| "Wretches And Kings" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Linkin Park | |
| from the album A Thousand Suns | |
| Working title: | Rygar |
| Recorded: | 2008 - 2010 |
| Released: | September 2, 2010 |
| Length: | 04:10 |
| Stems: | Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock (A Thousand Suns) Neko Keyboard Sounds and Samples[1] Leaked Multitracks |
| Time signature: | 4/4 |
| Tempo: | 90 |
| Key: | A Minor |
| Samples: | Mario Savio - "Put Your Bodies Upon The Gears" speech |
| References: | Public Enemy - Bring The Noise |
| Live debut: | September 14, 2010 |
| Last performed: | February 28, 2011 |
| Writer: | Linkin Park |
| Producer: | Mike Shinoda, Rick Rubin |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| A Thousand Suns tracklist | |
Background
"Wretches And Kings" is a political song, featuring excerpts from Mario Savio's "Bodies upon the gears", or "Operation Of The Machine" speech he delivered on December 2, 1964. It features a very heavy hip-hop influence, as well as heavy use of synths. Mike references Public Enemy on the track, the lyric "How low can you go?" directly referencing their song "Bring The Noise". He also claimed that the song has one of the strongest hip-hop sounds on the record, as well as one of the most aggressive.[2] Both Mike and Chester have said that the speeches used in the songs on the album helped achieve a connection between the words and music that they couldn't do on their own, and the messages of the speeches still resonate with problems going on in the world today.[3]
The first mention of "Wretches And Kings" (at this time titled "Rygar") was made on June 5, 2009 via a post on Mike's blog where he said, "We had a big band meeting this week to get caught up on album progress. With all the New Divide and Transformers stuff going on, we've been distracted for a while :) In our weekly meetings, we listen to each song, give it a grade (A+ to F-), and write notes. The grades get tallied (10 points for an A+, 9 for an A, and so on). The written notes are things like "the music in the first half loses my attention a little bit," or "I like the chorus, but the verse is a little weak." My favorite note from this week: "Sometimes it’s nice to have balls." (thank you Dave) The songs all have working titles like "Robot Boy," "Rygar," and "Underbite." Usually the working titles don't sound anything like the song (the name usually comes before we've written a note). All of those titles are going to change, but we need to name stuff to keep it organized. “Robot Boy” got the highest grade so far, at about an 8.75. "Voyage" got the lowest, with a cumulative 3.5 and notes like "sleepy time." LOL. We listened to about 18 song ideas, and I think we'll have another session to listen to another 10-15 songs in a week or two."[4] Two other songs are mentioned here from the album - "Robot Boy", and then "Underbite" (later "Under Bite") ended up turning into "The Catalyst" from this post as well.
Mike said he had been building a library of sounds since he was 16 and part of the drums for "Wretches And Kings" came from a Roland TR-808 machine.[5] One of synths on the song is sampled from the Vestax vinyl PDX-2000 Vinyl Melody Software 1 (Hot Synth Sounds).[6]
Tones were achieved on "Wretches And Kings" through a variety of effects pedals: the bass was run though a ZVex Mastotron pedal with a copious amount of Fuzz. Other ZVex pedals such as the Woolly Mammoth, Tremolo Probe, and the Super Hard On were used on guitars. "The guitar played a great supporting role because it really filled out certain areas," says Shinoda.[7]
In the June 2019 leak of Hybrid Party Of A Thousand Things, samples used to compose "Wretches And Kings" were included. "Rick 808" is the hi-hats from "Wretches And Kings" and the BPM matches with the song (Rick likely being Rick Rubin). "Rygar" is likely from when the band tracked the various processed guitar samples for the song. RYGAR4, RYGAR5, RYGAR30 and RYGAR32 were used on it, RYGAR21 on "Victimized" and RYGAR37 on "Bruiser." Other samples were used from "Rygar" for "Saa'iq" from the Medal Of Honor: Warfighter soundtrack in 2012 as well. Mike mentioned that he named the sample bank of sounds "Rygar" after the Nintendo game.[8]
Before the Honda Civic Tour in 2012, Mike Einziger, guitarist of Incubus, said that his favorite Linkin Park song was "Wretches And Kings."[5]
Remix
HavocNdeeD's dubstep remix of "Dopeman" by N.W.A. had somehow gained the attention of Mike Shinoda who posted a video of it on his blog doing a live remix session.[9] When looking at possible remixers for the new Linkin Park album the duo came to mind. Mike explained, "I found out about HavocNdeeD from a friend earlier this year. At some point, I was messing around with a Virus keyboard and did a live glitch thing with their “Dopeman” remix …and later, when we were looking for remixes for songs off our new album, “A Thousand Suns”, we reached out to them. Our new record is more beat-driven and electronic than our past efforts, so I thought it would be a good fit. Their remix of “Wretches And Kings” came out incredible…the bridge section is massive!"[10] HavokNDeeD's remix of the track was uploaded to their YouTube channel in 2010[11] and a second "VIP 2.5" Remix, featuring an original verse by Chuck D from Public Enemy, whom the song references, was released on The Hundreds in the following year.[12]
The Get Busy Committee and Divine Styler also did a remix of the song, featuring a new verse by Mike. It was first released on the Some Kind Of Awesome website in February 2011 before being released under the name "Wretches (Remix)" on Apathy's Fire Walk With Me: It's The Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Vol. 3 compilation album in September 2012.
