Beastie Boys Take On Bush With First Song In Five Years (New Morons for the Enemies List)

MTV "News" ^ | March 11, 2003 | Jon Wiederhorn, with additional reporting by Gideon Yago

[Timesink]

Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys Take On Bush With First Song In Five Years
03.11.2003

Beastie Boy Mike D Photo: MTV News
"You just look at the TV and see this guy who’s supposed to be representing us and it just feels ridiculous." -- Beastie Boys' MCA

Following a recording hiatus of nearly five years, the Beastie Boys have been driven out of hiding by the need to comment on the scary state of the world.

In the middle of a New York writing and rhyming session for their next album, MCA, Ad-Rock and Mike D hammered out a song called "In a World Gone Mad" and posted it on their Web site.

"We all got to a point where we felt like, we’re in this room in New York, we’re looking at each other every day, and we really felt compelled to speak our minds on what exactly we see happening right now," Mike D said.

The up-tempo song, which features a simple rhythm and rudimentary samples, has the old-school feel of a Run-DMC track. The buoyancy of the beats contrasts with the lyrics, which criticize the Bush administration's eagerness to attack Iraq: "You build more bombs as you get more bold/ As your mid-life crisis war unfolds/ All you wanna do is take control/ Now put that Axis of Evil bullsh-- on hold."

"None of us feels very comfortable with what Bush is putting forward and the way that Bush is representing the United States, and I don’t think he represents us," MCA said. "We just felt like if we do have an opportunity to put some ideas out there that a few people might hear, then we should do that. I mean, you just look at the TV and see this guy who’s supposed to be representing us and it just feels ridiculous."

The Beasties may have been driven to create "In a World Gone Mad" because they felt like Bush was turning a deaf ear to the screaming voices of anti-war protesters, but they said they were also motivated after hearing rumors that artists were discouraged from mentioning the Middle East conflict during the Grammy Awards. After so much disinformation, the Boys decided some old-school learnin' was in order.

"The majority of people out there seem to link September 11 and Iraq," Mike D said. "It seems to me that the government hasn’t really put any evidence out there. There hasn’t been a compelling case linking the two, so I think it’s really important to separate them."

-- Jon Wiederhorn, with additional reporting by Gideon Yago

 Let your politicians know what you think: You Tell Them

 Back to Conflict In The Middle East

For more on Beastie Boys, check out the MTV News Archive

What do you think of this story? You Tell Us

[Theresawithanh]

I knew I knew at least one of the Beastie Boys songs! Always kinda liked that song. You make an excellent point in your remarks! BTW, to me "old school" is Motown, Smokey Robinson and the like. Guess I'm showin' my age .

[Timesink]

This just in:

Everybody have fun tonight.
Everybody War Chung tonight.

[Leclair10]

Randall most of the beastie boys former core audience has kids in high school practically they where in the mid 20's around 1984 or so, I guess they figure theres an audience out there for forty something white rappers who curse alot.

[RandallFlagg]

Yeah, I figured that. But they barely even sang. They mostly walked out, did a song for three minutes then preached (all the while doing these little "Gang-Hand Signs") about how life sucked and how nobody should trust anyone and all this and that. YAAAWWNNN! By the time they were done, the audience was BEGGING Metallica to show up and place us back in the real world so we could forget that horrid, hateful stuff we saw.

Rob Halford was pretty good, though.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Too bad. This garbage is such a disappointment from guys who p.o.'d the feminazi's at the peak of their whining.

Girls - to do the dishes
Girls - to clean up my room
Girls - to do the laundry
Girls - and in the bathroom
Girls - that's all I really want is girls
Two at a time - I want girls
With new wave hairdos - I want girls
I ought to whip out my - girls, girls, girls, girls, girls!

[Arkinsaw]

While they are at it can they give us their opinion on recent FCC rulings and perhaps a lecture on Derivative Contracts? I mean, if we are going to rely on them for foreign policy and national defense surely they can guide us on other important matters.

[blondee123]

Gee, I guess they would know, I mean they've had a lot of down time to sit & think about foreign policy!! (sarcasm)

[latina4dubya]

i have to admit that in my college days my friends and i would always dance to Brass Monkey at parties and clubs... and on the rare occassion i come across this song, i have to listen to it... (i was still a liberal back then.)

[I_Love_My_Husband]

I can't stand them. They are talentless. Take a look at these lyrics.

Cookie Puss

**Green Color = Employee**

The sh*t with this b*tch

Yo I said I'm calling you B.

Yo B it's the phone

Yo B.

"May I help you?"

"Yes what's your name?"

"Hello?"

"Hello man you got Cookypuss's number?"

"Here's my supervisor, he'll help you"

"Yo man, where's the supervisor at?

I-I got the number anyway baby!

That b*tch hang up on me"

These pu*ssy crumbs are making me itch!

