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Fight The Power Lyrics
Artist: Public Enemy
Album: Fear Of A Black Planet
1989 the number another summer (get down)
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hittin' your heart cause I know you got sould
(Brothers and sisters hey)
Listen if you're missin' y'all
Swingin' while I'm singin'
Givin' whatcha gettin'
Knowin' what I know
While the Black bands sweatin'
And the rhythm rhymes rollin'
Got to give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power
Chorus
As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes
Designed to fill your mind
Now that you've realized the prides arrived
We got to pump the stuff to make us tough
from the heart
It's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothin's strange
People, people we are the same
No we're not the same
Cause we don't know the game
What we need is awareness, we can't get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self defensive fitness
(Yo) bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say...
Fight the Power
Chorus
Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant ---- to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother---- him and John Wayne
Cause I'm Black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don't worry be happy
Was a number one jam
Damn if I say it you can slap me right here
(Get it) lets get this party started right
Right on, c'mon
What we got to say
Power to the people no delay
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be
(Fight the Power)
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Comments/Interpretations
one of the coolest songs featuring KoRn...
i have 2 do this for for a rebellious essay
and a mother cries...
Yea best fu*king song Koßn ever made
impowering
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
1989
the duke was awesome and presley was cool pop and rap are the most stupid kinds of music
y'all racist niggas
does "Fight the Power" mean fighting against the concept of families with an even ratio of moms to dads?
This is one of the only rap songs that has a good and powerful message.
good song
flava flav didn't write this song, you silly shit.
this is to me...you came on here and said pop and rap is stupid...why are you looking up public enemy lyrics??
u dont get good songs like this anymore!!!!
ariel i hope you see this you country redneck whitebread chicken shit motherfucker how the hell did you make a computer out of cardbord and alluminum the two materials that make up your trailer trash house.wait your usin an 1980 fucked up compter that takes hours to go to one webpage so i guess it took maybe 6 hours out of your worthless life to post that.
I remember watching Spike Lee's 'do the right thing' back not too long after it came out. I was about 15 then and I thought this song was great. Now is the first time I've ever listened to the whole song, and certainly the first time I've read the lyrics. These guys are great. Flavor Flav is in the great tradition of the joker, the trickster. I believe the tradition can be traced to African roots. These guys are brilliant. Sometimes I think they get a little off field into divisive for its own sake, but that's the exception. They are poetic genius' of the highest caliber. The melding of form and substance is astounding.
Chuck D should be given credit for being one of the most transcending musical figures of our era. It's too bad people are talking about Korn. I am afraid Fight the Power has zero to do with them. Probably one of the best rap/hip-hop songs of all time. Respekt
cool
This shit sucks. These no talent punks need to leave the country if they are not happy here. They have the highest standard of living of any black people on the planet and yet they piss and moan
Flava was the hype man, not the lyricists, of the band. Him being a plum fool changes not a damn thing about the profundity of that song.
does anyone know if Chuck D further explained the lyrics of the song? The song is greatly negative but it seems that Chuck D is lashing out at the racism against the black community during the late 80s. I wonder if he really believed that Elvis was actually a racist or added the line purley for shock value. Additionally, is he trying to bring together all races with this song or did he write the lyrics purley with rage?
This song is unquestionably hot...but undeniably racist. Wonder if the songwriter/artists would be okay with 'rednecks' using the n-word? When are we gonna grow up?
The strong statements made in this piece of art are the foundations of what hip hop should be. A message and not a trashy one week dance.
it's a good song. but there's alot of hyperbole in the responses to it. astounding? that's a bit overdone.
Another good case for a larger war front and resurrecting the military draft. Y'all Korn folks need something more to occupy your fucked-up minds. Did the Tutsis with OCD stop to wipe the door knobs before fleeing the Hutus? What about the lactose intolerance in Somalia?
I may not agree with their statements, but I respect anyone that can make their point as succinct and sharp as Public Enemy did
this song is not that great... and by the way, public enemy has expressed racist ideas about jews, asians and whites...as a latino i fell left out. plus it seems hypocritical of public enemy to talk about empowerment while flavaflav runs around like a character in a minstrel show
were only here to see the lyrics. i dont give a fuck what you all think.
