Ghosts 'n' Stuff

"Ghosts 'n' Stuff"
Single by deadmau5 featuring Rob Swire
from the album For Lack of a Better Name
B-side	"Peddler of Misery" (2008 issue) "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" / "Ghosts 'n' Stuff (Original instrumental mix) (2009 issue)
Released	25 November 2008
Format	12" CD digital download
Recorded	2004, 2008
Genre	Electro house
Length	6:10 (original mix) 5:27 (album version) 3:15 (radio edit)
Label	Ultra mau5trap
Writer(s)	Rob Swire Joel Zimmerman
Producer(s)	Joel Zimmerman
deadmau5 singles chronology
"I Remember" (2008) Ghosts 'n' Stuff (2008) "Slip" (2008)

"Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (also known as "Ghosts N Stuff") is a song by the Canadian electronic music producer deadmau5 featuring vocals by Rob Swire of the Australian drum and bass band Pendulum and the electronic duo Knife Party. It was first released as a standalone single on 25 November 2008 and later appeared on deadmau5's fourth studio album For Lack of a Better Name. The song's refrain is a reinterpretation of Chris Isaak's song "Wicked Game".

Background

The original version of "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" was made in 2004, and Joel Zimmerman said that it "ended up going through at least 10 revisions".^[1] Zimmerman and Rob Swire had been coincidentally meeting each other backstage at various festivals and agreed to collaborate.^[2] The song was made originally specifically for Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 Essential Selection show on 10 October 2008. deadmau5 was a guest on the show along with Steve Angello (the two, with Tong, were playing a live set in Manchester, England on that night). In the week leading up to the show, Tong requested that deadmau5 create something new for his appearance for Tong's show. At the 81:03 mark of the broadcast, deadmau5 stated that the song was originally titled "Hotel" because he made it for Tong's show while staying in his hotel. He also stated that the song was only "just now" finished and that he was now calling it "Ghosts 'n' Stuff". deadmau5 later debuted this song to a live audience at the HARD Haunted Mansion 2008 in Los Angeles, CA.

The "hard intro" version of one B-side of the single, "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (which appears on the continuous mix version of For Lack of a Better Name) contains a vocal sample from the 1957 film The Brain from Planet Arous; "After I'm gone, your Earth will be free to live out its miserable span of existence, as one of my satellites, and that's how it's going to be...". It also contains a sample from the funeral march by Chopin. The unmixed version released on 20 October 2009 replaces this version with the original mix, which excludes the vocal sample and the funeral march intro.

Music video

Zimmerman portraying a ghost.

A music video promoting the single was released in August 2009 and was directed by Colin O'Toole. It was shot in Toronto, Canada. The video begins with Joel Zimmerman being rushed into a hospital, before dying within minutes of arrival. He is then revived as a ghost, and attempts to pass through the walls but cannot. He leaves the hospital and wanders around town, getting a tattoo of a Space Invader alien and running into a gang of other ghosts. After an unpleasant trip to a restaurant and a laundromat, Joel attends a rave with several people also dressed in costumes. At the party, someone wearing a mau5head pulls the white sheet off, as Joel is revived back in the hospital. He finds that the Space Invader tattoo which he got as a ghost remaining on his neck.

Track listing

1. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Radio Edit) – 3:11
2. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Extended Version) – 5:27
3. "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Original Mix) – 4:57
4. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Nero Remix) – 6:55
5. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Sub Focus Remix) – 4:26
6. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Original Instrumental Mix) – 6:10

Charts and certifications

Commercial performance

The song peaked at number 12 in the United Kingdom on the UK Singles Chart week beginning 4 October 2009. It also placed at number 96 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2009.

In the United States, Ghosts 'n' Stuff received exposure from use in TV shows such as America's Best Dance Crew and heavy radio airplay. In the May 15, 2010 issue of Billboard, the track reached number one on the magazine's Hot Dance Airplay chart after 24 weeks of charting, thus making the single the longest climb to number one ever on the chart, as well as the first single to reach the top spot after it had dropped off, then returned to the chart.

Weekly charts Chart (2009) Peak position Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[3] 53 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[4] 12 UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[5] 2 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[6] 1

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Canada (Music Canada)[7] 3× Platinum 240,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[8] Silver 300,000 United States (RIAA)[9] Platinum 1,000,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "old ghosts". SoundCloud (via Internet Archive). Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
2. Ghosts N Stuff Songfacts
3. "deadmau5 – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for deadmau5. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
4. "Archive Chart: 2009-10-10" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
5. "Archive Chart: 2009-10-24" UK Dance Chart. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
6. "deadmau5 – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay for deadmau5. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
7. "Canadian single certifications – deadmau5 – Ghosts 'n' Stuff". Music Canada.
8. "British single certifications – deadmau5 ft Rob Swire – Ghosts 'n' Stuff". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Ghosts 'n' Stuff in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
9. "American single certifications – deadmau5 feat. Rob Swire – Ghosts 'n' Stuff". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" at Discogs (list of releases)