| "Rise" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:PiL_Rise.jpg) | ||||
| Single by Public Image Ltd | ||||
| from the album Album | ||||
| A-side | "Rise" | |||
| B-side | "Rise (Instrumental)" | |||
| Released | 20 January 1986 | |||
| Studio | Power Station, New York City | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 6:05 (album version) 4:27 (7" edit) | |||
| Label | Virgin VS 841 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Public Image Ltd singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
&sq=&lang=&file=File:PiL_Rise_12_inch.jpg) 12" cover | ||||
"Rise" is a song by the English post-punk band Public Image Ltd, released as a single on 20 January 1986 by Virgin Records.[1] It was the first single from Album, their fifth studio album.
The song was written by John Lydon and Bill Laswell about apartheid in South Africa, specifically about Nelson Mandela as Lydon stated in a 2013 Glastonbury interview.[2] Lydon also referred to alleged Royal Ulster Constabulary interrogation techniques, such as electric torture, in an MTV interview in 1987.[3] It was one of the group's biggest commercial hits, peaking at #11 on the UK Singles Chart. The song contains the phrase 'may the road rise with you', which is a direct translation of the old Irish blessing "go n-éirí an bóthar leat" (usually translated as "may the road rise up to meet you"). The phrase "anger is an energy" became the title of Lydon's 2014 autobiography.