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Production Credits:
The Sounds of Science Click for Lyrics
First Appearance: Paul's Boutique LP 1989
Written by: Beastie Boys & Dust Brothers
Performed by: Beastie Boys
Production Notes: Produced by Beastie Boys & Dust Brothers. Recorded at Mario G's, mixed at Record Plant. Engineered by Mario Caldato, assisted by Allen Abrahamson. Originally released on Capitol Records.
Behind the Beats and Lyrics...
Samples
- "Back in the U.S.S.R." by The Beatles from the album White Album (1968)
- "Walk from Regio's" by Isaac Hayes from the Shaft soundtrack (1971)
- "My Philosophy" by Boogie Down Productions from the album By Any Means Necessary (1988)
- "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
- "The End" by The Beatles from the album Abbey Road (1969)
- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" by The Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
- "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" by James Brown from the album In the Jungle Groove (1986)
- "Don't Sniff Coke" by Pato Banton from the album Never Give In (1987)
References
- Range Rover - a sport utility vehicle
- Isaac Newton (1642-1727) - an English philosopher and mathematician
- Ben Franklin (1706-1790) - an American patriot, writer, scientist, and diplomat
- Shea Stadium - home baseball park of the New York Mets from 1964-2008; it was demolished in 2009 for parking space for Citi Field, the current home of the Mets
- Radium - a radioactive metallic chemical element
- Palladium - a Manhattan concert hall and nightclub, located on E. 14th Street, between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue; it was demolished in 1999
- Rope-a-Dope - Muhammad Ali's boxing strategy
- Quarter Deluxe - a McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburger with the works
- Jimmy protector - a condom
- Crack - a form of cocaine
- Ponce de Leon (1460-1521) - a Spanish explorer who discovered Florida in 1513
- Fountain of Youth - a legendary fountain said to have the power of restoring youth, sought by Ponce de Leon and other early explorers in Florida and the West Indies
- Robotron - a popular 1980's arcade video game
- Adidas & Fila - well-known athletic gear companies
- Coke - cocaine, an illicit drug used for its stimulant and euphorigenic properties
- Sinsemilla - marijuana from seedless female hemp plants that contain very high levels of THC
- Cheech Wizard - a 1970's underground comic strip by Vaughn Bodé; also referenced in "Sure Shot"
- Galileo (1564-1642) - Galileo Galilei, a Florentine astronomer and physicist, founder of the science of dynamics
Sample & Reference Breakdown
- Crowd noise - a sample from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles
- Oboe - a sample from "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles
- Violins and orchestra tuning - a sample from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles
- Scratch - samples from "The End" by The Beatles
- Drum samples from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" by The Beatles
- "Ben Frankin with a kite, gettin' over with the key" - refers to an historical event in which Ben Franklin tied a metal key to a kite and flew it in a thunderstorm to prove a link between lightning and electricity
- "I got pegs through my hands and one through my feet" - refers to Jesus Christ's crucifixion to the cross
- "Right up to your face and dis you" - a sample of KRS-One from "My Philosophy" by Boogie Down Productions
- "Time and money for girls covered with honey" - refers to an incident for which Beastie Boys were sued by the parents of some young girls who partied with them backstage after a show. Video of the party, which included a Budweiser beer, whipped cream, and honey "food fight," can be seen at the end of the Licensed to Ill home video
- "Yeah, that's right my name's Yauch" scratch - a sample from "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
- "I do not sniff the coke, I only smoke sinsemilla" - a sample from "Don't Sniff Coke" by Pato Banton
Commentary:
Beastie Boys
"E.Z. Mike [Mike Simpson] does all the scratching on this song." - Adam Horovitz on Paul's Boutique-20th Anniversary Edition audio commentary, 2009
Press
"...builds from a casual, smartass schoolboy singsong to a breakneck chant" - Rolling Stone, 1989
"Adrock reinforces a little-voiced but street popular ghetto conspiracy theory: 'Well I figured out who makes the crack, suckers with the badges and the blue jackets.'" - paraphrased from Rhyming & Stealing: A History of the Beastie Boys by Angus Batey, 1998
"Mike D was playing the tracks for me. They started with a drum that was obviously from the intro to 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' And I said, 'I don't know if you can do that.' And right as I said that, a guitar line from Abbey Road came in, and you realized that there were two Beatles samples. Mike said, 'Well, hopefully they'll be able to work it out.' And I said, 'Mike, come on, man, it's the Beatles.' He goes, 'Yeah. I know. But what could be cooler than being sued by the Beatles?'" - Tim Carr (former A&R executive/Capitol Records), excerpted from The Skills to Pay the Bills by Alan Light, 2005
Released Versions:
The Sounds of Science
The Sounds of Science (Demo)
The Sounds of Science (Instrumental)
The Sounds of Science (Live)
Live:
Performed in 56 known Concerts.
First known Performance:
17-May-1992 : Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
Last known Performance:
08-Jun-1997 : Downing Stadium, Randall's Island, NY, United States
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