Killing in the Name is a song by Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It features heavy drop-D guitar riffs. The lyrics protest police brutality, inspired by the beating of Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Killing in the Name was released as the lead single from Rage Against the Machine in November 2, 1992. It reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2009, following a public campaign protesting the British talent show The X Factor, “Killing in the Name” became the UK Christmas number one.
The guitarist Tom Morello wrote the riffs while teaching a student drop D tuning; he briefly paused the lesson to record the riff. The band worked on the song the next day. According to Morello, “Killing in the Name” was a collaborative effort, combining his riff with Tim Commerford‘s “magmalike” bass, Brad Wilk’s “funky, brutal” drumming and vocalist Zack de la Rocha‘s “conviction”. Morello recorded his part on a Fender Telecaster.
Killing in the Name combines elements of punk and hip hop and has been described as alternative metal, rap metal, rap rock, hard rock, and nu metal. The song builds in intensity, as de la Rocha chants the line “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”, building in a crescendo the next four times and aggressively screaming the line the final eight times, culminating with the scream “Motherfucker!” The song contains the word “fuck” 17 times.
The refrain “some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses” draws a link between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ku Klux Klan. According to BBC News, “Killing in the Name” protests the military–industrial complex, justifying killing for “the chosen whites”.
The cover of the CD single is Malcolm Browne’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Thích Quảng Đức‘s self-immolation in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the murder of Buddhists by the U.S.-backed regime of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. The photograph also appears on cover of the eponymous Rage Against the Machine album.
The cover of the Australian version of the CD-single has the words “killing in the name”, in large, red block capitals, and a much smaller and tightly cropped version of the photograph in the bottom right-hand corner.
Tracklist:
- Killing in the Name
- Darkness of Greed
- Clear the Lane
Rage Against the Machine
Zack de la Rocha: lead vocals
Tom Morello: guitar
Tim Commerford: bass guitar, backing vocals
Brad Wilk: drums
