track became the shortest song ever to be performed on the BBC
's Top Of The Pops
programme when the group appeared on the show to promote the single's release. The track was included on the band's 'greatest hits' compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
, issued in 2004.
"Do or Die" was awarded 'Single of the Week' in the January 19–25 2000 issue of the Melody Maker
by guest reviewers Pär Wiksten and Christina Bergmark from The Wannadies
who gave the track "all the points we can afford" and claimed that it ends perfectly. The NME
described the song as "not the best track from ... Guerrilla, but then not the worst either" and claimed that it was mostly of note because it was the second single by Super Furry Animals to be less than two minutes long following 1996's "God! Show Me Magic
". Despite stating that there was "no need whatsoever" for the release, the NME ranked "Do or Die" at number 55 in their single of the year
list for 2000. In a 2005 review of the reissued Guerrilla
, Pitchfork
described the track as "near-perfect sunny pop" while, in an earlier review of Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, the website called "Do or Die" "proggy
quasi-Britpop
" and likened its guitar
part to "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers Band
. Also reviewing Songbook..., the BBC described "Do or Die" as one of several "great hairy rock outs" on the record, The Washington Post
called it "straightforward pop-punk" and Drowned in Sound
labelled it a "guitar-laden sugar rush". Website Cokemachineglow likened the track to the work of The Stooges
. Pitchfork claimed that the single's b-sides
, the "inescapably sha-la-la-ing 'Colorblind'" and the "piano-accented bounder" "Missunderstanding (sic)", pale beside "Do or Die" and the other tracks on Guerilla although they "do manage to scratch the itch for more SFA".
* denotes an unordered list
was produced to accompany the release of "Do or Die" as a single. The video was directed by Jake & Jim who also directed the video for the group's previous single, "Fire in My Heart
". The video begins with the camera zooming in through the door of a cartoon house in the desert to reveal Super Furry Animals playing along to the track in a room. The band's heads and instruments are live action
footage, filmed in London
, while their bodies and surroundings are brightly coloured animations. During the first verse, shots of the group playing the track in the room are intercut with images of band members on cartoon surfboard
s superimposed onto real life footage of giant waves. This process is repeated during the second chorus, with the video cutting between shots of the band playing in the room and images of the band superimposed onto live footage of tornado
s. After 1 minute and 4 seconds images of the group's heads being swept along in a lava
flow are intercut with the band playing along with the track in the now red room with lava visible through the windows. Snow then begins to fall in the room and the video cuts to shots of the group eascaping an avalanche
in a bobsled. As the track ends the lightbulb in the room begins to swing frantically and Super Furry Animals are bathed in a green "radioactive or alien glow". A shot of the house in front of a nuclear explosion cuts to footage of the band frozen mid-word, with the camera moving through 360 degrees to reveal them as two dimensional
cutouts. The "Do or Die" music video was named as 'Video of the week' in the 12–18 January issue of Melody Maker
and was included on the DVD
release of the band's greatest hits album, Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
.
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
album and was the band's last release for Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
after its release on 17 January 2000. The group had originally wanted to release "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as the final single from Guerilla but Creation instead chose "Do or Die", a decision which the band claimed not to understand.
Although "Do or Die" features "daft lyrics", its name was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India speech
Quit India speech
thumb|Procession view at BangaloreThe Quit India speech is a speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942, on the eve of the Quit India movement. He called for determined, but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do...
which called for Indians to "Do or Die" to end British Imperial rule in the country. Critical reaction was largely positive with the song being named 'Single of the Week' by the Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and appearing at number 55 in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
s single of the year
NME single of the year
Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December 9...
list for 2000 despite an earlier claim by the magazine that there was "no need whatsoever" to release the track as a single. The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Do or Die" was directed by Jake & Jim and features live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
footage of the group's heads on brightly coloured cartoon bodies.
Themes and recording
According to Gruff RhysGruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
"Do or Die" has a "ridiculously positive outlook" and was written in an attempt to "kickstart [the band] back into gear" after a bad period in the singer's life. The track is a "driving song
Driving song
A driving song, also referred to as a road trip song, is a song whose theme and tempo are considered ideal for accompaniment to driving. It is a music genre or style distinct from a car song.According to VH1, the Top 10 Driving Songs include the following:...
