Rage Against the Machine 1992 - present
of the greatest axe men of all time. His screeching rhythms are now an iconic sound of the 90’s, as are the aggressive lyrics of
Rage Against the Machine use brutal, sometimes bordering on violent language in order to put forward their radical disregard for modern society’s values and morals. Songs such as Killing in the Name Of, Know Your Enemy, F*ck Tha Police and Bullet in the Head are examples of such raw and forward protest. The lyrics explore issues such as war, politics and society, highlighting Zack de la Rocha. de la Rocha was their faults and giving the born into a life of protest and being oppressed a voice. Such were anti-society, with both his father and nature of their lyrics, RATM grandfather being active Mexican played a totally revolutionary revolutionaries who had received an style of music, with lead guitarist unsympathetically harsh hand from Tom Morello often herald as one America in their migration.
Protest against modern American society and government are a major theme in de la Rocha’s lyrics. His multiple talents as a musican, alongside Morello, bassist Tim Commerfield and drummer Brad Wilk, make Rage Against the Machine one of the most successful and talked about bands of the last two decades. “Rage�, as they are known by fans, received much publicity after a performance on American variety show Saturday Night Live was cut short after an American flag was draped in a threatening and demining way whilst performing the popular track Bulls On Parade,
an anti-Republican party protest song. Stunts such as this and others of this nature are all part of the bands antiestablishment persuasion. An example of another stunt was when a concert organiser asked the band to censor their lyrics before they performed. All for band member went out onto the stage, completely naked with duct tape over their mouths in a demonstration of and protest against censorship.
Some main areas of protest for Rage Against the Machine includes: anti-government, antisociety, religious influence in America, anti-war, anti-police and providing power to the people. They can be seen as 21st century poets, using a very modern and forward approach to get their point across, as opposed to more traditional, subtle means.
Know Your Enemy Born with insight and a raised fist A witness to the slit wrist, that's with As we move into 92 Still in a room without a view Ya got to know Ya got to know That when I say go, go, go Amp up and amplify Defy I'm a brother with a furious mind Action must be taken We don't need the key Well break in Something must be done About vengeance, a badge and a gun Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system I was born to rage against em Fist in ya face, in the place
And I'll drop the style clearly Know your enemy... know your enemy! Word is born Fight the war, f*ck the norm Now I got no patience So sick of complacence With the d the e the f the I the a the n the c the e Mind of a revolutionary So clear the lane The finger to the land of the chains What? the land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy? Now something must be done About vengeance, a badge and a gun Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system I was born to rage against em
Now action must be taken We don't need the key Well break in I've got no patience now So sick of complacence now I've got no patience now So sick of complacence now Sick of sick of sick of sick of you Time has come to pay... Know your enemy! Come on! Yes I know my enemies They're the teachers who taught me to fight me Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite All of which are American dreams
Know Your Enemy - Rage Against the own prejudices. Rage go on to slander Machine the pride of America and its leader; (Rage Against the Machine, 1992) “What? The land of the free/whoever told you that is your enemy”. These Released in 1992, Know Your Enemy is powerful lyrics take aim at America’s a political and social protest song, with label of being the land of the free, a the lyrics outlining key issues they see phrased used in the US National anthem Star Spangled Banner. The with modern culture and policy, forefathers and current leaders of particularly in America. Key issued America are then described as the raised include the corruption of “enemy” of the American people, as authority figures such as politicians they are being misled and and police, the oppression of the unaware people and war. “Something disillusioned. must be done/about vengeance, a badge and a gun” is an example of an anti-authoritarian lyric, suggesting that the police are over powered and willing to abuse that power by their
This leads into the idea of the rebellion, but one of being aware of oppression of the masses by those in the true situation. The rebellion aspect power; “D the E F the I A the N the C is solidified by the lyric “I was born to the E/The mind of a revolutionary so raise against ‘em”. clear the lane/The finger to the land of the chains”. Describing America as “the land of the chains” represents the people being without freedom, as they are trapped our bound. The words “defiance” and “mind of a revolutionary” imply that there are people that have the power and are willing to break those blinded and in chains free of an oppressive. This goes back to the opening line of the song; “Born with insight and a raised fist”. This is referring to the fact that de la Rocha was not only born into a life of
He and the rest of Rage Against the one of the most celebrated metal Machine see the American people songs of all time, placing second in the being controlled and blinded by a Triple J Hottest 100 tracks of all time. materialistic, elitist and lying government, and are determined to shed light to these facts. Finally, the majority of Rage’s key issues with American culture are cried out, one after another, in the conclusion of the song. “Yes I know my enemies/They are the teachers who taught me to fight me/Yeah compromise, conformity, assimilation/Submission, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite/All of which are American dreams”. An insight and opinion into modern American culture, Know Your Enemy is a poetic example of protest, as well as
Calm Like a Bomb Feel the funk blast Feel the funk blast Feel the funk blast Feel the funk blast Feel the funk blast Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, check it out, yo, yo, yo I be walkin' god like a dog My narrative fearless My word war returns to burn Like Baldwin home from Paris Like Steel from a furnace I was born landless This is tha native son Born of Zapata's guns Stroll through tha shanties And tha cities remains Same bodies buried hungry But with different last names These vultures rob everything
Calm like a bomb Leave nothing but chains Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, Pick a point on tha globe ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, Yes tha pictures tha same There's a bank There's a church ignite Calm like a bomb a myth and a hearse A mall and a loan a child dead at Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, birth ignite There's a widow pig parrot A rebel to tame This ain't subliminal A whitehooded judge Feel tha critical mass approach A syringe and a vein horizon And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha Tha pulse of tha condemned Sound off America's demise unheard what ya say, what ya say, what Tha anti-myth rhythm rock shocker ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what Yes I spit fire Hope lies in tha smoldering ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what rubble of empires Yes back through tha shanties ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what and tha cities remains Tha same bodies buried hungry ya say, what?
