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Thieves (Ministry song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Thieves
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Ministry
| album = The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
| released =
| recorded = 1989
| studio = Chicago Trax Studios
| venue =
| genre = Industrial metal
| length =
| label =
| writer =
| producer =
}}
"'Thieves'" is a song by American industrial metal band Ministry. It was released as the opening track from the band's fourth studio album, 'The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste' (1989), as well as the B-side from its single, "Burning Inside". The song's lyrics deal mainly with political corruption. The song includes dialogue samples from R. Lee Ermey's drill instructor character in 'Full Metal Jacket'. Ministry's version was featured in the 1992 science fiction film 'Freejack', also in the 2009 video game 'Brtal Legend'.
Overview
The chorus of "Thieves" is influenced by "Mr. Suit" by the English band Wire.
The song is based on a harmonic stasis. It features the extensive use of E minor chord. 118 out of 138 measures of the song are based on the same E minor chord, while the rest are F minor chords. Al Jourgensen sings only the G note, while the song "shifts gears rhythmically" through its sections and quadruples its tempo.
Tom Moon, the author of '1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die', wrote, "At the two minute mark of "Thieves" and several times later in the song, Ministry's pulse is bolstered by what sounds like a whirring pneumatic drill. It's not a gimmickit almost functions as a solo guitar, adding punctuation."
Personnel
Ministry
* Al Jourgensen vocals, guitars, programming, production* Paul Barker bass, programming, production
Additional personnel
* William Rieflin drums, programming* Joe Kelly backing vocals
Limp Bizkit cover
American rap rock band Limp Bizkit covered parts of this song during Woodstock 99 as well as releasing their cover version of "Thieves" as a single via Twitter on November 1, 2013 for free download. Limp Bizkit performed it throughout many of the band's live sets since 1997, but the band did not release a studio version until 2013. Limp Bizkit's version does not include the samples that are on Ministry's version.
Personnel
Limp Bizkit
* Wes Borland guitars
* Fred Durst vocals
* John Otto drums
* Sam Rivers bass
Footnotes
References
Category:1989 songs
Category:2013 singles
Category:Ministry (band) songs
Category:Limp Bizkit songs
Category:Cash Money Records singles
Category:Sire Records singles
Category:Warner Records singles
Category:Protest songs
Category:Songs about crime
Category:Songs written by Al Jourgensen
Category:Songs written by Paul Barker
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