Don't split hairs and don't make it out to be more than it is-it's song lyrics. Fight the powers that be!!! FIght the power is an anthem that respresents a core ideal of the founding fathers of this country. Your remember the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War Don't you??? GO READ A BOOK. I think 400 years of opression make it okay for there to be at least a handful of rap songs about throwing off the yoke of opression..something this country was founded on! Remember that????
The whole song seems ambiguous to me outside the “Fight the Power” message—for example, other people seem to know what PE is saying about Elvis but I don’t. Hell, I’ve attacked Elvis as a worthless entertainer, and maybe he was a racist in some ways. Who cares? What does Elvis have to do with fighting the power? Unless it’s the power to make the big bucks. Then it doesn’t seem like fighting power as much as envying power.
Bobby, you got it.
Its bullshit that black ppl can't express themselves in any way without some fucking idiots trying to say some shit about calm down, be rational. Fuck that shit America was built on the backs of the slaves but yet and still anytime we complain some muthafucka wanna say "go back where your from if your not happy here" guess what hillbilly m/f,we belong here more than anyone, and you don't like it go back to whatever damp ass, dirty partcountry you came from. We are not going anywhere so you might as well get used to it. The man don't own this shit. Another thing you need to quit that "if" shit cause if "if" and "buts" were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas.
ok, i'm a white british metalhead with long blonde hair (hardly someone who should be listening to this) but i admire these guys so much for what they stood for... IMO rappers these days just act like rap is some kinda fashion that they're just in to get rich... but this is GOOD! theres my 2 cents
theres two types or colored people in the world theres niggas and blacks and the people that mad this song are no good aint shit niggas that can kiss my ass.i aint racist but ask anyone no one loves a fucking nigga.
I'm Asian and I grew up listening to hip hop like most people. Yes this song has a good message, but not all points were legitimate. I'm no fan of Elvis Presley's music or the man in general, but after doing research on the subject of his alleged racist sentiment, I have to say that nothing including that alleged Boston quote was ever substantiated. Therefore, we should not to be so quick to call him a racist. Through his numerous quotes and actions, I believe that he had genuine respect and love for blacks, and their music that inspired him. The New York Times wrote a good piece on this subject...I recommend all of you google it!
Fuck all the racist in the world, fuck everyone who thinks bad of this song and fuck those who want to criticize me cause i'm black and proud.
why does your song have to be so damn long
Good Song........
da ha da ha da ha ha haha ha
As a White Cat livin in the hood back in the 80's I always show love to PE for introducing me to black awareness. I knew who the Black Panthers and Malcolm X was thanks to them. The white media at the time would'nt show anything like that. It was all about Elvis Presley who steals lyrics from black entertainers and John Wayne who said some thing about black folks. And USA wanted to put them on stamps? I know white folks that are still pissed about Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's sad, because hip hop today is 99.999999999999% Garbage and Flavor Flav sold out to Bridget Nelson.... FIGHT THE POWER!!!
my public enemy i love u very very much you iis beautiful and great i was sthn sunavlia
They expressed themselves about how they felt regarding the state of black people in America in the 1980's. I have seen interviews where Chuck D has stated that he "has a great respect for Elvis and what he did for music and that he does respect black work, but John Wayne still gets the middle finger" lmao.... I am not racist against blacks or whites because we are all people and live in this fucked up country! But, this is a great song with a great message if you walked in their shoes. If you didn't don't comment on why they said what they said in this song. And furthermore don't go reading their fucking lyrics????
always tryna keep a nigga down, fight the power. money-b homey u got it in one my nigga. fuck all those who hate dis track, spike lee was a menace 4 do the right thing - u c wat them crackers did 2 raheem, motherfucking vermin dont trust a white bi**h EVER. im the modern day radio raheem
i'm a while male and i hate the word nigger. i hate racist whites. i come from a rich white home but in my home we were taught to listen to god hip hop and learn about black leaders.
I think people try to analyze things to the letter a bit too much. One thing I love about PE songs is that it creates thought and discussion (and I think THAT is the point...awareness). Chuck D is an intriguing fellow and quite brilliant. I've never been a racist person nor tolerant of it. I have friends all across the racial "spectrum" and am thankful for each and every one of them. I myself am half Native American (Delaware) and half Danish.
WHAT IS THIS KORN YOU SPEAK OF? BASS FOR YOUR FACE BOYEEE!
