Cult of Personality

"Cult of Personality"
Single by Living Colour
from the album Vivid
Released	1988
Format	CD, Vinyl, Cassette
Recorded	1987–1988, 2007
Genre	Hard rock Heavy metal Funk metal
Length	4:54
Label	Epic, CBS/Sony
Writer(s)	Living Colour
Producer	Ed Stasium
Living Colour singles chronology
"Cult of Personality" (1988) "Glamour Boys" (1988)
Vivid track listing
"Cult of Personality" (Track 1) "I Want to Know" (Track 2)

"Cult of Personality" is a song by the funk metal band Living Colour and the first single from their debut album, Vivid. The song was written by the band. Its music video earned two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video and Best New Artist. Released in 1988, "Cult of Personality" reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It also won the Grammy award for "Best Hard Rock Performance" in 1989. The song was ranked #69 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.^[1] The solo was ranked #87 in Guitar World's "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" list. [3]

The song begins with an edited quote from the beginning of "Message to the Grass Roots", a speech by Malcolm X. As it appears in the song, the quote is:

". . . And during the few moments that we have left, . . . We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand."

The unabridged beginning of the speech is:

"...And during the few moments that we have left, we want to have just an off-the-cuff chat between you and me -- us. We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand."^[2]

At 4:35, John F. Kennedy is quoted, saying "Ask not what your country can do for you," and the song ends with Franklin D. Roosevelt saying "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

"Cult of Personality" was performed live during the April 1, 1989 edition of Saturday Night Live with host Mel Gibson. It was also performed on The Arsenio Hall Show that same year.

WWE wrestler CM Punk used this as one of his entrance themes while wrestling for Ring of Honor.

In 2004, a shortened version was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack on Radio X.

In 2006, the National Review listed "Cult of Personality" at number 18 on its' list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs.^[3]

In 2007, Living Colour re-recorded the song for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock because the original master recordings could not be located. The new version benefits from modern equipment and the re-recorded guitar solos are packed more densely with notes than the original solos. The song also appears on Guitar Hero Smash Hits.

In 2009, the song was used by the WWE in a video promoting Stone Cold Steve Austin's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Lyrics

Along with the above quotes interspersed, the lyrics in the song refer to several well-known political and social figures (thus implicitly establishing each as the leader of a cult of personality).

• Malcolm X
• Benito Mussolini
• John F. Kennedy
• Joseph Stalin
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Mahatma Gandhi

Charts

Chart	Peak
RIANZ Singles Chart	3	[4]
Mainstream Rock	9	[5]
Billboard Hot 100	13	[6]
UK Singles	89	[7]

References

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