" and features sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
car noises so that "even if you're not in a car it feels like you are". Although Rhys has called the track a "dumb pop song" with "really daft" lyrics, he has also claimed that the title was inspired by the Quit India speech
Quit India speech
thumb|Procession view at BangaloreThe Quit India speech is a speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942, on the eve of the Quit India movement. He called for determined, but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do...
made by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank
Gowalia Tank
Gowalia Tank Maidan is a park in central Mumbai where Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech on 8 August 1942 decreeing that the British must leave India immediately or else mass agitations would take place...
in Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in which Gandhi called for his countrymen to "Do or Die" and use non-violent resistance to end British Imperial rule in India. Rhys has stated that he feels the fact that "five-year-olds" can jump up and down to the song, singing "Gandhi lyrics", is important, as it contrasts with the "self-important ... pompous" lyrics of singers such as Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
. The track was recorded in the middle of 1998 at Real World Studios
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
, Box, Wiltshire
Box, Wiltshire
Box is a village located in Wiltshire, England, about east of Bath and west of Chippenham. It is quite a large parish with several settlements, apart from the village of Box, within its boundaries....
, along with the rest of Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
, and was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Super Furry Animals.
Composition
"Do or Die" is 1 minute and 59 seconds long and is in the keyKey (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of A major
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
. The instruments used on the track are tuned
Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
slightly sharper
Sharp (music)
In music, sharp, dièse , or diesis means higher in pitch and the sharp symbol raises a note by a half tone. Intonation may be flat, sharp, or both, successively or simultaneously...
than standard
Standard tuning
In music, standard tuning refers to the typical tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired instrument.-Bowed strings:...
. The song begins with an intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
featuring a lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
melody, which plays twice, accompanied by a rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
riff alternating between A and D chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. The track breaks down
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
to just rhythm guitar, drums and bass for the first verse which begins after 13 seconds. The first chorus begins after 23 seconds with a distorted guitar playing the chord sequence D5, C5, B5 and A5 twice while Rhys sings "If we do or die we should try, if we don't try I say bye-bye, and if I say bye-bye, I'll wonder why we didn't try to do or die" backed by high harmony backing vocals
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
and occasional keyboard noises. The song breaks down again for a second verse before the second chorus enters at 46 seconds. An instrumental passage follows with the lead guitar and keyboard reprising the melody which plays during the intro. The instrumental leads into a double chorus. At the end of the final chorus the track crescendos
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
, with Rhys singing "yeah, yeah, yeah" and all instruments with the exception of the keyboard coming to an abrupt silence after 1 minute and 43 seconds. Keyboard noises continue and gradually fade out
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
until the track ends.
Release and critical reception
The Super Furry Animals had originally intended to issue the song "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as the third single from GuerrillaGuerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
but, on returning from an American tour in 1999, found that their record company, Creation
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
, had not done any work regarding the release. Returning from a tour of Europe later the same year the band discovered that both their record label and record plugging company had folded and that Creation made the decision, first to release "Night Vision" instead of "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)", and then to replace "Night Vision" with "Do or Die" as the last single from Guerrilla. Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has expressed dissatisfaction with this choice, claiming that he is not sure how the decision was made and that he wanted "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" to be released as he "quite fancied the idea of a novelty hit". However, the group ultimately felt "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" could not be issued in any case following the December 1999 release of "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" by Jimmy Cauty
Jimmy Cauty
James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956...
's Solid Gold Chartbusters, which was "based on the same Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
ringtone".
"Do or Die" was issued on CD, cassette
Cassette single
A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
and 7"
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on 17 January 2000, the band's last release for Creation, and reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The track became the shortest song ever to be performed on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
programme when the group appeared on the show to promote the single's release. The track was included on the band's 'greatest hits' compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 collects all of the Super Furry Animals singles released between 1996 and 2004 as well as B-side "Blerwytirhwng?" . Songbook... was released in the UK in October 2004, debuting at #18 on the UK album charts...
, issued in 2004.
