| Rage Against the Machine – Producer/Fall from the Grace of the People Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| It was not released on any album. It was only played live, and only once that I know of. Absolutely awesome song though. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – No Shelter Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| The song was written for Godzilla (it only appears on the soundtrack for Godzilla and on live albums). Which makes it even more hilarious. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Ashes in the Fall Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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This song is about the collapse of society due to right-wing capitalism. It should be pretty obvious by the lyrics. "A mass of hands press on the market window Ghosts of progress Dressed in slow death Feeding on hunger And glaring through the promise Upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle A mass of nameless at the oasis That hides the graves beneath the masters hill Buried for drinking The rivers water While shackled to the line At the empty well" This could be taken two ways -- what could eventually happen from capitalism (slavery) or it could be metaphorical for economic slavery -- how we are all slaves to our office jobs and corporations. "Listen to the fascist sing Take hope here War is elsewhere You were chosen This is god's land Soon well be free Of blot and mixture Seeds planted by our Forefathers hand" Enslaving and brainwashing people through religion and it being "god's will" "A mass of promises Begin to rupture Like the pockets Of the new world kings Like swollen stomachs In Appalachia Like the priests that fuck you As they whisper holy things A mass of tears have transformed to stones now Sharpened on suffering Woven into slings Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress Taking today what tomorrow never brings" Appalachia is a region in the US filled with extreme poverty, very similar to what you would find in the third world. This line in general means that people rebelled after seeing empty promises by the rich overlords. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Born of a Broken Man Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| This song is about Zack's father, who had a breakdown. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Without A Face Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Bingo. Well done. Glad to see I am not the only person who knows what they are talking about ;) Wilson reference is to president Woodrow Wilson, who got the US involved in the Mexican Revolution | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Revolver Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Way off. It is about domestic abuse, and she then shoots him with a revolver. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Revolver Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Bingo. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Wake Up Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| As mr13lcky said, you are way off. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – No Shelter Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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"How can Coca-Cola be in the veins of Saigon? First off, you don't inject Coca-Cola, you drink it. Secondly, if they are injecting it then I highly doubt EVERYONE in Saigon is doing it. " It is a figure of speech. "Also, Rambo never wore Nikes. He was always wearing combat boots...unless Nike makes combat boots that I'm not aware of. " Again, it is a figure of speech. Rambo is an icon, and our icons shill corporate goodies. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Down Rodeo Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Perfectly said. They also care more about their items, and now how those items were made. Also my favorite line in the song is "The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull" | |
| Rage Against the Machine – People Of The Sun Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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"Check it, since fifteen hundred and sixteen, minds attacked and overseen" 1516 is the year that the Spanish took control over what is now Central America. "With their borders and boots, on top of us" How the US has taken over land which Mexico once owned in what is now the Southwest United States. "The gut eaters, blood drenched get offensive like Tet" Referencing the Tet Offensive "The fifth sun sets get back reclaim" The Aztec's believed 4 worlds existed before this one, and we are currently in the fifth. "The spirit of Cuauhtémoc, alive and untamed" Cuauhtémoc was the leader of the Aztecs when the Spanish invaded. He was captured and supposedly asked Cortés to kill him with his own knife. Cortés refused, saying that he was impressed with the bravery of Cuauhtémoc, and basically pretended to be his friend. After the Spanish looted and didn't find as much gold as they expected, they tortured Cuauhtémoc to see if he would cough up more gold. He was then executed a few years later after allegedy Cuauhtémoc planned to kill Cortés. Most scholars do not believe it was a just execution, and Cortés supposedly felt real guilty afterwards. That is just one story of the execution; there are a few others. "On the one, Maya, Mexica" Referencing the Mayans "Yeah, never forget that the whip snapped ya back Your spine cracked for tobaco, I'm the Marlboro Man, uh" How Mexico is basically used as slave labor by the US tobacco industry. Also referencing the Marlboro man, obviously. He was the Marlboro spokesman (a "real American cowboy"). He later died of lung cancer. "Troops strippin' zoots, shots of red mist" Referencing the zoot suit riots. It was a riot during WW II (1943) that broke out in LA between white sailors and Latino youth. It is a long story that I don't have room to type out here. "Now the City of Angels does the ethnic cleanse, uh" Referencing policies that California and LA (the city of angels) has done that are pretty racist against Mexican people (i.e. Proposition 187, which was to deny assistance to anyone who could not prove residence, which was mainly immigrant latinos). |
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| Rage Against the Machine – People Of The Sun Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| You are way off. This song is about Mexico and how the US fucked them over. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Maria Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Bingo. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Thanks! I have been a fan of theirs for many, many years (and am a huge fan of history). I figure if I can educate one fan on their meaning, it was worth it. While I don't like GWB, I don't like seeing people attribute these song meanings to him when it would've been impossible for it to be the case. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Roll Right Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Actually, pre-1995 (when this song was written), the Democrat (I refuse to call them leftist) presidents have been just as guilty about warmongering as the Republicans. Carter (Cambodia, Latin America), Clinton (Somalia, Yugoslavia, Mexico), JFK (Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba), LBJ (Vietnam) are all just as guilty as Reagan, Bush I, and Ford. Hell, even Obama has done some shady stuff in Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Egypt. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Roll Right Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| This song was written in 1995, dude. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| You nailed it. Anyone saying it is about "war mongering Republicans" was obviously born after 1995. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Wow, you guys are way off. This song is about the military industrial complex in America today (of which both parties are equally to blame). Remember, this song was written in 1995, way before George W Bush became president and the whole warmongering label was applied to Republicans. "Bull" is in reference to the bull market, which the military industrial complex is supposed to feed. "They rally round tha family! With a pocket full of shells" - This is in reference to family value politicians, who then proceed to send us to war for profit. "Tha rotten sore on tha face of mother earth gets bigger" - This is to reference the military industrial complex growing as America influences more land through its military complex "Wit tha sure shot, sure ta make tha bodies drop Drop an don't copy yo, don't call this a co-op" - This is referencing CIA coups that were occurring during the 70s and 80s. The CIA would do a coup and then say it was a co-op with a local group and install a puppet leader. "They don't gotta burn tha books they just remove 'em" - How the victor changes the history and identity of the people to how they see fit "Either drop tha hits like de la O" - This is in referencec to Genovevo da la O, who was a Zapatista guerrilla leader during the Mexican revolution of the early 1900s |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Actually, you are way wrong. The song is in reference to America's military industrial complex. "Bull" is in reference to a bull market, in that the military industrial complex is to make a profit for share holders. The whole warmongering Republican thing has only happened recently (this song was released during Clinton's first term). Prior to GWB, Republicans were more fans of covert operations (although Democrats were no better) moreso than actual war. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Actually, you are way wrong. The song is in reference to America's military industrial complex. "Bull" is in reference to a bull market, in that the military industrial complex is to make a profit for share holders. The whole warmongering Republican thing has only happened recently (this song was released during Clinton's first term). Prior to GWB, Republicans were more fans of covert operations (although Democrats were no better) moreso than actual war. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Without A Face Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| You nailed it. Still not sure what Wilson is in reference to, though. | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Vietnow Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| It's actually in reference to Iran-Contra (assumed based on the line about Ollie [Oliver North] above it) | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Producer/Fall from the Grace of the People Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song was only played live (I believe only in the 1994 Pinkpop concert). "Eventually addicted to your eight hour injections of hypocracy and arrogance and greed" should be "Eventually addicted to your eight hour injections of plutocracy and arrogance and greed" The lyrics of the song are pretty obvious in their meaning. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Tire Me Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Oh, and I forgot... "Amidst the eulogies of bliss Who will know now what I know about you? Now that history's a flowery cancerous mess" This refers to how at Nixon and JFK's eulogies, no one mentions the bad crap they did (Watergate [nixon], Vietnam war covert operations [both], causing the Cuban Missile Crisis [jfk], voter fraud [JFK, maybe nixon too], etc), everyone only remembered the good. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Tire Me Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Oh, and I forgot... "Amidst the eulogies of bliss Who will know now what I know about you? Now that history's a flowery cancerous mess" This refers to how at Nixon and JFK's eulogies, no one mentions the bad crap they did (Watergate [nixon], Vietnam war covert operations [both], causing the Cuban Missile Crisis [jfk], voter fraud [JFK, maybe nixon too], etc), everyone only remembered the good. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Tire Me Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I doubt the song is about that outlandish, far-fetched conspiracy | |
