In an otherwise positive review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote about the song:
It's too bad that Korn can go so easily from the potent to the pointless. The very next track, "All in the Family," is an MC duel between Davis and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, a stomping hip-hop track with a good-natured barrage of insults – except for the "faggot" and "fairy" cracks and lame-o lines like "Suck my dick, kid, like your daddy did" and "You're a fag and on a lower level." To Davis and Durst, that may just be harmless schoolyard jivin'. But Davis knows words can hurt – that was the whole point of "Faget" on Korn – and the homosexual slams in "All in the Family" cheapen, at least for those five minutes, the power and
"All in the Family" 158
integrity of an album otherwise devoted to kickin' it against cruelty and prejudice.[2]
Similarly, Steve Appleford of the Los Angeles Times called the song "a duet of cheap insults with Bizkit's Fred Durst that only diminishes one of Korn's strongest albums",[3] and the Winston-Salem Journal wrote, "one wonders how [Davis] could stumble so badly with 'All in the Family' – a scatological song crammed with crude jive and anti-gay jibes that severely undercuts an otherwise potent disc."[4] The Austin American-Statesman's critic wrote that the song's "pulsating rhythms... are undermined by countless references to guys' private parts, the f- word, 'faggots' and incest."[5]
Mike Boehm, commenting in the Los Angeles Times attempted to consider the band's motivations in writing the lyrics:
The homophobic epithets, the band might say, were not meant to disparage gays, but rather meaningless, street-talking jive by two guys "playing the dozens," the hoary African-American tradition—greatly influential on rap—of verbal combat that emphasizes the competitive trading of fanciful insults. After all, the title "All in the Family" calls back that lovable TV bigot, Archie Bunker, doesn't it?[6]
He goes on to write, "The ugliness of 'All in the Family' doesn't stem from overt homophobia; let's take Davis at his word that he harbors no ill feelings toward gays. Instead, it embodies the ingrained, unthinking homophobic bias that runs strong in our culture."[6]
Track listing
• CD5" ESK 41269[7]
1. "All in the Family" (rough mix) – 4:51 2. "All in the Family" (Clark World mix) – 4:45 3. "All in the Family" (Sowing the Beats mix) – 4:51 4. "All in the Family" (Beats in Peace mix) – 4:15 5. "All in the Family" (Scary Bird mix) – 8:40
References
[1] Steve Morse (14 August 1998). "Korn feeds the people", The Boston Globe, p. C13.
[2] David Fricke (12 August 1998). "Album Review" (http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/korn/albums/album/218710/review/5943531).
Rolling Stone (794): 97–98. .
[3] Steve Appleford (7 December 2003). "In defense of Korn: Look into this mirror: Listening to the band's rages and rants can't be called a pleasant experience, but it sure can be rewarding", Los Angeles Times, p. E57.
[4] Ed Bumgardner (28 August 1998). "Korn's Follow the Leader rides the maelstrom", Winston-Salem Journal, p. 4.
[5] Chris Riemenschneider (25 August 1998). "'Follow the Leader': Korn", Austin American-Statesman, p. E2.
[6] Mike Boehm (25 August 1998). "Commentary: Korn Flings a Couple of Rotten Kernels: In lyrics on its latest CD, the Huntington Beach band sets a poor example for the rockers it would lead", Los Angeles Times, p. F2. Convenience link (fee required) (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/
latimes/access/33370403.html?dids=33370403:33370403&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+25,+1998&
author=MIKE+BOEHM&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=COMMENTARY;+Korn+Flings+a+Couple+of+Rotten+Kernels;+In+
lyrics+on+its+latest+CD,+the+Huntington+Beach+band+sets+a+poor+example+for+the+rockers+it+would+lead.&
pqatl=google).
[7] "Korn - All in the Family Remixes" (http://www.discogs.com/Korn-All-In-The-Family-Remixes/release/414003). Discogs. . Retrieved 2010-09-23.
• Carrie Borzillo (18 July 1998). "Korn Grows by Putting Fans First" (http://books.google.ca/
books?id=9wkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16&dq="All+in+the+Family"+Korn+-wikipedia+-lyrics&hl=en&
ei=xOKaTK6aB4H58Abl8vB7&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&
ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q="All in the Family" Korn -wikipedia -lyrics&f=false). Billboard: pp. 12, 16.
• Steve Morse (14 August 1998). "Korn Feeds the People" (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/
32934920.html?dids=32934920:32934920&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+14,+
"All in the Family" 159
1998&author=Steve+Morse,+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=KORN+FEEDS+THE+PEOPLE&
pqatl=google). The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
• "Rap, Rock, and a Roll in the Hay" (http://books.google.com/books?id=cWMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89&
dq="All+in+the+Family"++Korn+-inpublisher:icon&hl=en&ei=iuWaTOPfGMH58AbN_a2rBA&sa=X&
oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q="All in the Family" +Korn -inpublisher:icon&f=false). The Advocate: p. 89. 13 October 1998. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
• "Korn – Follow the Leader (Immortal-Epic)" (http://books.google.ca/books?id=u49RaKREnYEC&
pg=PA19&dq="All+in+the+Family"+Korn+-wikipedia+-lyrics&hl=en&ei=xOKaTK6aB4H58Abl8vB7&
sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q="All in the Family" Korn -wikipedia -lyrics&f=false). CMJ New Music Report 57 (2): 19. 11 January 1999.
• Kurt B. Reighley (August 1999). "Limp Bizkit Ain't No Family Picnic" (http://books.google.com/
books?id=rikEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60&dq="All+in+the+Family"++Korn+-inpublisher:icon&hl=en&
ei=jOiaTISnGsGC8ga37fWHAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&
ved=0CCcQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q="All in the Family" +Korn -inpublisher:icon&f=false). CMJ New Music Report 57 (2): 36–41, 60.
"Got the Life" 160
"Got the Life"
"Got the Life"
Single by Korn
from the album Follow the Leader B-side "I Can Remember"
Released August 10, 1998
Format 12", CD
Genre Nu metal, funk metal
Length 3:45
Label Epic
Producer Korn, Steven Thompson, and Toby Wright Korn singles chronology
"All in the Family"
(1998)
"Got the Life"
(1998)
"Freak on a Leash"
(1999)
Follow the Leader track listing
"Got the Life" is a song written and recorded by American nu metal band Korn for their third studio album, Follow the Leader. It was released as the album's first single on August 10, 1998. It was recorded in April 1998 at NRG Recording Studios. It was decided they would release the song as a promotional single after each member found that there was something "special" about the song. The single had "phenomenal success", and its music video was requested more than any other video on MTV's TRL, making it the first officially "retired" music video.
"Got the Life" did not receive much attention in the music press, however Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the single two out of five stars, but said that the song boasted "their best rhythm tracks to date." The song was rewarded a gold in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association. It peaked at number one on the Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative Chart chart, as well as number fifteen on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart and number seventeen on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
"Got the Life" 161