Killing in the Name

Infobox Single | Name = Killing in the Name


Artist = Rage Against the Machine
from Album = Rage Against the Machine
Released = 1992
Format = CD, 7", 12", cassette
Genre = Alternative metal, rap metal
Length = 5 min 14 s
Label = epic
Producer = Garth "GGGarth" Richardson, Rage Against the Machine
Last single =
This single = "Killing in the Name"
(1992)
Next single = "Bombtrack"
(1993) | "Killing in the Name" is the first single released by Rage Against the Machine from their self-titled album, and is arguably the band's signature song. On 31 August 1999, it was reissued with one previously unreleased track, "Darkness of Greed", together with the track "Clear the Lane" which was the original B-Side on the white only vinyl first release of the single. The album's cover pictured Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the murder of Buddhists by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's regime.

Live performances

Zack de la Rocha sometimes changes the lyrics in the second verse from "Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" to "Some of those that burn crosses are the same that hold office" [ [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/soundboard/2008/09/i-regret-not-ma.html] ] when playing live. It is also sometimes changed to "Some of those that work forces are the same that burn churches".Fact|date=August 2008

De la Rocha sang these alternative lyrics on August 22nd at Reading Festival in England, and on the 27th at Tent State University's Music Festival at the Denver Coliseum in Denver, CO.

Critical reception

"Killing in the Name" was placed at number 89 on "100 Greatest Guitar Solos", a poll made by "Guitar World". "Q" magazine placed "Killing in the Name" at number 24 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks and at number 99 in its list of the 100 greatest songs ever.Fact|date=March 2008

The song earned its notoriety in the United Kingdom when its BBC Radio 1 DJ, Bruno Brookes, played the uncensored version of the song on his Top 40 countdown, leading to 138 complaints. [ [http://www.musicfanclubs.org/rage/articles/trivialized.htm rage: Articles/Interviews ] ] This moment of infamy has since been consistently referenced by numerous British rock media.

Parodies

The song has been parodied many times. In particular the chorus of "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" is often replaced with "Fuck you, I won't tidy my bedroom", [cite web|url=http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/2272|title=Leeds Festival|publisher=Left Lion|accessdate=2008-09-05] due to their young audience. Indeed the phrase is now frequently used to refer to metal bands popular with younger teenagers. [cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030126/ai_n9683191|title=Arts: ROCK & POP - No more rage - it's just a heavy-metal hissy fit|publisher=The Independent|date=2003-01-26] [cite news|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/slipknot/9874|title=Album Reviews: Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone|publisher=NME|date=2008-08-28]

Other appearances

*The band Audioslave, which incorporated all but one member of Rage Against the Machine, played the song at multiple shows.

*"Killing in the Name" is featured on fictional alternative rock station Radio X, in the video game "" [ [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/2004/10/25/news_6111346.html Full San Andreas soundtrack details - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot ] ] and is used as a bumper song on The Jim Rome Show.

*A note-for-note cover version of "Killing in the Name" is a playable song in the "Guitar Hero II" video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, as a part of the main song list. It is found in the fifth song tier, "Return of the Shred", in the PS2 version and in the sixth tier, "Relentless Riffs", in the Xbox 360 version. However the song's lyrics are altered to remove the expletives, replacing the sentence repeated 16 times "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" with "You're under control, I won't do what you tell me", and the word "Motherfucker" near the end is edited and cannot be heard. [ [http://au.ps2.ign.com/articles/737/737921p1.html IGN: Guitar Hero II Final Tracklist Revealed ] ] [ [http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/737/737956p1.html IGN: Guitar Hero II Final Tracklist Revealed ] ]

*La Maison Tellier made an acoustic cover of "Killing in the Name" that possessed a distinctive folk sound.

*In July 2007, a remix of this song by SebastiAn (miscredited as a Mr. Oizo remix) was Zane Lowe's "Hottest Record in the World" on his show on BBC Radio 1. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20070719 BBC - Radio 1 - Zane Lowe - Tracklisting ] ]

*Comedian Bill Hicks played the song at the end of his shows toward the end of his life.

*The Apples, a funk band from Tel Aviv, Israel, released a cover on a 7" vinyl on Freestyle Records.

*In 2004, radio and television commentator Glenn Beck used instrumental sections of the song as an open for his radio show.

*The Icelandic band FM Belfast made a minimal electro cover called "Lotus".

*Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Chad Qualls uses this song as his walk up music.

*On the 22nd of August 2008, Scottish Alt-Rock Band Biffy Clyro covered a re-worked acoustic version of "Killing In The Name" on Jo Whiley's Show at The Reading Festival on BBC Radio 1. Band sung just the melody for the notable swear word in the song. However, the crowd responded by starting a mass sing along with the swear word, which forced Jo Whiley to apologize on air after the song because the broadcast was during lunch time. The Band have previously mentioned that Rage Against The Machine are one of their major influences.

Music video

The video was released in 1993. This clip was filmed entirely in a small venue. The uncensored version of the video clip was banned on "MTV" for such a long period of time that the video's existence was in doubt until its release on the self-titled video.

Credits

* Zack de la Rocha - vocals
* Tom Morello - guitar
* Tim Commerford - bass guitar
* Brad Wilk - drums

References

External links

* [http://www.ratm.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.axisofjustice.org/ Axis of Justice] Tom Morello and Serj Tankian's Activist Website "Axis Of Justice"
* [http://www.vietnow.org/ Vietnow.org] Rage Against The Machine news resource and forum
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