Songfacts®:

• This dramatic instrumental, composed by Ennio Morricone, soundtracks a pivotal scene in Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly when Tuco (Eli Wallach) frantically searches for hidden gold in a cemetery while dodging cannon fire from fellow outlaw Blondie (Clint Eastwood). The song mirrors Tuco's emotions, starting gently and swelling with intensity as he nears the grave that supposedly holds the treasure.
• Italian singer Edda Dell'Orso provided wordless vocals that were backed by Bruno Battisti D'Amario's distorted electric guitar to produce a piercing cry. Morricone recalled in his 2019 autobiography: "I noted on the score 'distorted electric guitar' and two notes: C and B. D'Amario could freely oscillate between the two pitches and quarter-tones, and I added synthesized sounds as well."
• Metallica recorded "The Ecstasy Of Gold" with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for their 1999 S&M album, and adopted the piece as their intro music for live shows. They also recorded a metal version for the 2007 tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone. That rendition was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is the third film in Leone's Dollars trilogy, following A Fistful Of Dollars and A Few Dollars More. Morricone also worked on the latter films, and his scores made a huge impact - not just on film music but on pop culture in general. When asked about the reason for the longevity of his Leone pieces, Morricone replied in his book:
  
  "I think it is due to their sound, which is not by chance the same sort of aspect rock bands research: an identifiable, sonorous, sound. Moreover, I think that a great part is also due to the singability of the melodic lines and their harmonies: invariably in every piece there are very easy chord sequences. Lastly, I am certain that Sergio's films spoke to many generations precisely because he was an innovative filmmaker who intentionally left space for the music to be listened to."
• This was also used in these TV shows:
  
  The Simpsons ("Warrin' Priests" - 2020)
  That '70s Show ("The Wrestling Show" - 1999)
  
  And these movies:
  
  The Battleship Island (2017)
  The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (2015)
  The Book Of Life (2014)
  Jackass Number Two (2006)
• In August 2019, this was popularly used in a series of TikTok videos called Fight of the Century, which started with a video of a TikToker recreating a childhood moment of slapping his teacher. Others featured comically dramatic scenarios of the different types of students in a classroom. In one notable clip, a student who has retaken a class three times squares off against the smart kid to answer the teacher's question about evolution.
  
  The theme was also was the basis for the "But..." memes that gained popularity in 2020, with the music highlighting a surprising or controversial conclusion to a social media post. One version, titled "After All These Years...," shows a gamer logging back online after a 12-year absence.
• Jay-Z sampled this on "Blueprint 2," the title track of his 2002 album.