Released July 1992 Recorded 1991 Length 5:31 | Format CD single Genre Industrial metal Label Sire
Warner Bros. | |
"N.W.O." (New World Order) is a song by the industrial metal band Ministry, released as the second single from the album Psalm 69. The single was Ministry's biggest hit, topping out on the Billboard Modern Rock chart at #11. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1993.
Contents
The song is a protest against then-President George H. W. Bush. The song features audio samples of his voice, with him repeating "A new world order" over and over again at the end of the song. At this point of the song in the music video, Bush is portrayed by an actor with an enormous papier-mâché head, grabbing his crotch and waving his arms. The majority of the video is a mix of police beatings, riots, and gunfights. It also includes a scene in which a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty is beaten by police in a manner similar to the famous amateur video of Rodney King being beaten by police.
The music video was featured on Beavis and Butt-Head along with "Just One Fix" off the same album, although the credits for each song call the album Psalms 69.
"N.W.O." was featured in the soundtrack of the film Cool World (Songs from the Cool World).
"It's alright! It's alright!" in the song is a clip of Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now when he first greets the PBR boat.
The song was featured in the video game Need for Speed: The Run.
Samples
Samples from Apocalypse Now are included in this track: Dennis Hopper's character exclaiming "It's alright!" as the patrol boat is approaching the colonel's fort, as well as the siren that was used during the scene. There is also a loop of the guitar solo coming from a transistor radio in the grenade launcher's bunker.
Footage from the music video of the Octopus is from the Japanese film Space Amoeba, Monster's name is Gezora. Footage of the turtle is from the film franchise Gamera. Monster's name is Gamera.