Here are rock and metal songs that feature audio samples from famous speeches that have occurred throughout history.
Musicians frequently collaborate, and it’s not uncommon to hear a familiar voice as a special guest on a song. In these instances, those familiar voices are not other musicians — they’re politicians, scientists, philosophers, religious leaders, and more.
The inspiration for this list came after listening to a specific Guns N’ Roses song, but not “Civil War,” because the spoken-word intro in that track is from a film rather than an actual broadcast. Other artists that have sampled speeches in songs include Living Colour, Lamb of God, and Linkin Park, who have various songs on their 2010 album A Thousand Suns that contain snippets of speeches.
Many songs have sampled famous speeches in the past, and there are several by rock and metal musicians. Whether the song addresses politics or aims to elevate its message in some way, you’ll find tracks listed below featuring snippets from speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., interview excerpts from U.S. military personnel, and more.
READ MORE: 16 of the Most Political Rock + Metal Bands
A few of the songs are instrumentals that only feature spoken-word parts, but we included them nonetheless.
For each track, we included the respective album the song is featured on, which speech is sampled in the song, and the lyrics that contain those specific parts. You may have heard these songs many times without realizing the context of the spoken parts, so perhaps you’ll learn a bit of history while listening and reading along.
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1
Megadeth, “Foreclosure of a Dream”
Album: Countdown to Extinction (1992)
The Speech: “Read my lips” by George H. W. Bush
The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no, read my lips… read my lips… read my lips… read my lips… read my lips.
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2
Living Colour, “Cult of Personality”
Album: Vivid (1988)
The Speech: “Cult of Personality” contains three samples: one by Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Malcolm X:
And during the few moments that we have left
We wanna talk right down to Earth
In a language that everybody here can easily understandJohn F. Kennedy:
Ask not what your country can do for you
Franklin D. Roosevelt:
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
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3
Guns N’ Roses, “Madagascar”
Album: Chinese Democracy (2008)
The Speech: “Madagascar” contains samples from Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech as well as from his 1967 sermon “Why Jesus Called Man a Fool.” The rest of the spoken-word samples come from various films. The MLK excerpts are broken up individually and alternate with the movie dialogue throughout the song.
“I Have a Dream”:
Black men and White men together, at the table of brotherhood, I have a dream!
Free at last, free at last
Thank God almighty, We are free at last!“Why Jesus Called Man a Fool”:
Stand up for righteousness
Stand up for justice
Stand up for truth
You gotta call on that something
That can make a way out of no way
That power that can make a way out of no way
I tell you I’ve seen a lightning flash, I’ve heard the thunder roll
Sometimes I feel discouraged
He promised never to leave me
Never to leave me alone -
4
Lamb of God, “Ashes of the Wake”
Album: Ashes of the Wake (2004)
The Speech: “Ashes of the Wake” is a mostly instrumental track that contains snippets from an interview given by Marine Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey after he returned from the Iraq War. So it wasn’t exactly a speech presented to a crowd but still a real audio bit from a historical event.
We killed a lot of innocent civilians
To us, every civilian in Baghdad was a terrorist
‘These fedayeen are now in civilian clothes’
That makes everybody free game
But if they came within our perimeter, we lit ’em upAnd when we would pull the body outAnd we would search the carWe would find nothingThis took place time and time again‘No harm, no foul’‘That’s okay, don’t worry about it’This is a new type of warThis is an eradicationI honestly feel
That we’re committing genocide over here
I don’t believe in killing civilians
And I’m not gonna kill civilians
For the United States Marine Corps p >
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5
Architects , “Red Hypergiant” h2 >
Album : Lost Forever // Lost Together ( 2014 ) p >
The Speech : “Red Hypergiant” is an interlude track featuring a bit that astronomer Carl Sagan said during his TV series Cosmos : A Personal Voyage . p >
The old appeals to racial , sexual , and religious chauvinism
And to rabid nationalist fervor are beginning not to work
A new consciousness is developing
Which sees the Earth as a single organism
And recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed
We are one planet span > em > p >
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6
Muse , “[JFK]” h2 >
Album : Drones ( 2015 ) p >
The Speech : The only words in Muse’s “[JFK]” are from John F. Kennedy’s address to the American Newspaper Publishers Association on April 27 , 1961 . p >
For we are opposed around the world
By a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy
That relies primarily on covert means
For expanding its sphere of influence
On infiltration instead of invasion
On subversion instead of elections
On intimidation instead of free choice
On guerrillas by night instead of armies by day
It is a system which has conscripted
Vast human and material resources
Into the building of a tightly knit
Highly efficient machine that combines military , diplomatic
Intelligence , economic , scientific and political operations span >
Its preparations are concealed , not published
Its mistakes are buried , not headlined
Its dissenters are silenced , not praised span > i > em > p >
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7
Ministry , “N.W.O. (New World Order)” h2 >
Album : Psalm 69 : The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs i > em >( 1992 ) p >
The Speech : “N.W.O. (New World Order)” contains bits from various addresses and speeches by George H. W. Bush . The video contains another sample that’s not featured on the album version of the song . p >
What we are looking at
Is good and evil , right and wrong
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order span >
We’re not about to make that same mistake twice span >
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order
A new world order span > i > p >
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