(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)
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| "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" | |||||||||
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| Single by Beastie Boys | |||||||||
| from the album Licensed to Ill | |||||||||
| B-side | Paul Revere | ||||||||
| Released | February 22, 1987 | ||||||||
| Recorded | Spring 1986 | ||||||||
| Genre | Rap rock, hard rock | ||||||||
| Length | 3:29 | ||||||||
| Label | Def Jam/Columbia | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, Tom Cushman | ||||||||
| Producer | Rick Rubin | ||||||||
| Beastie Boys singles chronology | |||||||||
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"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" (sometimes shortened to "Fight for Your Right") is a song by American rap group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986). One of their best-known songs, it reached #7 on the Billboard 100 in the week of 7 March, and was later named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Beastie Boys also included the track on their hits album, The Sounds of Science in 1999, and Solid Gold Hits in 2005.
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History [edit]
Ironically, the song, written by Adam Yauch and band friend Tom "Tommy Triphammer" Cushman (who appears in the video), was intended as a parody of party and attitude songs, such as "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and "I Wanna Rock".[1] However, the irony was lost on most listeners. Mike D commented that, "The only thing that upsets me is that we might have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different. There were tons of guys singing along to 'Fight for Your Right' who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them."
Music Video [edit]
Directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin,[2] many elements of the music video for "Fight for Your Right" appear to be influenced by George A. Romero's zombie horror movie Dawn of the Dead.[citation needed] In Dawn of the Dead a biker gang infiltrates a shopping mall and attacks the zombies with (amongst other things) pies-in-the-face. At one point a biker smashes a television set with a sledge-hammer, just like MCA in this video. There are also numerous cameos in this video, including an unknown at the time Tabitha Soren, Def Jam label mate LL Cool J, members of the punk band Murphy's Law, as well as the Beastie Boys' producer, Rick Rubin, who was shown wearing an AC/DC & Slayer shirt, who were also signed to Def Jam at the time.
Soren, whose hair was dyed blonde for the shoot, got her chance to be in the video because she was a friend of Rubin's and attended nearby New York University. "I worked hard at not getting any pie goo on me", she recalls, because the whipped cream used had been scoured from supermarket trash cans since there was no money in the budget for it. As a result it was rancid and had a foul odor. "The smell in that room, when everyone was done throwing pies, was like rotten eggs. You wanted to throw up."[3]
Fight for Your Right Revisited [edit]
In 2011, Adam Yauch directed and wrote a surreal comedic short film entitled Fight for Your Right Revisited to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original video's release. The short film serves as a video for the single "Make Some Noise" from Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Most of the non-sequitur dialogue between characters were a result of improvisation by the cast.
'Revisited' acts as a sequel to the events that took place in the original music video and features Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA (played by Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, and Danny McBride, respectively) as they get into more drunken antics, before being challenged to a dance battle by the future Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA (John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell, and Jack Black, respectively), coming out of a DeLorean.
The short also features a wide number of cameo appearances, including Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Alicia Silverstone, Laura Dern, Shannyn Sossamon, Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Rainn Wilson, Amy Poehler, Mary Steenburgen, Will Arnett, Adam Scott, Chloë Sevigny, Maya Rudolph, David Cross, Orlando Bloom, Martin Starr, and the actual Mike D, Ad-Rock & MCA. Many of the listed appearances only appear for a few seconds.
Although the song itself is not performed, it can be heard at the beginning of the short.
Cover Versions [edit]
The band Public Enemy sampled the song for their 1988 song "Party for Your Right to Fight". Both bands were signed by Def Jam at that time.[4]
Brit-Pop Band McFly covered the song as an B-Side on their Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania Single. It's also featured on the album The Greatest Bits: B-Sides & Rarities.
Sammy Hagar covers the song on his 2008 solo album Cosmic Universal Fashion.
Warrant, Trixter, and FireHouse covered the song as an end of the show jam during Warrant's Cherry Pie tour.
NYCC remixed this song in 1998, their dance version hit #14 on the UK Singles Chart.
Kesha covered the song as the finale on her 2011 Get Sleazy Tour.
Blondie covers the song as an interpolation with their 1981 hit "Rapture" in the shows of their Panic of Girls Tour.
On August 2, 2009 Coldplay performed an acoustic piano-based version of this song during their concert on the final night of the All Points West concert series as a tribute to the Beastie Boys, who were unable to perform on opening night following Adam Yauch's announcement that he had cancer.[5] The band performed this version again on May 4, 2012 at their concert at the Hollywood Bowl as a tribute to Adam Yauch, who had died earlier that day.[6][7]
In 2011, the song was sampled by experimental hip hop group Death Grips in the track "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" from their debut mixtape Exmilitary.
The YouTube-based cartoon band Your Favorite Martian covered this song in 2012.
Chester Bennington & Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park covered this song in 2012 as part of their Camp Freddy appearance.[8]
Chart Performance [edit]
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart[9] | 37 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart[10] | 7 |
| Dutch Singles Chart[11] | 10 |
| German Singles Chart[12] | 25 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[13] | 17 |
| UK Singles Chart[14] | 11 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] | 7 |
References [edit]
- ^ The Beastie Boys: The Fresh Air Interview - originally broadcast on March 29, 2006
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (2013-03-04). "Beastie Boys Video Director Ric Menello Dead At 60". MTV.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ Marks, Craig; Tannenbaum, Rob (2011). I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 278–79. ISBN 978-0-525-95230-5.
- ^ The Greatest Songs Ever! Fight for Your Right Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More
- ^ Coldplay pays tribute to the Beastie Boys with Fight For Your Right performance
- ^ Coldplay pay tribute to Adam Yauch with Fight For Your Right performance
- ^ RIP MCA, ColdplayTV on YouTube
- ^ Fight for Your Right (To Party!) (Beastie Boys Cover) (2012) - Campy Freddy feat. Chester Bennington & Mike Shinoda (Live)
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Beastie Boys Top Singles positions". RPM. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right". Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Beastie Boys / Single". Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right". Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
External links [edit]
- "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" Official music video on YouTube
- Fight For Your Right Revisited at Hulu.com
- Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
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