"Fight the Power" is a song by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released as a single in the summer of 1989 on Motown Records. It was conceived at the request of film director Spike Lee, who sought a musical theme for his 1989 film Do the Right Thing.
As a single, "Fight the Power" reached number one on Hot Rap Singles and number 20 on the Hot R&B Singles. It was named the best single of 1989 by The Village Voice in their Pazz & Jop critics' poll. It has become Public Enemy's best-known song and has received accolades as one of the greatest songs of all time by critics and publications. In 2001, the song was ranked number 288 in the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2021, the song was ranked number two in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Lyrics:
[Intro: Sample]
"Yet our best trained, best educated, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight. Matter of fact, it’s safe to say that they would rather switch than fight"
[Alternate Intro]
W-E-L-O-V-E 108 FM
[Verse 1: Chuck D + Flavor Flav + Chuck D & Flavor Flav]
19—
—89 the number, another summer (Get down)
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hittin' your heart 'cause I know you got soul!
(Brothers and sisters!) (Hey, hey!)
Listen if you're missin', y'all, swingin'
While I'm singin' (Hey!), givin' whatcha gettin'
Knowin' what I know and while the Black band's
Sweatin' and the rhythm-rhyme rollin'!
Got to give us what we want (Uh!)
Gotta give us what we need (Hey! Haha, hey)
Our freedom of speech is freedom of death
We've got to fight the powers that be ("Lemme hear you say—")
[Chorus: Chuck D & Flavor Flav + Chuck D + Flavor Flav]
Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
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Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
Fight the power!
We've got to fight the powers that be
[Verse 2: Chuck D + Flavor Flav + Chuck D & Flavor Flav]
As the rhythm's designed to bounce, what counts is that the
Rhyme's designed to fill your mind, now that you've
Realized the pride's arrived, we got to
Pump the stuff to make ya 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, let's get down
To business, mental self-defensive fitness
Bum-rush the show!
You gotta go for what you know
To make everybody see! In order to
Fight the powers that be ("Lemme hear you say—")
[Chorus: Chuck D & Flavor Flav + Chuck D + Flavor Flav]
Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
Fight the power!
Fight the power! ("Lemme hear you say—")