How times have changed since 1989...Now the Republican chairman and president are black. Maybe Michael Steele can use this as his new Republican party theme song. Fight the radical lefty power! They want to take yo dollars and freedom too! It's obvious they know better than you..boyeeeee!
korn? are u serious? f*ck korn, PE all the way korn sucks, they probably did cover this song, fuck, they've covered every good song for the last 20 years cause their too lazy and washed up to write any thing new
this is one of the most influential songs in all of rap Will Smith is a played out fool no one listens to parents just don't understand anymore. this is one of the greatest songs in the history of rap and is exactly what rap should be. it is about throwing off the bonds of oppression and rising up to get out of it. anyone that says that since we have a black president there is no more racism is mildly retarded. there is racism when buying a house, car, walking down the street, most government programs are still directed to black people,racism. the police still target black people. the only thing that has changed is that we feel bad about it.
elvis preasley was racist and he had no talent, jerry lee lewis or little richard were better, but we still say that he's the king of rock'n'roll, he's just the king of my ass
It's about the anglo-american empire. The new world order. He knew about it then, but everyone is so stupid, they would rather argue about elvis and shit. Look behind the words, 400 years of rednecks. The Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Eugenics. Freedom of speech is freedom or death. Lok around at your constitutional rights being evaporated. Idiots, wake up!!
for one myself finds this song to be very inspirational to african americans like myself an i dont see how any of you can say otherwise because as we all know and have heard the phase "fight the power" to some just lyrics but to others fight the power is an inspirational reminder for us all to keep our heads high & fight for what we the African AMERICAN race deserve and believe in as being equals to all races & i also believe that this song is incredible for the simple fact that it was then and now still is relevant in todays issues hands down this is one of the rawest and creative ways of the eras youth expressing an notifying the public of racial repression
Any of you who try to argue your points on a lyrics website, go grab a life...............honestly.
or alternatively suck a dick
i dislike blacks
If it weren't for Elvis all us niggas would be shinning shoes and eating white men shit. He helped us black folk, be musically recognized. Fucken haters get an education.
HA! Funnnnnny how three six mafia tryin to steal songs from the king of rock n roll. Proud and Black but EDUCATED. LONG LIVE ELVIS !!!!!! AS HE WOULD SAY FUCK ALL U SUMOFABITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
to blackrockstar, didn't know u like getting it in the ass. Any who,who do u think put the rock in rockstar idiot. Bet yo old lady is a fan of Elvis like me. Then again u would mention Little Richard u fucken fag.
If you think PE is racist, you probably think Malcolm X was as well. It's not about hate, it's about frustration of being screwed over. This song is not about coming together it's about voicing frustration. Love peace and harmony but just not right now is what they're saying (at least to me). This song is an A+.
plz be EQUAL 4 ONCE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
This is a great song. The lyrics are acceptable because they are from the late 80's or early 90's. I wouldn't buy it if it was from 2009. Flava flav is a big disgrace.
One of the best rap songs ever made ! We need more songs with a good message behind it ! Pure Truth !
This song isn't about hating white people, or people with money or violence or hating war. It's about being against corupt influencial people LIKE Elvis and John Wayne, it's about being against the power in the media against black people.
GET A LIFE FAGGOTS!!!!!!!!!!
When he say's "fight the power" what he means is that black guys should put their large african penises into white girls. Because white girls like that better than the little pinkies.
This is the type of crap that would turn Martin Luther over in his grave. This type of crap, keeps racial tensions alive. This isn't speaking of anything that the founding fathers believe. That's crap if you believe that too. I agree with "get out" See how well you do for yourselves in another country. This country needs people in it that believe in personal responiblty and accountablity. Stop asking for others to give you shit and start trying to figure out how you can help yourself and the people around you. Black oppression stopped long time ago. Stop bringing the people down with your crappy lyrics and start telling them how far they can reach with "I have a dream".
Just a bunch of stupid niggers making no sense at all and killing the king's english
To all the racists black and white , you guys should get a room make little halfy babies then shoot your selves. This might solve a problem , idk but it would be great to see how it works out. Nothing but good can come of this!
Fuck elvis and john wayne
hell yeah muthafuck elivs & john wayne....but that was the 80's stupid mathafuckers and it's now 2010 & we face new struggles....fuck all yo'll bitchen....South African soilder said it
First of all look a here. I'ts not good to be racist but it doesn't feel good to have white or caucasian americans come to africa, take us hostage and make us work as slaves! So don't none of you call black people niggers because look I come and curse you out so hard until you wake up tomorrow morning tryin to say burrito but say another word. Watch yo mama knock the *^%3 out of you. So If you got somethin to say SPEAK IT
Blax like me just get on wit' da lives but Niggaz still hurt'n n blamin' n rapin' n lootin' n slammin' n bitchin'....now, in English - Get an education or shape up...and stop fucking whining.
