Psychedelic Lunch

Welcome to our “Psychedelic Lunch” series,where we find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes and explore music from the 60’s to today. Weekdays At Noon EST. Enjoy the trip!

Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right, Album: Licensed To Ill (1986)

We tend to fall in love with songs without paying much attention to the lyrics – which can be highly deceiving. We sing along, not knowing what the true intentions of the artists are. We don’t know where they are coming from or what part of the story they are presenting to us.

What may seem like a love ballad may actually be about a stalker. And don’t be fooled, what may seem like a fun song to dance to might be a reminder of death. Sometimes, bands even get so annoyed by their fans’ misinterpretations that they stop playing the song altogether. 

Of course, we naturally connect our favorite lyrics to the situations in our own life. One of the beauties about music is that it is open to interpretation.

However, whether we realize it or not, so many popular songs have a deep and sometimes disturbing meaning.

The fourth single released from Licensed to III in 1986 was the Beastie Boys’ most popular song. They quickly ascended to fame, but with a song that was meant to be a joke – something few fans realized.

Adam Yauch, founder of the band, and Tommy Triphammer, a friend of the Beastie Boys, wrote the lyrics to ridicule the rock scene, which they hated. To go along with what the band thought was an obnoxious song, they filmed an equally ridiculous music video. 

However, the Beastie Boys soon realized that their plan had backfired. Now, the people who they were trying to make fun of were listening to their music and loving it. 

They didn’t hide their disdain for the song for too long. The band disowned Fight for Your Right and haven’t played it live since 1987.