This Is Why Dead Letter Circus Covered ‘Killing In The Name’

Dead Letter Circus have taken to social media to address the response to their much talked-about cover of Rage Against The Machine‘s Killing In The Name. In a lengthy statement, the band say that among the motivations for their Like A Version cover was Australia’s current political climate.

The band open by saying that they expected the cover to “cause a bit of a stir” and that while the response has been largely positive, some have taken issue with the band’s softer, acoustic rendition of a politically charged hard rock anthem “by one of the most influential bands in music history.”

As fans of the Triple J staple, the band say they didn’t want to simply “[mimic] what’s already been done” and were in fact initially planning on a cover of London Grammar‘s Hey Now. Band members were left “utterly gobsmacked” when friends Karnivool chose Hey Now for their Like A Version.

DLC then settled on the Rage Against The Machine classic, a decision they say “we were confident with and remain proud of.” They proceeded with the reinvention in spite of knowing that they would “incur the wrathful fingers of the RATM faithful, the overly opinionated and the trolls worldwide.”

But, as DLC explain, “The message of the song couldn’t be more relevant to this moment in history. In our opinion, RATM have been shouting at us all for years to wake up to the fact we live within a system of control imposed by a ruling elite. That this system is reliant on generations of programmed fear, prejudice and ignorance to keep us separate and powerless is clear and undeniable.”

DLC conclude by explaining that they believe the message of Killing In The Name is “strong enough to still resonate in a stripped-back, down-tempo format” and that during the broadcast, they dedicated the song to the Abbott government, which was left out of the circulated YouTube clip.

Watch: Dead Letter Circus – Killing In The Name (Rage Against The Machine Cover)