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wretches And Kings | A Thousand Suns | 4:15 | 2008-2010 | September 2, 2010 |
|
| Wretches And Kings | A Thousand Suns (Clean) | 4:15 | 2008-2010 | September 8, 2010 |
|
| Wretches And Kings | A Thousand Suns Instrumentals | 3:56 | 2008-2010 |
|
Remix
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wretches & Kings (HavocNdeeD RemiX) | 5:49 | 2010 | November 29, 2010 |
| |
| Wretches & Kings (HavocNdeeD VIP RemiX 2.5 ft. Chuck D of Public Enemy) | 5:51 | 2010 | June 2, 2011 |
| |
| Wretches & Kings (Remix) (Feat Get Busy Committee & Divine Styler) | Fire Walk With Me: It's The Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Vol. 3 | 4:12 | 2010 | February 21, 2011 |
|
Live
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wretches And Kings | Live In Madrid | 4:25 | November 07, 2010 | April 1, 2011 |
|
| Wretches And Kings (Live From Las Vegas, 2011) | A Thousand Suns - Live Around The World | 3:54 | February 19, 2011 | June 19, 2012 |
Live
"Wretches And Kings" debuted at the first full show of the A Thousand Suns cycle, though the band was uncertain of whether or not they would play it, as noted by the song being in parenthesis on the physical setlist. Through 2010, the song almost always opened the show in conjunction with "The Requiem" and "The Radiance", with Joe scratching the Savio speech. However, the one-off New York City release show, where the song debuted, had "Wretches And Kings" after "Given Up", and Set B-1 had the song after "Papercut". During the 2011 North American Tour, "Wretches And Kings" wasn't played as much. Set A-1 had the song opening the show for the first two shows of the tour, but it was moved after "Papercut" starting at Atlanta. At those shows, the band dropped the speech from the song, as it was played over the instrumental of "The Radiance". It wasn't included in any other set, and the song wasn't played after that tour.
Though it wasn't played, "Wretches And Kings" was rehearsed for the band's 2012 Honda Civic Tour.
Parts of "Wretches and Kings" returned in Mike's Solo Medley, with the verse instrumental being played under the first half of the medley, where Mike rapped a hybrid of the two verses of the track. The medley was dropped during the band's show in Mexico City, and hasn't been played since.
After the Post Traumatic cycle came to a close, Mike posted a picture of one of his pieces of gear he uses to trigger parts of songs on Instagram. One of the buttons was labeled "Wretches", indicating he considering playing the song on tour but chose not to.[14]
Variations
Last Updated: December 25, 2015
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | No Speech | January 23, 2011 | February 28, 2011 |
| Outro | "Papercut" Intro Tease | January 20, 2011 | January 20, 2011 |
| Outro | Instrumental Jam | January 20, 2011 | January 20, 2011 |
Personnel
Lyrics
Mario Savio:
"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious,
Makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part.
You can't even passively take part,
And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels,
Upon the levers, upon all the apparatus,
And you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all"
To save face / how low can you go?
Talk a lot of game but yet you don't know
Static on the way / make us all say "whoa"
The people up top push the people down low
Get down
And obey every word
Steady getting mine if you haven't yet heard
Wanna take what I got
Don't be absurd
Don't fight the power
Nobody gets hurt
If you haven't heard yet then I'm letting you know
There ain't shit we don't run when the guns unload
And no one make a move unless my people say so
Got everything outta control
Now everybody go
Hey [x8]
Steel unload / final blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
We the animals / take control (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hear us now / clear and true (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Wretches and kings we come for you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
So keep pace / how slow can you go
Talk a lot of shit and yet you don't know
Fire on the way / make you all say whoa
The people up top and the people down low
Get down
And I'm running it like that
The front of the attack is exactly where I'm at
Somewhere in between
The kick and the hi hat
The pen and the contract
The pitch and the contact
So get with the combat / I'm letting 'em know
There ain't shit you can say to make me back down, no
So / push the button let the whole thing blow
Spinning everything outta control
Now everybody go
Hey [x8]
Steel unload / final blow
We the animals / take control
Hear us now / clear and true
Wretches and kings we come for you
Steel unload / fire blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Filthy animals / beat them low (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Skin and bone / black and blue (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
No more this sun shall beat onto you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
From the front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel put 'em up real high [x2]
From the front to the back and the side to side (Hey [x8])
If you fear what I feel put 'em up real high (Hey [x8]) [x4]
Savio: "When the operation of the machine becomes so odious,
Makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part.