Lordy Lord..! Such shite lyrics!
are you an idiot the song is by public enemy and the korn cover sucks
umm how was elvis and john wayne racist? seem like american herosto me. fuckin hypocrite niggers callin whites racist when this song hate whites? fuck it im racist so fuck these niggers and they need to go back to fuckin africa, only posers wants them here!
If the song was meant to be sweet and nice PE would have made it so. That's not what this is about. If you don't get the message,cant comprehend where PE is taking you then you obviously can't relate to the song. Racist? No. So what he said muthafk him and John Wayne. Muthafk them, theres a reason for it. Its funny how some white folks find it "disturbing" and thinks PE is hating on all of them. craziness. One of The Best Rap Songs Ever!
dumb as niggers you wonder why nobody trust you fucks i wouldnt spit on you if you where on fire elvis made nigga music cool dumb fucks public enemy is a joke clown u wont real put on pac till then listen to 80s gay hip hop which was faker then vanilla ice
Fuck Elvis and John Wayne!!!!!!!!!
This song is a basic way of rebelling against the adversity that many blacks face in America. We fought for freedom therefore we should use it to every extent as possible that's all. we have freedom use it!!!
i cant believe the crap i am reading here. 90 percent of the people who posted here are the reason racism is still alive both black and white. Chuck D says it best in Welcome to the Terrordome - "its weak to think and blame someone else when you destroy yourself" Public Enemy is the best hip-hop/rap group there has ever been cuz they actualy had something to say. with the state of our country and the world today we've got bigger and badder things to worry about than skin color
fuck every whit person that said something negative about this honky black power
fuck korn and fuck will smith. get serious and listen.
If you like this then you should look up mic check by rage against the machine.
Color is irrelevant. Blacks and whites still suffer under the leaderships of the Obamas and Mandelas.
beast song
I loved the song when itncame out and I still think it's the best rap song ever........
Cmon y'all da song is of da hook
John Wayne is awesome, he could beat the shit out of these guys. So what if he was a successful white man, who overcame poverty by using his talents and acting legally and contributing to society.
They are just a bunch of worthless thugs spewing out lies about their own suffering. They're uneducated thugs who chose to be uneducated thugs. I would say go back to Africa but they don't want their thug asses either.
there is alot of hate in the world, just read thru these comments. People tryin 2 blame others for all there problems. Elvis, Malcome, lincon, wat makes the difference?. Through neg, comes neg! thru positive comes positive! love brings love, and hate brings hate. And so on you all get the picture. And as far as my color of skin, well that dont matter! Pray for the World
What a bunch of racists. Public enemy are the biggest bunch of wanabe racists. There rake in most of their money via whites listening to their music and buying their products then they want to bite the hand that feeds them. These ignorant fucks are all rich and trying to rely on racism to fuel their lifestyles.
Keep in mind I say this as a proud Afrian American. Chuck D is actually a huge fan of Elvis, the lyric is a take on american celebrity worship. Everybody knows Elvis was not a racist and was very good friends with BB King, muhammad ali and James Brown (google it). and the "Shine my shoes.." comment was proven false at the time by Jet mag ( again google it) so Presley Fans CALM DOWN! Ppl who say otherwise again, google and educate yourselves. Personally I think Elvis is one of the greatest vocalists ever, I'd be surprised if he wasn't black somewhere along the line as he was a dark/olive complexion. John Wayne I do not know anything about so I won't comment.
Long live Chuck D!!!!
Elvis is the King of Music. Screw Chuck D !!!
I think it's ironic that Flava Flav was rapping about "Fight the Power" before and with the reality tv shows he participated in, it seems like he's no longer fighting, by surrendered to it.
NWA came along and shanked dese' mofo's off da scene. They came wit' legit street knowledge and busted out that Chuck D flow wit' a gat an da AK. Dat wuz sum real shyt. Booyah!
ashamed of the comments!
lets try to keep it pg-13 ladies.
