"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by the New York hip hop group the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

, and the sixth single from their debut studio album, ''

Licensed to Ill ''Licensed to Ill'' is the debut studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records, and became the first rap LP to top the '' Billboard'' album chart. It is one of Columbi ...

''. One of their

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

s, it describes an exhaustive tour and all the events that make it tiresome, but also emphasizes their determination not to rest until they reach their home base of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was a popular concert favorite for the Beastie Boys and traditionally used as their closing song. Among other references to then-popular

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

, the title is a play on the

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

album ''

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith ''No Sleep 'til Hammersmith'' is the first live album by English rock band Motörhead, released on 22 June 1981 via Bronze Records. It peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was followed by the release of the single " Motorhead" (backed ...

''. The song has been several covers and parodies including " Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime)" by

Morris Minor and the Majors Morris Minor and the Majors was a British band from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, formed by the comedians and writers Tony Hawks and Paul Boross. The group became famous with their 1987 song "Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime), Stutter Rap ...

. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a raucous, rambunctious blend of rap, smart-ass and heavy metal."

Production and play

Kerry King Kerry Ray King (born June 3, 1964) is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and remained a member for nearly four decades. ...

, guitarist for

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

, played the guitar riffs and solo; Slayer had released an album produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

in 1986 (''

Reign in Blood ''Reign in Blood'' is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings."Touring Blood", ''Decibel Magazine'', April 2008, p. 57. The album was the band's first collaboration with pro ...

''). In a different tuning, the song interprets "

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

" by

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. More metal commentary and adaptation is added by the video, directed by

Ric Menello Richard "Ric" Menello (August 20, 1952March 1, 2013) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. Menello co-directed the landmark music video for the Beastie Boys' 1987 single, "''(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)''". His contributio ...

, as a parody of

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

. Later in their career, the Beastie Boys continued to perform the song live, although with altered lyrics to downplay their early party-boy reputation. "M.C.A.'s in the back because he's skeezin' with a whore," was changed to "M.C.A.'s in the back with the

mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

board", and "Autographed pictures and classy hoes" was changed to "Autographed pictures to nobody knows." The song features one of many homages to New York City's boroughs, and has been described as "joyful ranting".

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

played the song on the "New York" episode of Season 1 of his

Theme Time Radio Hour ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' (''TTRH'') was a weekly one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan that originally aired from May 2006 to April 2009. Each episode had a freeform mix of music, centered on a theme (such as "Weather", "Money" or "F ...

show in 2007, noting the Beastie Boys were not merely a "flash in the pan" in his introduction.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was co-directed by

and

Adam Dubin Adam C. Dubin (born January 10, 1964) is an American filmmaker who co-directed the Beastie Boys music videos "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" and "No Sleep till Brooklyn" with Ric Menello. "Fight for Your Right" is number three on M ...

. Menello and Dubin also directed the video for the Beastie Boys' preceding single, "

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" (shortened to "Fight for Your Right" on album releases) is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album ''Licensed to Ill'' (1986). ...

". Kerry King, who plays guitar on this track, also appears in the video. Ruth Collins, an actress best known for 80s

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

horrors, is the lead dancer.

Synopsis

The Beastie Boys arrive at a club to perform. A member from the band hands the club owner an LP record but he smashes the phonograph record on them, saying "What the..? We only play rock music here." The Beastie Boys knock again, seconds later, except they are disguised as rockers with big hair and guitars. They take the stage playing the song, but the crowd of women quickly mobs them and tears off their clothes. They rap another verse in their underwear before changing into their regular outfits. The performance is a series of jabs at and parody of glam metal performance videos, with headbanging fans, a backup dancer, and much destruction. Eventually the club owner and his crew try to get them off the stage, but the Beastie Boys are fighting with them.

makes an appearance during the guitar solo, body-checking the gorilla who was originally performing the guitar solo. The band is later seen trying to steal money from the club's safe, which they succeed in doing by MCA bashing it with his head. They dance around with bags of money from the safe, while the hot backup dancer is seen walking away with the gorilla.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control Songs about sleep Songs about New York City 1986 songs 1987 singles Beastie Boys songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Mike D Songs written by Adam Yauch Songs written by Rick Rubin 1987 neologisms Quotations from music Rap rock songs Quotations from hip hop music