The closest thing to a traditional hip-hop track. The beat is a dusty, looped drum break. CeeLo raps-sings about relentless negativity: "Who cares? / Apparently nobody." It’s short, bitter, and brilliant.
But as of 2025, the Gnarls Barkley discography remains a perfect, closed loop: two albums, six years apart, zero filler. gnarls barkley discography
A cover of the 1980s post-punk band Violent Femmes’ classic. This is the track that proved Gnarls Barkley wasn’t an R&B group; they were a pop band with no rules. Danger Mouse replaces the original’s acoustic guitar with a sinister, vibrato-heavy guitar line, and CeeLo adds a xylophone bridge. His delivery of "Beautiful girl / Love your puzzle" is both tender and detached. The closest thing to a traditional hip-hop track
What can be said? Co-written by both members, the song is built on a sample of the string section from Gianfranco Reverberi’s “Last Man Standing” (from a 1968 Spaghetti Western). Lyrically, it is a meditation on solipsism and mental health disguised as a dance track. "Does that make me crazy?" It became the first UK single to top the charts on downloads alone, and Rolling Stone later named it the #1 song of the 2000s decade. / Apparently nobody
The closer. A paranoid, hip-hop oriented track about fear of suburban life. "My neighbors keep on watchin' me / They don't like what they see." It ends the album on a note of tension, implying that no matter how much you grow, the "crazy" is always next door.
The album’s hidden heart. A tribute to CeeLo’s mother, Sheila. The title refers to her blindness. Over a simple, beautiful piano progression, CeeLo sings: "Blind Mary, you can't see / But you know exactly what you mean to me." It’s the most straightforwardly sincere song in the discography. No irony. Just love.
The album’s emotional core. Starting with a lush, cinematic string section, this is a suicide contemplation set to a beautiful melody. "Thoughts of me / Not being here / To put your mind at ease." Rather than being bleak, CeeLo finds redemption by the end. Danger Mouse’s production is sparse—just piano, voice, and eventually a heartbreaking harp. A masterpiece.