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha ignite unheard What ya say, what ya say, what Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ya say, what? What ya say, what ya say, what ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite ya say, what? Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, Calm like a bomb ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, But with different last names These vultures rob everyone Leave nothing but chains Pick a point here at home Yes tha picture's tha same There's a field full of slaves Some corn and some debt There's a ditch full of bodies Tha check for tha rent There's a tap, tha phone, tha silence of stone Tha numb black screen That be feelin' like home
ignite Calm like a bomb Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite Calm Like a bomb There's a mass without roofs There's a prison to fill There's a country's soul that reads post no bills There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill There's a right to obey And there's a right to kill There's a mass without roofs There's a prison to fill There's a country's soul that reads post no bills There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill There's a right to obey And there's a right to kill
Calm Like a Bomb- Rage Against the Machine (The Battle of Los Angeles, 2000) Rage Against the Machine’s Calm Like a Bomb is a rap-metal song that highlights and protest aspects of modern American society and culture such as inequality, oppression and an overpowered upper class. It constantly refers and implies to an uprising of the people, detailing the fact that, if it was so desired, that average citizens could shocker/ Yes I spit fire” represents the have the numbers and power to make violent and overhwhelming take over a difference. Lines such as; “The pulse that could take place is so desired by the people of America. of the condemned/ Sound off America’s demis/ The anti-myth rock
The verse which goes as follows; the American people are at under the “Stroll through tha shanties/And tha forceful hand of government and cities remains/ Same bodies buried authority. hungry/But with different last names /These vultures rob everything/Leave nothing but chains/Pick a point on tha globe/Yes tha pictures tha same” sets up the metaphorical image of what Rage Against the Machine see America to be. This is a place where the people are “dead”, as in they aren’t aware or alive to the truth. The line “Same bodies buried hungry/But with different last names” represents that everyone is the same to the authority, other than there last name. Calm Like a Bomb is a protest song that draws attention to the power and influence
Comparison – Rage Against the Machine and William Blake
When compared to some of the classic poets of the Romantic age, Rage Against the Machine shed light to many issues raised by those of that period.
All be it much more modern, up front and aggressive form of protest, Rage Against the Machine values and themes are very similar to that of William Blake, for example. Both expressed strong views and such matter such as equality, the over power of authority, war and the control of the masses by the government. Both Rage and Blake can be seen as nonconformists who take issue with the way society was operating in their respective eras. Blake’s London is a social protest about the restrictions government had put in place in the early 18th century, limiting people’s freedom of speech and behaviour.
Blake explores similar themes that are emotion or direction. It is implied that touched upon in Rage Against the the people are without freedom, Machine’s Calm Like a Bomb, where anchored down by the daily grind of the nature and ways of a dominant, society. It’s fascinating how similar the misleading government are messages of the two poets’ are, highlighted. These themes are despite the fact they were written highlighted in each poem or song by a almost 300 years apart. particular group of lines; “Stroll through tha shanties/And tha cities remains/Same bodies buried hungry/But with different last names” from Calm Like a Bomb, and “I wander thro' each charter'd street,/Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,/And mark in every face I meet/Marks of weakness, marks of woe” from Blake’s London. Both create the image of a bleak and lifeless town full of people living seemingly without
I believe it makes a joint statement about humanity, indicating that despite our social and technological advancements, the nature of government will always force the poor into a vast underclass of inequality.