Performances, Ron Isley would sing the majority of the song with his olderīrothers chipping in during some parts. Though the track had a unison lead style, onstage during Later, the trio added in the backgroundĬhant, "fight it!" to merge in with the brothers' vocal ad-libbing The song reflected a negative opinion of authority figures,Ī feeling shared by all the band members, which can explain the intensified He said the word, Ron simply replied, "because it needed to be said" Rudy, and O'Kelly, the vocal trio cut a unison lead vocal track in one take.Įrnie was taken aback that Ron had uttered "bullsh&t". After playing the track on his guitar to his older brothers, Ronnie, The song was written almost fully by Ernie Isley withĪdditional instrumental background composition by the band's keyboardist Chris "Harvest" would be featured on the album of the same name and wouldīe released as the first single off that album. The group ended up recording both songs on the same day andĮventually picked "Fight the Power" as the song to release first. Power" and an anti-poverty ballad titled "Harvest for the Guitarist Ernie Isley, inspired by the news, wrote two songs: "Fight the The song was sparked in a 1975 recording session in which INFORMATION ABOUT THE ISLEY BROTHERS' SONG "FIGHT THE POWER" Although the one curse word that is included in this song can still be heard in this sound file,, I've used amended spelling for that word in the lyrics that are given below.Ĭlick for the closely related pancocojams post entitled " Public Enemy - 1989 Hip Hop Track "Fight The Power" (video, information, lyrics, & comments)". However, I've made an exception for this song because of its cultural significance. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.īecause pancocojams is a family friendly blog, I usually don't showcase songs that include profanity. Thanks to The Isley Brothers for their musical legacy. The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes. Lyrics for The Isley Brothers' "Fight The Power" are also included in this post along with a few selected comments from the discussion threads of that sound file.
This track helped to make Between The Sheets essential listening and its stands well on its own as well.This pancocojams post presents information about and a YouTube sound file of the 1975 Funk/R&B song "Fight The Power" by The Isley Brothers. In addition to that poesy, “Between The Sheets” is also known for its great bass line and horny synthesizer riffs. With lines like “You’ve got me moaning” and “I’ll always be your freak”, we get the point and then some. That being said “Between The Sheets” isn’t exactly a masterpiece of understatement. That upfront nature made this track stand out in particular, given the direct nature of the lyrics. This track and all of the ballads on Between The Sheets did without strings and a sweet sound. “Between The Sheets” has a heavier and busier sound than most prototypical ballads. The newness of this style certainly sounded fresh when it hit the radio in 1983.
From the makers of “The Belly Dancer”, the overt sexual nature of this song shouldn’t be a major surprise. The sound here represents more hardware, a great melody and of course a strong vocal from Ronald Isley. Their trademark 77-82 sound finally wound down and 1982’s The Real Deal plummeted down the charts. Before “Between The Sheets” the Isley Brothers hit a bit of a stylistic crossroads.