Guys we gotta fight tha fuckin power wich kills our freedom. Let's join togheter for a real revolution!
all you mother fuckers are idiots the song was redone by anthrax didnt have shit to do with korn. yes a very good song with great beat although it is funny how people seem to be so impowered to demonize the white race without completly getting their teeth knocked out of their skull
Great Song and J love it
Yo Bruh, yous a wannabe loc. Chuck D ganked da way for dem Compton g's to git wit da scrilla.
Thank you to the people whom are educated that are commenting here about Elvis. The man was not a racist. He gave credit to black musicians from day one and was friends with many black musicians. Read people, go to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Damn!! Get over the bogus ass Jet magazine article from the 50's. It was proven to be fake! Don't be so stupid and closed minded!
Deary me! Elvis racist? What? That's like saying the sky is orange, Elvis adored his coloured brothers, so anyone suggesting otherwise is either stupid, uneducated, iliterate and jealous. Elvis made the word 'RACE' redundant in music. As Little Richard said 'God sends a Messiah every thousand years or so and Elvis was that Messiah' or BB King 'Elvis would come to my Goodwill Charity Events for Black people even when he was BIG, he was showing his roots, and remember it was 1956 it took guts for a white kid to come to an all black event, then he'd pose with me for pictures and made me feel special, I love Elvis' so to read idiots say he was a bigot is laughable. Ernest Whithers said 'those who say Elvis was racist bring shame on us all'
Ihe problem here is not white folks or white folks, its the system which in our country is predicated on how much moolah you have. We are all puppets and the one who is holding the strings (the 1%er's)is the puppeter. He continues to profit why you idiots contine to debate. Its all history, but seems to me that History just keeps on repating itself. Figure it out smart folks instead of havinfg a pissing contest over some lyrics written back in the 80'S.
To all of the idiots who say "HURR IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT WHY ARE YOU HERE?", the answer is "to read the lyrics to this song". You see, some of us don't like to assume we know what we're talking about without doing any original research. As for those of you who are simply here to read the comments and/or defend/argue the morality of the context within the lyrics, let me ask you "why are YOU here"? This is not what his website is for. Move along, people.
am white and a prouded of it
They mention elvis because there was a lot of supposed sightings of him being still alive back then. They had really nothing better to talk about during the last half of the 1980s. Shows you how times have changed since then.
But it does go without saying that Flavor Flav is a stupid-ass porch monkey.
What shit lyrics
I haven't heard the song so I don't know what rhythmic energy it has, but looking purely at the lyrics on the page it looks like it's written by an illiterate moron
What pish. Live and let live. Stop over analyzing and allow other peoples pov's. Everyone here needs to chill.
Elvis never, ever uttered those words. Look it up on Snopes, Truth or Fiction, Wiki, etc. Do you idiots believe everything you read? MLK would be so proud.
nothins changed since this song was written - doesn't matter if its money or race, the greedy man screws the rest, the planet is sold from under us bit by bit - FIGHT THE POWERS THAT BE - like the nigga said...
what a joke a group of racists calling every body else racist,and a lot of people think this is inspirational its really dum song but then again who was it written for,gee im glad I don't live there.
Andrew that would be ..." and proud of it." Grammar, lest we sink into bestial ignorance.
ass holes
that was the crazyes thing I ever heard
Everybody is a bit racist, against the same or anotha why do people think is always the fault or a brotha or sista. Well folks shot happens everywhere no matter where your from, the day we face global extinction there will only be ... dead or alive. By the way Im not black
As a white dude, I would like to say that the comments by many white people on here just prove the importance of this song. The complete lack of responsibility, the lack of shame, the lack of culpability- not that these things need to cripple us, but we need to own the shame, the same way we owned black slaves. It's historical fact. And Obama being president doesn't reverse hundreds of years of history, doesn't change entrenched power dynamics, most importantly, it doesn't change a system of exploitation where human beings mean nothing more than dollar bills. Now our plantations are in third world countries, so we don't see them, we don't care about them. This is a great song. It was written in 1989. I can't believe the idiots on here complaining about the song being "negative." Give me a break. You know what's negative? Country Music. Because when I turn that stuff on, after 15 seconds, I want to die. That's negative. But this song, I want to live and fight injustice.
Maybe the elvis reference was based on white privilege. Elvis was able to walk right into the white house and gift a firearm to the president. Let's see a black man try that.
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps!! I'm black, & I'm proud. Fight the powers that be!!