No Sleep till Brooklyn
| "No Sleep till Brooklyn" | |
|---|---|
| The guitar solo in "No Sleep till Brooklyn" | |
 Single stand-alone cover | |
| Composed by: Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz, Rick Rubin | |
| Vocals | Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz |
| Genres | Rap rock, hard rock, heavy metal |
| Key | E♭ major |
| BPM | 96 |
| Time signature | Common time |
| Appears in | Licensed to Ill (1986, overall) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023, Super Mario franchise) |
"No Sleep till Brooklyn", also formatted as "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn",[1] is a song by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released on March 1, 1987 as the sixth single from their debut studio album, Licensed to Ill. 50 seconds of the song are used in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, when the Mario brothers run through Brooklyn to fix a leaking sink as their first plumbing job. As with the other licensed songs in the movie, "No Sleep till Brooklyn" is not included on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Composition[edit]
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a moderate rap rock,[2] hard rock[3] and heavy metal song.[3] Written in the key of E♭ major, the song is set in a time signature of common time with a tempo of 96 beats per minute.[1] The main guitar riff uses a repeating E-G-A-B-G power chord progression, as the song alternates from rap verses to vocal hooks. Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, and Adam Horovitz, the three members of Beastie Boys, provide all vocals and share songwriting credit with Rick Rubin, who produced the song and played its guitar riff.
Lyrics[edit]
No sleep 'til
No sleep 'til Brooklyn
No sleep 'til Brooklyn
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Yeah)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (No) sleep (Sleep) 'til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
Personnel[edit]
- Beastie Boys – co-producers
- Rick Rubin – producer, rhythm guitar
- Steven Ett – engineer
- Joe Blaney – mixing
- Kerry King – lead guitar
The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the song plays when the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing van breaks down on the way to fix a leaking sink, the brothers' first plumbing job. Mario packs his bag and pulls Luigi out of the van to run instead. The third chorus of the song plays while the brothers run through Brooklyn, as trash cans, cats, people, a car door, and a road closure slow their progress. The guitar solo plays in the construction site, while the outro plays as Mario jumps from the signpost and opens the gate for Luigi, with the song concluding in front of the Brooklyn couple's house.
The song was shortened to 50 seconds when included in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The sample used is a mash-up of the opening riff and end of the song, with the third chorus, outro, and emphasis on the guitar solo, played by Slayer co-lead guitarist Kerry King.
Critical reception[edit]
While considered one of the Beastie Boys' signature songs,[4] "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was poorly received in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie for being included over an original or Mario song. Gabriela Perez Orta of Daily Titan thought the song was "completely out of place as Mario and Luigi parkour through the streets of Brooklyn",[5] while John Serba of Decider used the guitar solo as proof of something that was "edgy and cool several decades ago" now being a "deathless nostalgia borg".[6] Luke Y. Thompson of Yahoo! Entertainment was also unimpressed, and poked fun at the song as coming from "Hollywood's Obvious Choices 101 folder".[7]
Despite this, some critics did enjoy the song's inclusion, such as Stacey Henley of The Gamer, who found it "strangely charming" to see Mario and Luigi run through Brooklyn to the song,[8] while Seth Hay of Cat with Monocle called it a standout despite feeling its inclusion was not necessary.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Beastie Boys "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn" Sheet Music in Eb Major. Universal Music Publishing Group. Retrieved September 2, 2025 from Musicnotes.
- ^ "As a member of Beastie Boys, Yauch (who recorded under the name MCA) helped pioneer rap-rock with (...) classic tracks like "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," (...)" – Tim Grierson (May 4, 2012). Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch Has Died. About.com. Archived January 14, 2013, 15:56:05 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ a b "The Beastie Boys also pepper their music with bits of heavy metal and hard rock - the squalling guitar solo on "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," for example, is provided by Kerry King of the hip heavy-metal band Slayer." – Ken Tucker (February 01, 1987). Rough-rapping Beastie Boys Cut A Path From Cult To Chart. Philly.com. Archived June 6, 2014, 22:06:17 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ May 9, 2012. Readers' Poll: The Best Beastie Boys Songs of All Time. Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Gabriela Perez Orta (April 12, 2023). Review: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" rides high in nostalgia. Daily Titan. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Serba, John (December 5, 2023). Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ on Netflix, a Perfectly Fine Family Movie Further Proving That IP is King. Decider. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Luke Y. Thompson (April 4, 2023). The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review: Lets-a Not Go. Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Henley, Stacey (April 4, 2023). The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review - Take A Bowser. The Gamer. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
- ^ Hay, Seth (April 5, 2023). The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Review). Retrieved September 2, 2025.
