Cult of Personality (song)

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"Cult of Personality"

Single by Living Colour
from the album Vivid
Released	1988
Format	7" vinyl, CD
Genre	Hard rock, Heavy Metal
Length	4:54
Label	Epic

"Cult of Personality" is a song by New York City hard rock group Living Colour. The track appeared on the band's debut album Vivid and won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1989. The music video earned two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video and Best New Artist

Southe pointeeeeeeeeeeeeeea Malcolm X speech. As it appears in the song, the quote is:

". . . And during the few moments that we have left, . . . [w]e 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." ^[1]

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

They might also be remembered as one of the few popular 80's rock bands led by a black lead singer

[edit] Lyrics

Along with the above quotes interspersed, the lyrics in the song refer to several other well-known political and social figures:

Mussolini
Kennedy
Josef Stalin
Gandhi
God
John Lennon (the line, "I'll tell you one and one is three")

[edit] Appearance in popular culture

"Cult of Personality" appears on "Grand Theft Auto San Andreas" video game soundtrack, in the setlist of alternative rock/metal station Radio X. The song also plays whenever the player enters a stadium race.
"Cult of Personality" was used as the theme song for Professional Wrestler CM Punk during his time in Ring of Honor after winning the ROH World title.