Ah Cookypuss, HEY! Ah Cookypuss

Maybe I should scratch

Aaahhn, B-E-A-S-T-I-E go!

"My real name is"

"My real name is"

"My sisters name was"

Scratch

Cookypuss, cook, cook, cook, scratch, scratch.

Oh,cook, cook, cook, cook oh cookypuss

"And my mother got to call us for dinner"

"Yo, yo, yo!"

Cookypuss. Puss-y crumbs, what are puss-y crumbs?

Take me home and eat me, yeah!"

B*tch, I'll f*ckin' kick your @ss b*tch.

"Hello, Carvel?"

"Yo man Cookypuss there?"

"Who?"

"Cookypuss, I want to speak to Cookypuss man!"

"No. Nobody here by that name."

"A Cooky O' Puss then. Cookychic, anybody man, I want to speak to them!"

"There not here."

"I said, I house ya, where's Cookie Puss at?

Yo I'm serious, I wanna talk to.. yo man

Cookypuss, alright let, let me order one then, let me get one."

"When do you want it for?"

"Anytime man, just like now and sh*t, you know, that sh*t now.

I'm talkin' now B. D@mn b*tch hang up, I'll kick your @ss b*tch"

"Yo yo yo"

"Yo yo yo"

"Beastie Boys rock!"

"Beastie Boys"

[driftless]

Yeah, right. We should conduct foreign policy predicated on the mental "abilities" of a bunch of drugged-out non-musicians who can't think further than their next hit on the bong. I would look at comments by idiots like these as I would if a resident of the local loony bin started giving me advice about preparing my taxes. Except the deranged person would probably make more sense.

[Nick Danger]

This sort of thing can look ridiculous, but it is another example of how all these delays and postponements just make the other guys stronger. OK, this time it's a has-been rock and roll band. Last week it was the Pope. The longer Bush dinks around with this, the longer the list gets. Every addition, no matter how silly, will be trumpeted to the skies by the media.

[WarrenC]

(i was still a liberal back then.)

Just curious: What made you a conservative? One big moment of clarity or just the accumulation of life experience?

[Valin]

Good question.

[JustPiper]

Freeping must have worked, we're at 74%, also here are some useful links and the lyrics to this rap:

Please keep this bumped, ping Freepers please

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right

So much violence hate and spite

Murder going on all day and night

Due time we fight the non-violent fight

Mirrors, smokescreens and lies

It’s not the politicians but their actions I despise

You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day

With the cocaine and Courvoisier

But you build more bombs as you get more bold

As your mid-life crisis war unfolds

All you want to do is take control

Now put that axis of evil bullshit on hold

Citizen rule number 2080

Politicians are shady

So people watch your back 'cause I think they smoke crack

I don’t doubt it look at how they act

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right

So much violence hate and spite

Murder going on all day and night

Due time we fight the non-violent fight

First the ‘War On Terror’ now war on Iraq

We’re reaching a point where we can’t turn back

Let’s lose the guns and let’s lose the bombs

And stop the corporate contributions that their built upon

Well I’ll be sleeping on your speeches ‘til I start to snore

‘Cause I won’t carry guns for an oil war

As-Salamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam

Peace to the Middle East peace to Islam

Now don’t get us wrong ‘cause we love America

But that’s no reason to get hysterica

They’re layin’ on the syrup thick

We ain’t waffles we ain’t havin’ it

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right

So much violence hate and spite

Murder going on all day and night

Due time we fight the non-violent fight

Now how many people must get killed?

For oil families pockets to get filled?

How many oil families get killed?

Not a damn one so what’s the deal?

It’s time to lead the way and de-escalate

Lose the weapons of mass destruction and the hate

Say ooh ah what’s the White House doin’?

Oh no! Say, what in tarnation have they got

brewing??!!!!???!!

Well I’m not pro Bush and I’m not pro Saddam

We need these fools to remain calm

George Bush you’re looking like Zoolander

Trying to play tough for the camera

What am I on crazy pills? We’ve got to stop it

Get your hand out my grandma’s pocket

We need health care more than going to war

You think it’s democracy they’re fighting for?

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right

So much violence hate and spite

Murder going on all day and night

Due time we fight the non-violent fight

They have to give this for free , thye have alot of fans, they will get rich from the antiwar slobs. They should have stayed in retirement, I didn't miss them!

Notice the links they push:

Get involved...

MoveOn.org

TrueMajority

Win Without War

Milarepa

[Xenalyte]

Well, dammit. I used to LOVE the Beasties. They were the coolest white guys around.

[Xenalyte]

Just another band on drugs.

Actually, they (and Snoop Dogg) cleaned up a few years ago. All the Beasties have kids.

[Samwise]

[SerpentDove]

Does anybody have that animated graphic where one of the Beastie Boys morphs into Jerry Lewis as The Nutty Professor? Oh, wait, here it is: