Do you like parties?

[MagicSpork]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBShN8qT4lk

STILL one of my top five music videos of all time.

Considering this was the song that put them on the map, I've been asking this question ever since Adam died...

Would the Beastie Boys have performed this song one last time had they known what would happen?

[birdfloatindown]

No, I don't think they would ever have performed FFYRTP again, either way. I think that "Fight For Your Right (Revisited)" was their way of reminiscing about the video and the song. It was perfect because it allowed them to make fun of themselves, pay homage to the video that made them famous, and do so without having to actually sing the song again.

There was also that line in "Right Right Now Now" when Adrock sings "we're gonna party for the right to fight," which was another nice callback to FFYRTP, without the torturous task of singing the somewhat dated lyrics, as a middle-aged man. And I'm glad they stopped performing it, since who wants to hear a 45-year old dude, singing about how his pops caught him smoking? :D

[dave790]

I don't know, I think they could have played it again regardless of Adam's illness. I think they've known for awhile that their audience is fully aware that the song isn't representative of them or particularly representative of the LTI-era. People have this idea that they hate Fight For Your Right. I think they actually have a lot of affection for it, they would have left it off the Anthology otherwise. And the Make Some Noise video speaks for itself...

There's a million better Beastie Boys songs but it remains an important moment in their career, and it's always retained a bit of charm for me, even if it is a bit of a novelty. I would have dug seeing it live.

[Kid Presentable]

I think they soundchecked with it 2007.

I'm of the opinion that had the 09 tour gone ahead, they may have dropped it as a surprise, playing all the parts live. As they progressed into their middle age, they gained a keener sense of irony (and it was already plenty keen) and so I think audiences would have known it to be tongue in cheek.

In fact, hearing them talk about putting Professor Booty and Stop that Train into future setlists on the CYH/PB commentaries had me thinking at the time that they were ready to flip the script completely on their live sets. I wouldn't have been surprised at Cooky Puss even. And would have held out hope for Car Thief, against my own better judgement.

Not now, though. (n)

[Brass Monk]

[QUOTE=Kid Presentable;1791180]I think they soundchecked with it 2007.

As they progressed into their middle age, they gained a keener sense of irony (and it was already plenty keen) and so I think audiences would have known it to be tongue in cheek.

Yeah, and I don't think they were super uptight about being politically correct anymore (which they seemed to be in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's). I noticed that they started reciting more of the original lyrics on their old songs where as they were changing them before (such as in Time to Get Ill "My name is MCA and I got a license to kill" and performing "Hello Brooklyn") There is also an extra features on the "I shot that.." DVD where they are running around with fake guns shooting each other. It was obviously a joke but I couldn't see them doing even that a few years prior.

I wouldn't have wanted to see FFYRTP live, at least not more than a snippet. It was never a great song to be performed live, IMO. They looked pretty bored doing it, even back when it 1st came out.

[abbott]

[QUOTE=Kid Presentable;1791180]I think they soundchecked with it 2007.

As they progressed into their middle age, they gained a keener sense of irony (and it was already plenty keen) and so I think audiences would have known it to be tongue in cheek.

Yeah, and I don't think they were super uptight about being politically correct anymore (which they seemed to be in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's). I noticed that they started reciting more of the original lyrics on their old songs where as they were changing them before (such as in Time to Get Ill "My name is MCA and I got a license to kill" and performing "Hello Brooklyn") There is also an extra features on the "I shot that.." DVD
where they are running around with fake guns shooting each other. It was obviously a joke but I couldn't see them doing even that a few years prior.

I wouldn't have wanted to see FFYRTP live, at least not more than a snippet. It was never a great song to be performed live, IMO. They looked pretty bored doing it, even back when it 1st came out.


Iliketoparty

[JoLovesMCA]

When I think Beastie Boys, that's the last song that comes to mind if at all. I think they might have eventually gotten around to doing it as a surprise as Kid pointed out, but if not then it doesn't bother me.

[dave790]

In fact, hearing them talk about putting Professor Booty and Stop that Train into future setlists on the CYH/PB commentaries had me thinking at the time that they were ready to flip the script completely on their live sets. I wouldn't have been surprised at Cooky Puss even. And would have held out hope for Car Thief, against my own better judgement.

Not now, though. (n)

The live thing, from a fans perspective, is absolutely killer man. Those last few set-lists in 2009 were almost perfect in my opinion, and as you say, they seemed open to chucking in anything... It's obviously secondary to Yauch's passing, but I still have to remind myself I won't be attending another Beastie Boys gig, and it fucking sucks.

[PortlandBGirl]

I think it would have been fun to see them perform FFYRTP. But I am OK with not having seen them perform this, because so many other songs are better live than FFYR would be. I did love the Revisited version though.

It's obviously secondary to Yauch's passing, but I still have to remind myself I won't be attending another Beastie Boys gig, and it fucking sucks.

This is the part that I am struggling with now. At the end of every Beastie Boys show I've been to, I have fervently hoped that it wouldn't be the last time. Then when I heard of Adam's illness, the fear grew. Now it is a reality. :(

[pm0ney]

I cant front... I would have loved to see them perform it live.

[MagicSpork]

And I'm glad they stopped performing it, since who wants to hear a 45-year old dude, singing about how his pops caught him smoking? :D

Hey, if The Who can sing "My Generation" in middle age, I don't see why The Beastie Boys can't sing Fight for your Right. :cool:

I don't know, I just have this vision of waiting for a Beastie Boys show to start, then hearing MCA screaming "YEAH!!!" followed by that signature guitar chord. Then, the crowd goes nucking futs as everybody screams "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE PLAYING THIS SONG?!?!". Then, I could tell the coolest story ever about how I got to hear the last live performance of Fight For Your Right to Party.

Oh well...anybody know a good Beastie Boys tribute band?

[M.C. Guevera]

They performed that song live when they were still working out the kinks to their live shows. That's probably why it never looked good.

The LTI live shows don't really compare to their later performances. Even by Paul's Boutique, they had gotten the hang out of it ("Shadrach").

[cj hood]

FFYR & Girls are the 2 trax I skip over on LTI...

[M.C. Guevera]

Even if you listen to "Fight For Your Right" in the context of Licensed To Ill, it STILL comes off like a joke. Their flow is all different, the beat isn't really even a beat, the lyrics are different...they're not even really rapping, but screaming the words. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Guy Incognito]

Thinking about the sleeve notes on the anthology, they acknowledged the effect that song had on them.
If you asked the average joe about the beastie boys, i'd expect this song to be one of the first things mentioned.
When it was last day of football season ( a week after yauch died) MOTD played FFYR as the musical montage to the climax of the season.
As mentioned earlier the revisited shows how much that song is part of them, even if they are little ashamed of it now maybe.
I think it helped define their sound in as much as they wanted to show how much else they could do. I think some tracks are a reaction to the tackier moments of LTI.
Plus as well, i think it kind of made sense when they eventually did get a band sound. I think that Sabotage for example wouldnt have made much sense. It didnt come across as a massive departure as a single because of previous rocky singles.
Its an important song and its still got a fucking great introduction.

[llasaApso]

Fight for your right is an all time classic 80's record!! I love it every time i hear it played anywhere. i can totally understand why they would have gotten sick of it and the lyrics were teenage in the extreme. But they could have used it as the song played by their dj just before they came out on stage. (Beck did that with his 'Loser' record on a recentish tour)

They could have also changed the words to suit their older selves?

Aw but sure this is all water under the bridge now. :(

[birdfloatindown]

I don't know, I just have this vision of waiting for a Beastie Boys show to start, then hearing MCA screaming "YEAH!!!" followed by that signature guitar chord. Then, the crowd goes nucking futs as everybody screams "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE PLAYING THIS SONG?!?!"

That definitely would have been amazing, as a surprise. You never know, maybe they would have, since FFYRTP wasn't a violent song, like Car Thief or Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun. It was just a fun, silly song.

The thing about the video is that it still makes me smile. And even though I don't like the fact that that is the song that most people know them by, when they've got a hundred better ones, I do have to admit that I have a kind of fondness for it. I remember seeing that video as a 7 or 8 year old kid, and thinking "These guys are AWESOME." :D For a child to see that video when it came out? Oh, it was revolutionary! To f*ck up the house while the parents are away is every kid's dream. It's a video and song for the young. You show a kid today that video and they f*cking love it.

And that video and song is what got people's attention. If it hadn't have been for FFYRTP, we never would have heard everything that came after that.

[Rodie]

I think that there's a decent chance that they might have played it. I know Yauch mentioned in a 2006 interview that they tried rehearsing it a couple of times but that they couldn't finish it because it was too goofy. But who knows, they could have changed it up, maybe even done some sort of Make Some Noise/Fight For Your Right medley. It's crazy how amazing and lengthy Yauch's career was yet I still feel like he was cut down in his prime.

[Kid Presentable]

It's crazy how amazing and lengthy Yauch's career was yet I still feel like he was cut down in his prime.

Truth.

[Laver1969]

I think that there's a decent chance that they might have played it. I know Yauch mentioned in a 2006 interview that they tried rehearsing it a couple of times but that they couldn't finish it because it was too goofy. But who knows, they could have changed it up, maybe even done some sort of Make Some Noise/Fight For Your Right medley. It's crazy how amazing and lengthy Yauch's career was yet I still feel like he was cut down in his prime.

^Spot on. They came full circle with FFYR with the mini-movie. I totally could have seen them starting an encore with a few verses of FFYR then going into Make some Noise.

[beasties#1fan]

It's kinda hard to ignore FFYR because that is their most well-known song, but to huge fans around the world, it isn't their most creative song... Personally, i dont "dislike" one beastie boys song, they all are amazing, but EVERYONE knows that song, and playing it in their 40's might not have been their #1 priority...but still, if it came on the radio, y'all know you would still blast it...

[Billy Corbitt]

.but still, if it came on the radio, y'all know you would still blast it...

Hell Yea!(y)