Classics can emerge from unexpected places and forms, as was the case with Paul McCartney that inspired The Beatles ." And Tom Morello Rage Against The Machine 's song "Killing In The Name" initially started as just an instrumental.
In an interview for Rolling Stone , Music Now , the guitarist said about the classic, "Originally it was an instrumental. There's a video of Rage Against The Machine from Cal State Northridge, which was our first public performance, where we started the show with an instrumental version of 'Killing In The Name' and Timmy [Commeford] , I think, came up with the idea for that incredible bass riff," Morello recalls.
“The rhythm [of Brad Wilk ] that gets the crowd jumping along has been there from the very beginning. And then Zack [de la Rocha] connected everything with the historic lyrics,” says Tom, who adds, “Actually, we left the lyrics out of the songwriting book for the first album because I think it’s two lines, 16 ‘fuck yous,’ and a ‘son of a bitch.’ And we were like, in the middle of all this great political poetry, let’s just let this be what it is.”
The guitarist also highlighted the phrase "Fuck you, wo n't do what you tell me," stating that despite being a simple lyric, it represents a universal sentiment and, for Morello, is one of la Rocha's most brilliant compositions.
Check out the full interview, and below, listen to "Killing In The Name":
