Released September 8, 2010 Length 4:15 | Recorded 2009-2010 | |
Format Exclusive release (Digital download) Genre Industrial rock
rap rock
industrial hip hop Label Warner Bros., Machine Shop. | ||
"Wretches and Kings" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the tenth track from their 2010 album, A Thousand Suns. The song was written by the band and produced by co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin. "Wretches and Kings" was used as a promotional single and was featured as a part of the "Linkin Park Track Pack" Downloadable Content for the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The song was also used for the backdrop for EA's opening sequence in MMA.
Contents
Content
The lyrics bear some traces of a commentary on the abuses of the rich and the powerful, atypical of the sublimities and forecoming signs in class warfare. Shinoda's raspy vocals are meant to vocalize the anger felt by the abused, and the chorus in particular discusses in letting their inner "animals take control" of the world order. The first line, "steel unload, final blow", is an assumptive premonition of the coming conflict, wherein all bets are off and no regard for the consequences are given any longer.
Promotion
"Wretches and Kings" features Mario Savio's "Bodies upon the gears" or the "Operation of the Machine" speech. The promotional single was first obtainable on the band's official website and was streamed on Noisecreep. The tempo of the song was set to 90 BPM. The song was also released for the albums like A Thousand Suns+ as the live version and It's The Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 3: Fire Walk With Me as a remix.
Remixes
A number of remixes have been done by various artists like HavocNdeeD as well as the Los Angeles rap group Get Busy Committee, the latter in co-production by Scoop DeVille, with their GBC remix appearing on Apathy's third It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! compilation installment It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Vol. 3: Fire Walk With Me, which was released on September 11, 2012 under the simplified title of "Wretches [Remix]".