The Unlikely Inspiration Behind "Sabotage"
Pop Quiz!
What do these three songs have in common?
Madonna’s Vogue.
Beyonce’s Crazy In Love.
Sir Mix-A-Lot’s feminist anthem?
Answer: They are all songs of summer!
And though Ace of Bass (!) and All-4-One (!) were topping the Billboard charts in the summer of 1994, there is another song that time stands out in my mind —
Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.
Sabotage feels like the ultimate anti-authority song, and is remembered for its catchy bassline, angry screaming, and a music video parody of ‘70s cop shows.
But what inspired the song?
I was curious…
Was Sabotage a statement about religion?
Was it about politics?
Was it a response to some aggressive paparazzi encounters the Beastie Boys had experienced?
Fans speculated on the meaning behind the song for years, but it turns out, Sabotage was inspired by…
An annoying sound engineer.
Back in 1994, the Beastie Boys (known by their nicknames: MCA, Mike D, and Ad-Rock) were working on their fourth studio album, Ill Communication.
It was during a jam session that bassist MCA (Adam Yauch) came up with a dramatic bassline.
Mike D then added a double-beat drum break.
Then came the organ, and Ad-Rock on guitar, and before they knew it, the Beastie Boys had a new song.
“It was the fastest song we’d ever made,” Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) said, “and kind of our favorite instrumental.”
“But for whatever reason, it just sat around for months and months with no vocals.”
As they got closer to finishing the album, they knew they needed to do something with the song.
“We tried a bunch of different ideas to make it a rap song, but it wasn’t working.”
And the band’s indecision was annoying their sound engineer and producer, Mario Caldato Jr.
“We were totally indecisive about what, when, why and how to complete songs. Mario was getting frustrated,” said Horovitz.
Mario would push “awful instrumental tracks” the band made just to have something moving toward completion.
That’s when Horovitz felt inspired.
“I decided it would be funny to write a song about how Mario was holding us all down, how he was trying to mess it all up, sabotaging our great works of art,” he said.
“And I thought it would be funny to just stand next to him and scream that shit when he recorded it.”
So when Horovitz yells the first line, “I can't stand it. I know you planned it,” he’s directing his frustration at Caldato Jr.
Though Sabotage only reached Number 18 on the Billboard alternative chart, it was a huge smash with the Beastie Boys’ fans, made even more popular by a hilarious 1970s-inspired music video, directed by Spike Jonze.
And when the band headlined the Lollapalooza tour that summer, they saw how much fans connected with Sabotage.
“People went next-level crazy,” Horowitz said.
That reaction cemented Sabotage’s place on the band’s set list, becoming their new last song.
“And to think…” Horovitz said. “All that came from Yauch—just playing a bassline.”
“It showed a band's sense of humor and playfulness, and not being afraid to have a good time. It was a change of direction as far as the song goes.”
-MTV’s Matt Pinfield, on Sabotage
So there you have it.
A reminder that inspiration can come from anywhere!
The Beastie Boys sold over 50 million albums over their career and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
That same year, Yauch died of cancer, and the Beastie Boys disbanded.
But remaining members Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond have captured the stories of the Beastie Boys in Beastie Boys Book and a documentary.
Ch-Check It Out
Though the video for Sabotage didn’t win any MTV Video Music Awards in 1994, check out the band’s memorable live performance from the show:
One more thing…
What happens when you cross Sesame Street with Sabotage?
You get “Sesametage.”
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-Beth