Lyrics for Killing in the Name as interpreted by piesupreme

Killing in the Name Lyrics
Killing in the name of

Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses

Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of

And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya
Well now you do what they told ya

Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites

Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses

Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of

And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya

Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Come on!

Yeah! Come on!

Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Motherfucker

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  • 203 Comments
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insane metal fan
12-30-2004

Rated 0 
i have heard a live version of this song wher i was certain that the line was some o those who hold office are the same that burn crosses. but it sounds different on the album. and compared to ratm audioslve sucks. ratm and soundgarden wrote aniti-chist songs but now cornell seems to like jesus in his new songs and when is Zack de la rocha ganna do some solo shit i cant wait till he does.

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Skaman2
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
Yes, they changed the lyrics for that live version

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atthedrive-in
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
yeah youre right insane metal fan - on the live CD i have he says "some of those that hold office". i reckon thats such a cool line, i wish he thought of it when recording the studio version.

and to the aussie that said aboriginal people are favoured here - i'd really like to know whereabouts you live, cos where i come from that certainly is not the case.

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SwiftImmortal_1
01-05-2005

Rated 0 
Just to put this argument of the lyrics to rest, I have an issue of GuitarOne magazine (October 2004) that contains the official tabs and lyrics for this song. And the verdict: "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses." I have the magazine sitting right in front of me with the page open, so don't dispute about something as trivial as a word in a song unless you have irrefutable evidence. Bitches.

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drumbum4b
03-30-2005

Rated 0 
this band was just so good, we need more bands like this now a days.

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TJ2121
04-06-2005

Rated 0 
Hell yeah, this is a great song to scream to!
FUCK YOU I WONT DO WHAT YA TELL ME!

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chriswatts83
04-28-2005

Rated 0 
Rage Against he Machine are the worst band ever and I hate them. It is just noise, why don't they do us all a favour and kill themselves. And all you lot who like this band, kill yourselves too, your Mums are already dead.

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despondent
05-05-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, they were vehemently anti-capitalist...

But not too anti-capitalist to sell records, concert tickets, and other shit to make money!

Damned hypocrites.

I heard one of the RATM idiots claim that they justify selling records and so forth by the fact that it's the best way to get their message out.

Yeah, that's the ticket. The concert ticket, asshole!

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despondent
05-05-2005

Rated 0 
Why SwiftImmortal_1 is a jackass: There is no such thing as "official lyrics". Do you think someone types out the lyrics, and the songwriter signs off on it, making them "official"?

I've seen many cases where lyrics printed in the liner notes were incorrect. This happens very freqently, as a matter of fact.

Basically, they can sing whatever they want when they actually record the track. They're not bound by any "official lyrics", and no one comes around after the fact and writes down "official lyrics".

Bitch.

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bladet
05-19-2005

Rated 0 
What's everyone so angry about? We live in the best of all possible worlds, don't we?

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eirikws
05-22-2005

Rated 0 
i always thought the lyrics read:
"some of those that brought forces
are the same that brought crosses"
meaning those who say "god is on our side"/gott mit uns
that kind of thing
or people conquering other land(ie Southern America) and forcing upon them Christianity

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mmbs
05-26-2005

Rated 0 
Audioslave has been rocking this song! Cornell said "Some of those who hold office...are the same that burn crosses"

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wireless89
06-15-2005

Rated 0 
chriswatts83 - OK then.
despondent - what the fcuk do you expect them to do, spread their political message through the medium of nothing? The truth is that they had to become famous and make a bit of money to get their message across to people, otherwise no-one would have heard of them. I don't blame them for it, especially because they must have worked bloody hard to get where they did anyway.

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intothe__VOID
06-25-2005

Rated 0 
I personally think that this song is about police brutality, and also most likely has to do with the riots in LA in the 90s. ...Those who are in office are full of corruption and discrimination.

Also, the KKK. Those who are chosen white have authority and such. A superior to other races.

Perhaps people died in the name of.. religion?

