Killing in the Name (1992)

"Killing in the Name" is a song by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on their debut studio album, Rage Against the Machine (1992). It was serviced to US radio on October 20, 1992, as a promotional single. It features heavy drop-D guitar riffs.

"Killing in the Name" reached number 25 on the UK singles chart. In 2009, following a public campaign protesting against the British talent show The X Factor, "Killing in the Name" became the UK Christmas number one.

Writing

The guitarist, Tom Morello, wrote the "Killing the Name" riff while teaching a guitar student how to use drop-D tuning; he briefly paused the lesson to record the riff. Rage Against the Machine worked on the song the next day. According to Morello, it 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 and played the solo with a Whammy pedal.

Music

"Killing in the Name" combines elements of hardcore punk and hip hop and has been described as rap metal, funk metal, alternative metal, and hard rock. The journalist Peter Buckley described it as "a howling, expletive-driven tirade against the ills of American society". 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 word "fuck" appears 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".

Release

"Killing in the Name" was released as part of a 12-song self-released cassette. It was serviced to US radio on October 20, 1992, as the first single from their self-titled debut studio album (1992). In January 2025, "Killing in the Name" became the first Rage Against the Machine song to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.

On February 21, 1993, the BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes accidentally played the uncensored version of the song on his Top 40 Countdown, leading to 138 complaints. Brookes was recording an advertisement for the following week's Top 40 Countdown while the song played. In November 2008, the song was played over the speakers in an Asda supermarket in Preston, England, prompting complaints from customers. Asda issued an apology.

Use in political campaigns

In 2012, Morello demanded the right-wing UK Independence Party stop using "Killing in the Name" in rallies. Following the 2020 United States elections, a video of pro-Trump protesters dancing to "Killing in the Name" was widely shared on social media. Commentators saw it as a misappropriation of the song. Rage Against the Machine responded in a tweet: "They just don't GET IT do they?"

In 2022, Reuters Fact Check concluded that a viral video purportedly showing North Korea's military choir covering t"Killing in the Name" had been digitally altered. Its audio was taken from a video uploaded to YouTube in 2019 of an event when a thousand musicians gathered to perform inside Frankfurt's Waldstadion. The montage of clips of the large choir and footage of the North Korea's military arsenal such as tanks and missiles had been edited together to mislead viewers.

2009 UK Christmas number one campaign

In early December 2009, the English DJ Jon Morter and his wife, Tracy Morter, launched a group on Facebook encouraging people to buy "Killing in the Name" in the week before Christmas. They hoped to prevent the winner of The X Factor, a televised singing competition, from achieving the UK Christmas number one for the fifth year running. That year's X Factor winner was Joe McElderry, who released a cover of the Miley Cyrus song "The Climb" as the Christmas single. On December 15, the Facebook group had more than 750,000 members.

As the X Factor song was donating some profits to charity, the Rage Against X Factor campaign encouraged supporters also to give to charity. A Justgiving page was created to raise money for the homeless charity Shelter which. As of 20 December, it had raised over £70,000 (approximately $110,000).