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(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)

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"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right"
Song
B-side"Paul Revere"

"(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.

History

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".[3] 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

Directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin,[4] 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."[5]

Fight for Your Right Revisited

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.

Remake versions

Singer/songwriter Cara Quici sampled the song for her 2013 song "Fight" [6]personally approved by Rick Rubin and licensed by SONY_ATV and Universal Music Group. The "Fight" video by Cara Quici features a cameo by Dennis Rodman.[7]

Cover versions

The band Public Enemy sampled the song for their 1988 song "Party for Your Right to Fight".[8]

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.

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.[9] 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.[10][11]

The song was performed in 2013 by Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) and Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling) for the Glee episode "Sweet Dreams". The performance was notable as the last song Monteith recorded before his death.

Chart performance

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 37
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 16
Canadian RPM Top Singles[14] 7
Invalid chart entered Germany2 25
Irish Singles Chart[15] 16
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 10
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] 10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 17
UK (Official Charts Company)[19] 11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[20] 7

References

  1. ^ Tim Grierson. "Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch Has Died". About.com. Retrieved 2 July 2013. "As a member of Beastie Boys, Yauch (who recorded under the name MCA) helped pioneer rap-rock with (...) classic tracks like "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn,""
  2. ^ Stratton, Jon (2009). Brit Wits: A History of British Rock Humor. Ashgate. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7546-6804-6. "The Beastie Boys' success came from their acceptance by African- American audiences while making rap understandable to white audiences by combining it with hard rock — the most important example of this being '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)'."
  3. ^ The Beastie Boys: The Fresh Air Interview - originally broadcast on March 29, 2006
  4. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2013-03-04). "Beastie Boys Video Director Ric Menello Dead At 60". MTV.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  5. ^ Marks, Craig (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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cara-quici-mn0002583665/biography
  8. ^ The Greatest Songs Ever! Fight for Your Right Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More
  9. ^ Coldplay pays tribute to the Beastie Boys with Fight For Your Right performance
  10. ^ Coldplay pay tribute to Adam Yauch with Fight For Your Right performance
  11. ^ RIP MCA, ColdplayTV on YouTube
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. ^ "Beastie Boys Top Singles positions". RPM. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  15. ^ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Group. "Fight for your right in Irish Chart". IRMA. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 1 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) Only one result when searching "You've got to fight for your right"
  16. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Beastie Boys" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  17. ^ "Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. ^ "Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right". Top 40 Singles.
  19. ^ "1987 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 28th March 1987". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
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