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flamebroiledchicken
07-01-2005

Rated 0 
Ok, no offense, but everyone here is wrong. It is not "burn crosses" it is "bore crosses". The lyrics are "some of those that were forces are the same that bore crosses". The song is not about police brutality or the KKK or anything like that. It's about people killing in the name of god, or religion. It is saying that some of those that were forces (in the military) are the same that wear crosses (subscribe to Christianity), and how it's hypocritical for someone who claims to be a Christian to kill people. And when they die, their cross acts like a badge, proclaiming them to be the "chosen whites", and so the whole thing is considered justified. It's really pretty easy to figure out, too bad the site has the wrong lyrics.

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forsakenangel25
07-22-2005

Rated 0 
actually the words are "some of those at work forces are the saints that burn crosses"because the kkk think they r saints and r doing a favour the other lyrics are "you justify those that die by wearing your bags and your clothed in white"do u get it?the kkk where those white bag pillow case things on there head and they dress in white.good song but.

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klansaft
07-26-2005

Rated 0 
flamebroiledchicken:
And the lines lines are saying that they won't do whatever the fanatics want them to do? :/
Sounds more like an anti-police song to me.

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Comrade_Liar
07-30-2005

Rated 0 
It is just a song of rebellion, against the racist state and its agents.

Yes anarchism can be anti-capitalist, because in an anarchist state (in theory) everything would be produced in communes which would work out of pure neccecity rather than being profit driven.

Che Guevara was not the saint he is often made out to be, but was still a good man. He did preside over heavily biased 'trials' immediately after the revolution, which did result in a lot of killings. However the people being tried were ex-agents of the old dictatorship and frankly would more than likely have received the same punishment had the trials been by a jury of their peers. It must also be noted that Che had personally witnessed the socialist regeme in Nicaragauna (I cant spell that) fall because the U.S.A had it overthrown from within by aiding and abetting a coup by funding all the old regemes generals and police commanders and just helping them out however possible. Che was not willing to let that happen to Cuba. None of that neccerily makes what he did ok, but it does explain it.

I find it interesting that earlier on when somebody was listing imperialist nations, they forgot to add the U.s.a

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Neru
08-04-2005

Rated 0 
dude i heard this song on san andreas and it kicks ass

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MudSchismSavior
08-07-2005

Rated 0 
why the fuck is everyone even arguing u obviously didn't do you're checking up zack de la rocha's official website retards and the main message in the song is that some people who uphold the law are kkk members. and another thing this song is kick ass but i do think township rebellion is the best track on RATM's first album that song is fuckin awesome.and if theres more to the lyrical meaning than what i said just check for the rest on like zdlr.net or maybe it's com check both

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J0K3R
09-06-2005

Rated 0 
it is clearly 'work forces'

and in the last line of that section he says 'draw' instead of 'are'

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jesusatthepentagon
09-15-2005

Rated 0 
this song has some great lyrics

i believe they are talking about the kkk in the police force. in the lines those who die are justified for wearing the badge and the chosen whites i thought were the lyrics because i thought the were talking about cop badges and kkk robes. also in the lines some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses i think means that the cops (forces) burn crosses (what the kkk is known for doing)

a few days ago i learned that ratm changed the lyrics in this song for mtv. it was terrible because they were told to do this and it was the line fuck you i want do what you tell me that they changed.

fuck you ratm. you fucking sell-outs. i like their old stuff from before the sold out though.

fuck you ratm

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dasupaman
09-28-2005

Rated 0 
Zach said it himself, well in an example, that shows this song is partially about police brutality, at The Grand Olympic Aud. in 2000 he talked about Amadou Dialo(sp?) who was shot 41 times by 2 NYPD officers, who were set free. This is arguably the best RATM song period. And yes the lyrics are wrong..."some of those that run forces, are the same that burn crosses" indicating that people in the government are hypocrites and evil men.

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Nugstothedome
01-12-2006

Rated 0 
C'mon guys....

This song is obviously about how awesome confetti cup cakes are. i just ate one and damn... they are really good

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Thedon45
01-15-2006

Rated 0 
yo its about police brutality AND the crusades!!!

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