The Ecstasy of Gold

1966 song by Ennio Morricone

"The Ecstasy of Gold"
Song by Ennio Morricone
from the album The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Released	1966
Genre	Film score, western
Length	3:22
Songwriter(s)	Ennio Morricone

"The Ecstasy of Gold" (Italian: L'estasi dell'oro) is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It is played while Tuco (Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. Sung by Edda Dell'Orso, it stands as one of the best known of Morricone's themes and one of the most iconic pieces of cinematic score in history.

Appearances in other media

By other musicians

An instrumental metal cover by Metallica appears on the 2007 Morricone tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone. It reached #21 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts^[1] and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance.^[2] The band has used the original soundtrack recording to open up their concerts since 1983.^[3]
Jay-Z sampled the beat in his song "Blueprint 2" on his 2002 album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse.^[4]
The main melody and vocals are sampled in the 2022 glitch hop song "Ecstasy of Soul" by electronic artists Zeds Dead and GRiZ. The song peaked at #19 on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart.^[5]

References

^ "Chart history: Metallica". Billboard.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ "Metallica | Artist". Grammy.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ Joe DiVita (9 July 2020). "Why Metallica Open Their Concerts With 'The Ecstasy of Gold'". Loudwire.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ Schonfeld, Zach (July 8, 2020). "A Brief Guide to the Endless Hip-Hop Samples of Ennio Morricone". Spin. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
^ "Griz - Hot Dance/Electronic Dance Songs Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2022.

Ennio Morricone

Soundtracks

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
La Piovra
The Mission
The Legend of 1900
Malèna
The Hateful Eight

Compilations and
tribute albums

Pearls – Amii Stewart Sings Ennio Morricone
The Big Gundown
We All Love Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Paradiso
Crime and Dissonance

Pieces

"Se telefonando"
"Chi Mai"
"Gabriel's Oboe"
"Here's to You"
"Nella Fantasia"
"The Ecstasy of Gold"
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
"The Story of a Soldier"

Category

v t e Dollars Trilogy
Films	A Fistful of Dollars (1964) For a Few Dollars More (1965) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Characters	Man with No Name
Music	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme "The Story of a Soldier" "The Ecstasy of Gold"
Locations	Sad Hill Cemetery Sad Hill Unearthed
Related	Yojimbo (1961) Sanjuro (1962) For a Few Dollars Less (1966) The Handsome, the Ugly, and the Stupid (1967) The Town with No Name (1992) The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
Category