Egg Man

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)
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Songfacts®:

  • John Lennon sang about being the "Egg Man" in "I Am The Walrus," but the Beastie Boys claim the moniker on this song. The mischievous trio enjoyed throwing eggs at people, and their newfound riches from their debut album Licensed to Ill only enabled the habit.

    After leaving their original label, Def Jam, and getting a $750,000 advance to sign with Capitol, they spent some time at the stylish Mondrian hotel in Los Angeles, where they threw eggs from the roof at the folks below. Hotel management politely asked them to stop.
  • Like most of the tracks on Paul's Boutique, "Egg Man" is built on a bed of samples. The main groove comes from "Sport," a 1973 track by the funk band Ligtnin' Rod. Bits of Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" also make up much of the track.

    Two Public Enemy tracks also come in to complete lines of lyrics: "You're Gonna Get Yours" (When I pull out the station you're gonna get yours) and "Bring the Noise" (Now they got me in a cell but I don't care).
  • The end of this track is a horror movie montage, with samples from the themes of Psycho and Jaws.

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