| Rage Against the Machine – Tire Me Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song was written to celebrate Richard Nixon's death, according to Zack. However, the lyrics are mostly dealing with the media's infatuation with the Kennedys and how blind everyone was to the crap that he pulled behind the scenes. "Oh she's got everyone's eyes" - Jackie was supposedly the "perfect" American. All the media was all over her up until her death (see below). She was actually a gold-digger who really never contributed anything to anything. Born to wealth and married the very wealthy Aristotle Onassis after JFK was assassinated. "I want to be Jackie Onassis I want to wear a pair of dark sunglasses I want to be Jackie O Oh oh oh oh please don't die!" - This is a tribute to a punk song, I forgot which one, but it fits the song's meanings well. When Jackie O was dying of cancer, everyone was so obsessed with her like she was an important figure. They were blind to the stuff that was really going on. "And those colorful words for tha Laos frontiers-man Who passed away with the truth" - This is a reference to the Hmong tribe in Laos. The CIA basically used them to fight the Vietcong covertly, and took poppy seeds with which they sold to pay for the operation. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about how your vote doesn't matter, all you are doing is voting for the military industrial complex. "More for Gore or the son of a drug lord" - Refers to the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush Jr (GWB). Bush's father, the first president Bush, was head of CIA when the CIA started to push drugs in our streets and in the 80s when he oversaw the CIA's involvement in the Iran-Contra, which involved using drugs to fund the contras. "Mumia Guan" is a guy who was arrested for killing a cop in Philadelphia. The trial got national publicity and the trial was pretty shady... However, most evidence points to him actually being the killer. But he should get a re-trial. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – War Within a Breath Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about the EZLN. I am too lazy to go through each reference in the lyrics, but they are all in reference to the EZLN (now a non-violent campaign, but at one time was for violent revolution in Mexico). "Everything can change on a new years day" is in reference to NAFTA, which basically screwed over Mexican workers (and American workers) in the name of "fair trade", which meant cheap consumer goods for Americans at the cost of American jobs and slave labor in Mexico. "Black flag and a red star" is in reference to the EZLN flag "is like Gaza on to the dawn of Intifada" Intifada means "resistance". The reference here is the fight by young Palestinians against Israel, which is the general term for Intifada. It was officially stopped in '93, but still goes on today "Shot four puppet governors in a line" I don't know of any times the EZLN did any assassinations or anything, so if anyone knows what this is reference to, I would love to know |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Bullet In The Head Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about propaganda here in the USA, and how we are all too blinded by materialism to realize that. "A yellow ribbon instead of a swastika" - In the US, a yellow ribbon is a symbol showing you "support the troops", not realizing why they are actually at war. Just like the swastika, only here in America. The movement started in 1979 with the hostage crisis in Iran, to "show support for the hostages", and was later used during the first gulf war to "show support for the troops". It was also used during Gulf War II and the Afghanistan war to "show support" as well. Basically, it is blind patriotism. "They load the clip in omni color" - Omni color is what used to be used by TVs and movies for color. Zack uses it to show that we are too blinded by movies and tv to give a crap about being brainwashed by propaganda. "Sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz" - in 1969-1971, a group of Native Americans took over Alcatraz. Eventually, they dwindled, but 15 were left in 1971 and the feds came and removed them. Rumor has it the feds used sleeping gas to remove them. You guys need to read up on your history :) |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Wake Up Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about the black rights movements during the 60s. "And like E-Double I'm mad" - E Double was a rapper in the group EPMD, who made a rap called "I'm mad" "Hoover, he was a body remover" - J Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI and HATED the civil rights movements. Lots of conspiracies put the FBI as responsible for a lot of the assassinations and killings of civil rights movement people. "You know they went after King When he spoke out on Vietnam" - Conspiracy theories state that the feds actually killed King, not James Earl Ray "Flip like Wilson" - Flip Wilson was pretty much the first popular black comedian (during the 60s) "Then stick and move like I was Cassius" - Cassius Clay, AKA Mohammed Ali, one of the best boxers of all time "Ya know they murdered X And tried to blame it on Islam" - Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam on bad terms, and the official story is that NOI killed him, but there are conspiracy theories that state otherwise. "He may be a real contender for this position should he Abandon his supposed obedience to white liberal doctrine Of non-violence and embrace black nationalism' Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to Pinpoint potential trouble-makers and neutralize them, Neutralize them, neutralize them'" This is part of the declassified COINTELPRO memo J Edgar Hoover sent out during the civil rights movement. It basically said that MLK was a pacifist, but if they have reason to believe he is going to abandon his pacificism, they should kill him. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Wake Up Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| "Flip like Wilson" is in referencee to Flip Wilson, a black comedian during the 60s. Basically the first black comedian to be nationally famous. The song is about the civil rights movements | |
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