Shock to the System (Billy Idol song)

Idol explained for MTV News, that he had originally created the song with an entirely different set of lyrics, but upon witnessing the Los Angeles riots of 1992 on television, he immediately rewrote and recorded them that day.MTV News: Billy Idol "Cyberpunk" Disk (VIDEO). CABLE TV: MTV. May 1993. Speaking to Melody Maker in 1993, Idol commented, {{blockquote|"Of course there's an element of 'Wow!' to it. The three-quarters of people in L.A. who don't live in Beverly Hills saw one of their number being crapped on by the police and an all-white jury in an all-white neighbourhood. They weren't gonna take it anymore and they actually did something about it. And, of course, no matter how people feel about it now, there was an element of glee when you saw some guy running off with a pair of Nike sneakers he'd only ever dreamed of having. There was a lot of sides to what was going on. There was police, civil corruption, fear, race, rape and revolution. And there was a man who would be King. And we tried to get it all in the song."{{cite magazine |author=The Stud Brothers |date=10 July 1993 |title=Generation Terrorist |magazine=Melody Maker |page=39}}}}

Upon its release as a single, Terry Staunton of NME described "Shock to the System" as being "essentially 'White Wedding' for the Terminator 2 generation" and noted the "embarrassing lyrics".{{cite magazine |last=Staunton |first=Terry |date=19 June 1993 |title=Singles |magazine=New Musical Express |page=15}} Both the video and song were heavily analyzed for the overtones of racial, sexual, and physical trauma presented within them by Thomas Foster, associate professor at Indiana University, in his 2005 book, The Souls of Cyberfolk.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

A music video was created for the song, and was set in a dystopian future controlled by Cyber-cops (referred to as such by director Brett Leonard). It depicted an individual who records the Cyber-cops beating a man, only to be noticed and attacked himself. His camera is destroyed and the Cyber-cops leave him unconscious on the ground, as they are busy trying to put down a riot elsewhere in the city. Alone, his camera equipment lands on him and is absorbed into his body, causing him to dramatically morph into a cyborg. The cyborg then joins the riot, leading the rebels to victory.

Idol explained that he was trying to capture the political and economic conflict that had created the LA Riots, and that the camcorder – as displayed in the witnessing of the Rodney King beating – was a "potent way of conveying ideas" and an important metaphor for technology used in rebellion.Cyberpunk: Shock to the System. Brett Leonard. Billy Idol. ERG Video & Chrysalis Group. 29 June 1993

The make-up effects were achieved through stop motion, with Billy Idol moving in slow stages during points of the filming. Stan Winston, who had previously worked on the Terminator series and Jurassic Park, supervised and created the special effects for the video. The music video for "Shock to the System" was nominated for "Best Special Effects in a Video" and "Best Editing in a Video" at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, losing both times to Peter Gabriel's video for "Steam".

The video was later released on NTSC VHS along with a making-of documentary and a remix, as well as a video for Idol's previous single "Heroin".

Several singles for "Shock to the System" were released to various countries. Several included various remixes of "Heroin", a cover of The Velvet Underground's song of the same name, composed and written by Lou Reed. The cover of "Heroin" also included the lyric "Jesus died for somebody's sins/But not mine", written by Patti Smith for her cover of "Gloria". The Australian, Japan, Netherlands, and U.S. releases included the track "Aftershock", which was not included in the Cyberpunk CD.

{{tracklist

| headline = Australia and Netherlands release

| total_length = 17:78

| title1 = Shock to the System

| lyrics1 = Idol

| length1 = 3:33

| title2 = Aftershock

| length2 = 4:45

| title3 = Heroin

| note3 = Don't Touch That Needle Mix

| length3 = 5:10

| title4 = Heroin

| note4 = Durga Trance Dub

| length4 = 5:10

}}

{{tracklist

| total_length = 22:40

| title1 = Shock to the System

| headline = Japan release

| lyrics1 = Idol

| length1 = 3:33

| title2 = Aftershock

| length2 = 4:45

| title3 = Heroin

| note3 = A Drug Called Horse Mix

| length3 = 7:19

}}

U.K. double CD release

{{tracklist

| headline = Disc 1

| total_length = 14:22

| title1 = Shock to the System

| lyrics1 = Idol

| length1 = 3:33

| title2 = Heroin

| note2 = Album version

| length2 = 6:59

| title3 = Rebel Yell

| note3 = edit

| length3 = 3:50

}}{{tracklist

| headline = Disc 2

| total_length = 14:02

| title1 = Shock to the System

| lyrics1 = Idol

| length1 = 3:33

| title2 = Heroin

| note2 = Smack Attack mix

| length2 = 6:59

| title3 = White Wedding

| note3 = edit

| length3 = 3:30

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = U.S. release

| total_length = 22:40

| title1 = Shock to the System

| lyrics1 = Idol

| length1 = 3:33

| title2 = Aftershock

| length2 = 4:45

| title3 = Heroin

| note3 = A Drug Called Horse mix

| length3 = 7:19

| title4 = Heroin

| note4 = Ionizer mix

| length4 = 7:03

}}

{{Reflist}}

• "[http://www.clipland.com/Summary/944433255/ Shock to the System]", on the Clipland database.
• "[http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--157418686 Shock to the System]", Chrysalis, Yahoo! Music, 2008.
• {{YouTube|nT1QpUJznlE|"Shock to the System"}}, EMI America Records, 26 June 2008.
• [http://www.singingfool.com/Title.aspx?publishedid=798747 "Shock to the System"], Chrysalis/EMI Records, SingingFool.

{{Billy Idol}}

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Category:1993 songs

Category:1993 singles

Category:Billy Idol songs

Category:Chrysalis Records singles

Category:Protest songs

Category:Songs about racism and xenophobia

Category:Songs based on actual events

Category:Songs written by Billy Idol