"Do or Die" was awarded 'Single of the Week' in the January 19–25 2000 issue of the Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
by guest reviewers Pär Wiksten and Christina Bergmark from The Wannadies
The Wannadies
The Wannadies were an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten , Christina Bergmark , Stefan Schönfeldt and his younger brother Fredrik Schönfeldt with Gunnar Karlsson and Björn Malmquist .Early influences...
who gave the track "all the points we can afford" and claimed that it ends perfectly. The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
described the song as "not the best track from ... Guerrilla, but then not the worst either" and claimed that it was mostly of note because it was the second single by Super Furry Animals to be less than two minutes long following 1996's "God! Show Me Magic
God! Show Me Magic
"God! Show Me Magic" is the second single by Super Furry Animals. It reached #33 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in April 1996, the first single by the band to reach the Top 40....
". Despite stating that there was "no need whatsoever" for the release, the NME ranked "Do or Die" at number 55 in their single of the year
NME single of the year
Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December 9...
list for 2000. In a 2005 review of the reissued Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
, Pitchfork
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
described the track as "near-perfect sunny pop" while, in an earlier review of Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, the website called "Do or Die" "proggy
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
quasi-Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
" and likened its guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
part to "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
. Also reviewing Songbook..., the BBC described "Do or Die" as one of several "great hairy rock outs" on the record, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called it "straightforward pop-punk" and Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
labelled it a "guitar-laden sugar rush". Website Cokemachineglow likened the track to the work of The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
. Pitchfork claimed that the single's b-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
, the "inescapably sha-la-la-ing 'Colorblind'" and the "piano-accented bounder" "Missunderstanding (sic)", pale beside "Do or Die" and the other tracks on Guerilla although they "do manage to scratch the itch for more SFA".
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Maker Melody Maker Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Single of the week January 19–25 | 2000 | – |
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
Singles of 2000 NME single of the year Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December 9... |
2000 | 55 | |
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
1010 Songs You Must Own!: Q50 – #4: Short & to the Point | 2004 | * |
Music video
A promotional music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was produced to accompany the release of "Do or Die" as a single. The video was directed by Jake & Jim who also directed the video for the group's previous single, "Fire in My Heart
Fire in My Heart
"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999...
". The video begins with the camera zooming in through the door of a cartoon house in the desert to reveal Super Furry Animals playing along to the track in a room. The band's heads and instruments are live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
footage, filmed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, while their bodies and surroundings are brightly coloured animations. During the first verse, shots of the group playing the track in the room are intercut with images of band members on cartoon surfboard
Surfboard
A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...
s superimposed onto real life footage of giant waves. This process is repeated during the second chorus, with the video cutting between shots of the band playing in the room and images of the band superimposed onto live footage of tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
s. After 1 minute and 4 seconds images of the group's heads being swept along in a lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
flow are intercut with the band playing along with the track in the now red room with lava visible through the windows. Snow then begins to fall in the room and the video cuts to shots of the group eascaping an avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
in a bobsled. As the track ends the lightbulb in the room begins to swing frantically and Super Furry Animals are bathed in a green "radioactive or alien glow". A shot of the house in front of a nuclear explosion cuts to footage of the band frozen mid-word, with the camera moving through 360 degrees to reveal them as two dimensional
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
cutouts. The "Do or Die" music video was named as 'Video of the week' in the 12–18 January issue of Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and was included on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the band's greatest hits album, Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 collects all of the Super Furry Animals singles released between 1996 and 2004 as well as B-side "Blerwytirhwng?" . Songbook... was released in the UK in October 2004, debuting at #18 on the UK album charts...
.
Tracklisting
All songs by Super Furry Animals.- CD with fold-out poster (CRESCD329), MCCassette singleA cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
(CRES329), 7"Gramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
(CRE329)
- "Do or Die" – 2:05
- "Missunderstanding (sic)" – 3:24
- "Colorblind" – 3:32
Personnel
- Gruff RhysGruff RhysGruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
– vocals - Huw BunfordHuw BunfordHuw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Guto PryceGuto PryceGuto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Cian CiaranCian CiaranCian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
– keyboards - Dafydd IeuanDafydd IeuanDafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band, Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie, and their two children Cai and Lleucu....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Singles chart position
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
20 |