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" when playing live. It is also sometimes changed to "Some of those that work forces are the same that burn churches".
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.
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. This moment of infamy has since been consistently referenced by numerous British rock media.
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 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 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 over 15 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 replaced with "Under control!".
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. Comedian Bill Hicks played the song at the end of his shows toward the end of his life.
The song was featured in the movie Step Up 2 during the final dance scene.
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.
In early December 2009, members of the social networking site Facebook launched a group encouraging people to buy the song in the week running up to Christmas in order to prevent the winner of the The X Factor (UK) TV show from achieving the coveted Christmas number one slot in the UK Singles Chart. 954,863 members (as of the 20th December 2009) have joined the group. They won, and also donated over £65,000 to UK charity Shelter. The week also set a record for download sales in a single week as it reached the top spot on downloads alone. No hard copies of the single were released.
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.
Killing In The Name Of
Rage Against the Machine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Are the same that burn crosses
Uh
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya
Well now you do what they told ya
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those who died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Uh
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Come on
Uh
Yeah
Come on
Uh
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Motherfucker
Uh
"Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine is a powerful song that speaks against police brutality and racism. The lyrics highlight the fact that some of the people who work in law enforcement are the same individuals who promote hate and discrimination, specifically through burning crosses. This line makes a connection between the Ku Klux Klan’s vile acts of hate and those who work in positions of power within the police force. The song's title refers to the hypocrisy of those who engage in violent behavior in the name of upholding the law. The chorus, which repeats the phrase "Killing in the name of," is an indictment of the use of force for political and ideological objectives.
The last part of the song's lyrics consists of a repeated phrase of "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me," basically mocking the idea of unjust authority.
Overall, the song can be seen as a call to action against systemic oppression and is seen by many as a reminder of the urgent need for collective resistance against those in power. The song encourages listeners to challenge authority and take action against injustice.
Line by Line Meaning
Some of those that work forces
Some of the people who have authoritative power
Are the same that burn crosses
Are members of the Ku Klux Klan who burn crosses as a symbol of hate and racism
Uh
Expresses disbelief and shock at the situation
Killing in the name of
The act of taking another person’s life based on a belief system
Now you do what they told ya
Submitting unquestioningly to those in power
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
Indicates that the person is now being oppressed and controlled by the authority
Those who died are justified
The people who lost their lives in the pursuit of justice
For wearing the badge
Refers to the police badge, symbol of authority
They're the chosen whites
Denotes the Caucasian race as always being privileged by the law
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Rebelling against the oppressive authority by refusing to blindly follow orders
Motherfucker
An exclamation of anger towards the oppressive authority
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: Timothy Commerford, Thomas B. Morello, Zack M. De La Rocha, Brad J. Wilk
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alexandermendeyev35
My best memory with this song happened when i was 22, almost 12 years ago, I was late for my first university class, so i was driving wild 😂 with loud music to keep the blood pumping. I had an amazing Mustang GT 2001 with Borla Exahusts that thing had an amazing sound. So there i was wearing sun glasses singing out loud on a Mustang driving like a possesed man listening to this beauty. Near my University there was a roundabout with green areas and benches, (in my country México some roundabouts are designed as parks) i saw a group of people sitting on the grass near the benches, about 20 people they all looked at me with dissaproval 🤨🤨 cause of my driving and loud music. When i arrived at my school i went into the classroom and found no one. So i asked reception if class was cancelled.
No, it's a sunny day, they're at the roundabout taking class. This was a creative writing class. And i immediatly think.... FUCK
Maybe i can sneak in without being noticed...
As soon as i arrived my teacher saw me, and said loudly OMG LOOK IS THE GUY DRIVING LIKE AN IDIOT, EVERYONE LOOK AT HIM, LET'S GIVE HIM AN APPLAUSE!! everyone start clapping at me and i felt so embarrased 😂 yet started laughing.
So i had to endure a lot of bullying that day. Obviously i was called names Tacoretto was my favorite haha.
My teacher told me she liked Rage Against The Machine too tho 😂
@abe39
[Refrain]
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
[Pre-Chorus]
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya!
Well, now you do what they told ya
[Chorus]
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
[Verse]
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Uh!
[Refrain]
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
[Pre-Chorus]
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
(Now you're under control) And now you do what they told ya
[Chorus]
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Come on!
[Guitar Solo]
Ugh!
Yeah!
Come on!
Ugh!
[Outro]
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Motherfucker!
Ugh!
@agustinfandino8950
I love when BBC asked them to play this live without swearing.
Spoiler alert: they didn't do what was told to them
@yo_asian_boi1424
Lmaooo "fuck you i won't do what you tell me"
@themittenkitten_wastakenfromme
@@yo_asian_boi1424 that’s what they think about BBC.
@jbshiva865
Reminds me of Jim Morrison on the Ed Sullivan Show. :D
@jamescasady3356
And now they are shills for the establishment telling to do as your told and wear a mask and get your shots as soon as your told! My, my. How times have changed.
@valentijngouw9587
You love bbc’s
@kozigous5800
i arrested a cop after listening this
@gigakoks-mu1zi
Lmfao
@leviathandiabolo6296
😂
@fabiolotito6927
What,666 like 😂