Cult Of Personality -- Living Colour

Look into my eyes, what do you see?  Cult of personality I know your anger,
I know your dreams  I’ve been everything you want to be
I’m the cult of personality  Like mussolini and kennedy  I’m the cult of personality  Cult of personality   Cult of personality

(**)  Neon lights, a nobel prize  The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don’t have to follow me  Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be  I’m the smiling face on your t.v.
I’m the cult of personality  I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three  I’m the cult of personality
Like joseph stalin and gandi  I’m the cult of personality
Cult of personality  Cult of personality
Neon lights a nobel prize  A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don’t have to follow me  Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune  You gave me fame  You me power in your god’s name
I’m every person you need to be  I’m the cult of personality
Look into my eyes, what do you see?  Cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams  I’ve been everything you want to be
I’m the cult of personality  Like mussolini and kennedy
I’m the cult of personality  Cult of personality

(**)  

I tell you one and one makes three  I’m the cult of personality
Like joseph stalin and gandi  I’m the cult of personality
Cult of personality  Cult of personality
Neon lights a nobel prize  A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don’t have to follow me  Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune  You gave me fame  You me power in your god’s name
I’m every person you need to be  I’m the cult of personality          (sing365)

This is Malcolm X, from his "Message To The Grass-Roots" speech in 1963. The point of it was to unify African-Americans.  The significance of the quotes is that both were from men who were assassinated. Most of the song seems to be denouncing idolatry, but there is the one stanza containing the line, "A leader speaks, a leader dies." They also seem to make no distinction between "good" and "evil," as each time they mention a "hero" they pair them with an "enemy" - Mussolini and Kennedy, and Stalin and Gandhi.  The final words are "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address on March 4, 1933. Roosevelt used the address to announce his "New Deal" program and encourage the citizens of the United States to overcome their economic problems as they emerged from the depression.                                                                        (songfacts) 


                                           


 an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. Detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, antisemitism, and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.

Malcolm X's father died when he was young.  When he was thirteen, his mother was placed in a mental hospital, and he was placed in a series of foster homes. In 1946, at age 20, he went to prison for breaking and entering.

In prison, Malcolm X became a member of the Nation of Islam and after his parole in 1952 he quickly rose to become one of its leaders. For a dozen years Malcolm X was the public face of the controversial group, but disillusionment with Nation of Islam head Elijah Muhammad led him to leave the Nation in March 1964. After a period of travel in Africa and the Middle East, he returned to the United States, where he founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. In February 1965, less than a year after leaving the Nation of Islam, he was assassinated by three members of the group.

Malcolm X's expressed beliefs changed substantially over time. As a spokesman for the Nation of Islam he taught black supremacy and advocated separation of black and white Americans—in contrast to the civil rights movement's emphasis on integration. After breaking with the Nation of Islam in 1964—saying of his association with it, "I was a zombie then ... pointed in a certain direction and told to march"—and becoming a Sunni Muslim, he disavowed racism and expressed willingness to work with civil rights leaders, though still emphasizing black self-determination and self defense.                                          (wikipedia)