28 Years On, The Beastie Boys finally Explain What 'Sabotage' Is About

When the Beastie Boys released "Sabotage" as the first single off Ill Communication in 1994, the song became a defining track of the '90s.

Although the song found massive success, members of the Beastie Boys have never explained the actual meaning of the "Sabotage." People have speculated that it's an anti-religious song or, possibly, anti-paparazzi.

But, 24 years later, in a story from the audiobook of their new memoir, the Beastie Boys finally reveal that "Sabotage" is actually about an annoying sound engineer…

When Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz yells, "I can't stand it / I know you planned it," he's directing his frustration at their friend and producer Mario Caldato Jr., who was pushing the Beastie Boys to actually finish a track.

“We were totally indecisive about what, when, why and how to complete songs. Mario was getting frustrated… he would blow a fuse and get pissed off at us and scream that we just needed to finish something, anything, a song.”

It might not be about cops or religion or annoying photographers, but even if it is directed at their buddy in the studio, the anti-authority message still holds up.

This article was first published on esquire.com