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Miles-tones

Dennis Hopper, Tell Us A Tale Before You Go

King Koopa has gone where Mario and Luigi cannot follow. Dennis Hopper, the Academy Award-nominated actor from films like Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider and yes, Super Mario Bros., passed away Saturday after a long fight with prostate cancer.

While Hollywood mourns the death of one of its most eclectic and talented sons, the music world, and the Gorillaz in particular, must lament that that we will never hear Hopper narrate a sequel to "Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head."

The track from the Gorillaz 2005 album Demon Days is typical of the band - by which we mean flipping genius - and features a tale of happy people invaded by a shadow force as told to us in Hopper's distinct voice.

Though no narrated music video will ever be cooler than "Unholy Warcry" by Rhapsody narrated by Christopher Lee, "Fire" ranks a very close second.

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Jef Rouner (not cis, he/him) is a contributing writer who covers politics, pop culture, social justice, video games, and online behavior. He is often a professional annoyance to the ignorant and hurtful.
Contact: Jef Rouner