You can't even passively take part,
And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels,
Upon the levers, upon all the apparatus,
And you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it,
That unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all"
Hey [x16]
Hey, hey
Steel unload / final blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
We the animals take control (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hear us now clear and true (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Wretches and king we come for you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
To save face, how low can you go
Act like you heard but yet you don't know
I act like a murderer, Dexter with the flow
They underestimate me I'm killing them on the low
So get down, but you don't really have an option
Shouting at the top of your lungs please stop
In my Woodstock mix with some '88 Compton
Lucy in the Sky with a sawed off shotgun
Stop it, walking to a beat so cold
The rhythm that's created when these guns unload
And no-one make a move unless my people say so
Got everything outta-control now everybody go
Occupying, modifying every statement downtown
Gentrifying, simplifying military compounds (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Satellite nanobyte superchip in subhuman Manchurian (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
I'm so megatron!
Steel unload / final blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
We the animals / take control (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hear us now / clear and true (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Wretches and kings we come for you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Steel unload / fire blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Filthy animals / beat them low (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Skin and bone / black and blue (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
No more the sun shall beat onto you
Tell the people what the truth is
Standing in the booth, that's a soldier surrounded by his troops, bitch
I don't really know just what a truce is, but I never call one
Look into the crowd they control 'em like Stalin
Joseph, hopeless, so pissed, bottom of the soap dish
Scummy ass profit, prophet
Semi-automatic in my front coat pocket
Loaded, if anyone opposes I'll pop it
(Uh, yeah)
Now when we hit the blocks
Finna set them car alarms off, like you hear the cops
Everybody stop for a second, just watch
And if you hear them shout, drop (Get down)
Tweaking out your brainwaves
Glitches, rags, riches, snitches
Pipe dreams wishes, it might seem suspicious
Any mister or misses that try to go against us
Might get stitches or wiped out of existence
Steel unload / final blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
We the animals / take control (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hear us now / clear and true (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Wretches and kings we come for you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Steel unload / fire blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Filthy animals / beat them low (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Skin and bone / black and blue (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
No more the sun shall beat onto you
Overseas operate, in and out of the camera
Navigating states in post-race through Gamera
Bottom feeders and eaters, victimizing with heaters
With clever reasons for eating and better means for competing
Futurism contemporary, so very modern
Is a symbolism inputting memories into body prisms
Anarchist language, mind full of anguish
Internet's to slang this, a boom box to bang this
Boom-bye-bye in the motherfucker head
And we mind want heavy but the mind want dead
I spew propaganda through these prison camp speakers
I'm the grim reaper in a pair of Michael Jordan sneakers
Freedom fighter, c-cipher, killer, still as the night though
Ice cold blood in my veins, brain of a psycho
Manufactured with my soul fractured in half
Divided by my violent side so you add-up the math
I'm half Elohim, alpha omega, beggar and peasant
Half king, half ruler of the things that are wretched
I'm crawling out the wreckage, I call you out on my wreckage
I knock you out for each second for you miss out on the message
(Listen)
Steel unload / final blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
We the animals / take control (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Hear us now / clear and true (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Wretches and kings we come for you (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Steel unload / fire blow (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Filthy animals / beat them low (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
Skin and bone / black and blue (Hey, hey, hey, hey)
No more the sun shall beat onto you
Gallery
-
Fan artwork created by Sukotto and used by HavocNdeeD for their remix
-
Sukotto's artwork was edited for use on the second version of HavocNdeeD's remix
-
It's The Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 3: Fire Walk With Me
In Other Media
- "Wretches And Kings" was released in 2010 as part of a DLC for the 2010 videogame Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock.
- "Wretches And Kings" is featured in the 2012 videogame EA Sports MMA as well as in its trailer.
External Links
References
- ↑ Linkin Park Fans: A Rare Opportunity to Own a Piece of | Reverb News, April 02, 2018
- ↑ NME, September 6, 2010
- ↑ LP Underground Newsletter Anniversary Edition
- ↑ Mike Shinoda: How We Write, June 5, 2009
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rolling Stone Chat with Mike Shinoda and Mike Einziger Summary | LP Association Forums, May 02, 2012
- ↑ Alvaro on Twitter: "@LPLive @lpcatalog @linkinpedia this vinyl contains sounds used on at least 2 ATS songs, the other sound found on here is the synth solo on the Catalyst. https://t.co/2b3jqd2VGB" / Twitter, September 26, 2020
- ↑ Linkin Park: 'A Thousand Suns' - EMusician, November 29, 2017
- ↑ Making a new track using only Linkin Park and Fort Minor sounds. Tune in... - YouTube, June 18, 2020
- ↑ Live Glitch « Mike Shinoda's Blog, May 25, 2010
- ↑ HavocNdeeD « 119 Sound – Dubstep, Garage and Bass Music!
- ↑ Linkin Park – Wretches & Kings (HavocNdeeD RemiX)….OFFICIAL!!! « 119 Sound – Dubstep, Garage and Bass Music!, November 30, 2010
- ↑ FOR YOUR EARS ONLY. | The Hundreds, June 02, 2011
- ↑ Wretches & Kings - Newswire - Linkin Park Live, September 01, 2010
- ↑ Mike Shinoda on Instagram, December 2019