Lyrics for Bullet In The Head as interpreted by piesupreme

Bullet In The Head Lyrics
This time the bullet cold rocked ya
A yellow ribbon instead of a swastika
Nothin' proper about ya propaganda
Fools follow rules when the set commands ya
Said it was blue
When ya blood was red
That's how ya got a bullet blasted through ya head

Blasted through ya head
Blasted through ya head

I give a shout out to the living dead
Who stood and watched as the feds cold centralised?
So serene on the screen
You was mesmerised
Cellular phones soundin' a death tone
Corporations cold
Turn ya to stone before ya realise

They load the clip in omnicolour
Said they pack the 9, they fire it at prime time
The sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz
And mutha fuckas lost their minds

Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
Yeah
Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
Run it!

(Guitar solo)

Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high

Check-a, check-a, check it out
They load the clip in omnicolour
Said they pack the 9, they fire it at prime time
The sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz
And mutha fuckas lost their minds

No escape from the mass mind rape
Play it again jack and then rewind the tape
And then play it again and again and again
Until ya mind is locked in
Believin' all the lies that they're tellin' ya
Buyin' all the products that they're sellin' ya
They say jump and ya say how high
Ya brain-dead
Ya gotta fuckin' bullet in ya head

Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
Yeah
Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high

Uggh! Yeah! Yea!

Ya standin' in line
Believin' the lies
Ya bowin' down to the flag
Ya gotta bullet in ya head

Ya standin' in line
Believin' the lies
Ya bowin' down to the flag
Ya gotta bullet in ya head

A bullet in ya head (8 times, building to a shout)
A bullet in ya head (7 times, shouted/screamed)
Ya gotta bullet in ya fuckin' head!
Yeah!
Yeah! (Sustained to end of drum roll)

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 56 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
confusionince
08-17-2006

Rated 0 
ok you are all very close when it comes to the yellow ribbon thing. As you all know Nazi Germany used an ever flowing stream of propaganda to manipulate and brainwash the public. The Swastica was a representation of the Nazi party and all that it stood for. Not only that but it was another form of increasing nationalism and unity towards their ends. Rage is saying that the yellow ribbon is our swastica.

Log in to reply
confusionince
08-17-2006

Rated 0 
To all those who say rage is hypocritical because of the money they make, you are not quite accurate. There are two things that would determine if they were being hypocritical and one is unknowable by anyone but them. The first is why they do what they do (for the money or the message)and the second is what they do with their aquired capital. As far as I know Zack has continued to be pollitically active and maintains the values he began with. How much rage merchandise is there? Not much. There is no prefitiering. (excuse the poor spelling)

Log in to reply
Lateralus518
01-18-2007

Rated 0 
This song is more about being educated.. "No government throughout history has wanted its people to be educated.. because then they couldn't be controlled as easily". This is about the lies that the media sells you "the bullet". "They say jump, you say how high", meaning we buy it and fail to question. It all has to do with ignorance. Such a badass song, though.

Log in to reply
Dstyles
01-28-2007

Rated 0 
'Fools follow rules when the set commands ya,
said it was blue, when the blood was red...thats how ya got a bullet blasted though ya head'

Most probably referring to the Crips and Bloods gangs of Los Angeles who associate the colors blue (crip) and blood (red) to their gangs. What these two gangs started out as, and what they've become today are two very different things.

Back when the lyrics were written the whole LA gang culture had just seen worldwide exposure through gangsta rap records - with many of the artists expressing their ties to crip or blood sets.

It was around this time that gang culture really started to spread not only across the [US] nation but the world.
The line between fiction and reality were [and still are] heavily distorted by the media.

'Fools follow rules when the set commands ya' speaks of the mindless violence carried out by gang members in return for 'respect' from their gang member associates.

Log in to reply
jpatj
04-22-2007

Rated 0 
Ya standin' in line
Believin' the lies
Ya bowin' down to the flag
Ya gotta bullet in ya head

i think that pretty much sums up the meaning ratm is trying to get through...

im not very good with putting it in words but it
means your listening to what your being told and
beleiving it without any question... adding to the machine

ya may as well have a bullet in yer head

Log in to reply
IAMtheHymn
05-22-2007

Rated 0 
The media is definitely full of bullshit, but not all of it is bullshit... fucking news reporters like to shit all over the news scene and over-dramatize every damn story, and never tell you simply happened. Kinda depressing knowing that everything around you is basically or almost a lie, but there is no escape from the mass mind rape

Log in to reply
dScan
06-15-2007

Rated 0 
this song has so many great elements.. the opening bass, lyrics, and the g-tar solo.

Log in to reply
Luke0003
09-19-2007

Rated 0 
My interpretation of "bullet in the head" is that it's a reference to the hypodermic needle theory (aka Bullet theory) that was developed by the Marxist Frankfurt School theorists in the 1930s. The theory suggests that the media is a powerful, mind controlling institution. Messages from television and radio are metaphorically shot into the minds of passive, unsuspecting viewers and listeners (as though they're being shot in the head with a bullet), and the bullet (or hypodermic needle) is a metaphor for propaganda.

