Antiwar Song, With Whimsy

[Dave Monroe]

The New York Times
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Antiwar Song, With Whimsy
By NEIL STRAUSS

LOS ANGELES
"Now how many people must get killed?" begins the
latest antiwar refrain from the pop world. "For oil
families' pockets to get filled?" The song is "In a
World Gone Mad," which was released yesterday with no
advance fanfare by the Beastie Boys. Though not
commercially available as a single, the song is
available free at the Beastie Boys Web site
(www.beastieboys.com) and is being distributed to disc
jockeys, who were unaware of it until they began
receiving copies yesterday.

"We were working on our record, and we realized that
by the time we finished a record that it might be a
bit late to get out some of the things we wanted to
comment on," said Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys,
speaking by telephone yesterday. "So we figured we'd
finish the song and post it."

The single is also meant to serve as more than a
protest song. The band said that it wanted to send a
message to the rest of the world that not every
American backed the foreign policy of the current
administration. "I think a big part of wanting to do
the song was just hearing Bush make these speeches,
seeing how the rest of the world was reacting to it,
and feeling like Bush doesn't represent us," Mr. Yauch
said. "One of the purposes is to let people in other
parts of the world know that the messages he's sending
out aren't necessarily the view of all Americans. And
it's also to say to people in the United States who
might be uncomfortable protesting that it's all right
to do that. One thing that the U.S. administration has
been trying to do is give the feeling that it's
un-American to protest."

Though the song has a similar title to the Beenie Man
reggae song "World Gone Mad," which laments social
conditions and asks the president for an explanation,
the Beastie Boys said they were unaware of the other
song. Their song mixes lyrics advocating nonviolence
and multilateral disarmament with the band's sense of
whimsy. Thus a deep thought is followed immediately by
a rhyme like "They're layin' on the syrup thick/We
ain't waffles, we ain't havin' it."

"Part of music is being able to enjoy yourself, too,"
Mr. Yauch said. "Some of the most powerful commentary
that there's been on the Bush administration has been
Will Farrell on `Saturday Night Live.' It's goofing
around, but it has a huge impact."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/12/arts/music/12POPL.html

http://www.beastieboys.com/

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