Twenty Questions
Featuring
Produced by
Twenty Questions Lyrics
Or is the cup half full?
Does the sun rise at dawn?
Or does the earth just spin along?
Or is it all perspective?
On how we see the world?
How many countless life forms
Are on a little ball that twirls?
Are we intrinsically separate beings?
Or could we possibly be parts of the same thing?
Water feeds the plants and
The sunshine makes them grow
So how can anyone be an island on their own?
Does life life make me happy?
Or does it bring me down?
Do I have what I need?
Or do I just want what's around?
Am (am) I (I) seeing truth?
Or do I just see wool?
Well is the cup (cup) half (half) empty?
Or is the cup half full?
About
Previously unreleased, “20 Questions” first appeared as #13, D2 on Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science, released 11.23.1999. It’s a duet between Adam “MCA” Yauch and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto.
While we were working on Hello Nasty I was listening to a lot of bossanova. Mario [Caldato] is originally from Brazil and he knows quite a bit about 60’s Brazilian music. He turned me on to a number of things, but in particular, I couldn’t stop listening to both Jorge Ben and Antonio Carlos Jobim. At some point when I was listening to Jobim’s “Aguas De Marco” I decided that I wanted to write and record a couple of bossanova songs. I guess that’s kind of like saying “I was watching Michael Jordan play basketball and I decided that I want to play for the Bulls.” Sure you do. [“Twenty Questions” was] started in the Dungeon and then finished over at RPM. Miho from Cibo Matto has an amazing voice, and she too is in love with old bossanova music. She came into the sudio toward the end of our recording and put down some vocal tracks.
—Adam Yauch, in the liner notes for The Sounds of Science (1999)
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Beastie Boys
- 2.Slow and Low
- 4.Gratitude
- 6.Root Down
- 7.Believe Me
- 8.Sure Shot
- 10.Boomin’ Granny
- 13.Pass the Mic
- 15.Bodhisattva Vow
- 16.Sabrosa
- 17.Song for the Man
- 18.Soba Violence
- 19.Alive
- 23.Sabotage
- 24.Shadrach
- 25.Brass Monkey
- 26.Time for Livin’
- 27.Dub the Mic
- 30.I Want Some
- 31.She’s On It
- 32.Son of Neckbone
- 33.Get It Together
- 34.Twenty Questions
- 35.Remote Control
- 36.Railroad Blues
- 37.Live Wire
- 38.So What’cha Want
- 39.Netty’s Girl
- 40.Egg Raid on Mojo
- 41.Hey Ladies
- 42.Intergalactic