Search and Destroy

Pop and Williamson wrote it, and Williamson has said that during rehearsal he began imitating the sound of machine-gun fire on his guitar. The title is a Vietnam War tactic. Pop said he took the lyric from Time magazine. It opens Raw Power and was released as a single.

Lenny Kaye wrote in Rolling Stone that it showed Iggy secure in his role of GI pawn. Williamson has said that it was a huge song that resonated with every audience. It appears in 137 of the 246 logged setlists with songs for Iggy and the Stooges. Henry Rollins has the title tattooed across his shoulder blades, and a San Francisco punk fanzine of 1977 to 1979 was named after it.

Covers

The Dictators, the Dead Boys, Shotgun Messiah and Def Leppard have all covered it. The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded it during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions, and it appeared as the B-side of Give It Away. Soundgarden played it on the live album Live on I-5.