Log in to reply
Luke0003
09-21-2007

Rated 0 
...and to atthedrive-in, Marx suggested not to blame those who use the capitalist system to their advantage. His criticisms lay with the exploitative nature of the capitalist system itself. Don't blame RATM for penning ground breaking messages, then using the only practical means possible to distribute them on a global scale. Signing with a global record label was the only for RATM to reach those who most need to hear their music.

Log in to reply
Glimsil
09-23-2007

Rated 0 
A lot of you are mostly correct. Here's a quote from one of the band members concerning being censored when they were to play on SNL, (Morello I believe): "It should come as no surprise that General Electric, which owns NBC, would find the second song we were going to play that night, "Bullet In The Head," objectionable. It's a song which is in part about the media manipulation of public opinion during the Gulf War, and GE was a major manufacturer of war planes that were used to commit war crimes in the Gulf, specifically the bombing of hydroelectric dams, killing thousands of Iraqi civilians."

Take a look at the lyrics again with this in mind and you'll see a clearer message.

Log in to reply
droyce
11-19-2007

Rated 0 
"Fools follow rules when the set commands ya
Said it was blue
When ya blood was red
That's how ya got a bullet blasted through ya head"

IMO, i disagree with the Blood/Crips gang thing. To me this a literal statement of our troops in the gulf war. How they are fools for following commands, and how they are brainwashed by the media into thinking there was honor in fighting for our county (blue, color of our flag) but really they're just giving up their lives for no good reason, blood is only RED. And thats why they got a bullet blasted through their head.
I don't necessarily agree or disagree with the lyrics, so don't attack me.

Log in to reply
srsly-dude
12-01-2007

Rated 0 
atthedrive-in: I do understand what you said, and I believe that they are a great example of what they preach against, but it's possible that they don't make the music just for the money. Maybe they do, maybe they don't (or did), I don't know.

Log in to reply
Groove_Holmes
12-05-2007

Rated 0 
"Said it was blue
When ya blood was red"

I know this probably isn't what Zack had in mind, but I can't help but to think that these two lines could refer to the nobility (blue blooded!) or the upper class. From that idea I can derive two meanings:

1. The people who fight in wars these days are the poor, not the rich. (Still the rich people are the ones that decide when we go to war.)

2. The prevailing propaganda claims that it is somehow noble to die in a war, when it actually only is very sad and unnecessary. (At least if you die for the causes the current US wars are fought.)

Log in to reply
jpatj
12-06-2007

Rated 0 
ok groove holmes your gunna have to explain to me what your saying about the current US wars because i don't understand

Log in to reply
guv
12-19-2007

Rated 0 
hes saying that the u.s wars are always started by the rich fought by the poor... started by the old and fought by the young

they only start this many wars because they dont have to fight in it...


hes also saying that the propaganda created to show war as a glamourous thing is BULLSHIT. war can most of the time be avoided and is nothing that the propaganda makes it out to be.


that old lie "dulce et decorum est."
wilfred owen ww1 poet

Log in to reply
jpatj
01-08-2008

Rated 0 
lol ic now i read it wrong.

although this song was written around 15 years ago it has such more meaning now

george bush and his adminstration are the exact same as the nazi's

hitler burned down his own parliment building and blamed it on "commuinist" therefore he invaided poland... bush setup the 9/11 attacks and blamed it on "terrorists" when the word terror means to generate fear and the only one doin that is bush and the mainstream media and thats how he got to evade afghanistan and iraq

hilter passed the nazi act (i ferget what its called) and bush passed to us patriot act.

zack said at coachella that the same laws should be applied to george bush as they were to the nazis in ww2 and he should be taken to court as a war criminal, and hung and shot

"same shit different asshole". The government controls the mainstream media, they put out videos games, movies, music, new gadgets that everyone has to have, drugs, alchohol.. all this to entertain your mind so you dont think to hard and ask any questions.

its time to fucking wake up

Log in to reply
jpatj
01-08-2008

Rated 0 
to atthedrive-ins comment that was posted long as fuck ago, and i suggest that everyone reads it on the first page...

yes they are making millions off of their albums and teeshirts but as many people have already said, they deserve it. even after rage broke up tom and zack were still involved in many activism projects.

you need to realized that every single person of the u.s is, in one way or another, part of the machine. and until everyone comes together to fight back, this world will continue to grow towards a one world government and full control which is to happen pretty soon.

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio

Log in to reply
spokray
01-31-2008

Rated 0 
Hi, first time I've posted and not going to add to the meanings as I think pretty much is covered. Just want to say thanks to everyone, I teach history and politics and I have directed my students and other teachers to this site. The main reason it is so good is because people can have a reasonable discussion rather than just argue. Also, clearly I want my pupils to question what they are told and I love RATM. The whole debate earlier about RATM making money is answered for me personally in that through listening to them I have become aware of issues I would never have heard of. I live in Costa Rica (from Northern Ireland though) and so much of what they say about central america is unknown to the kids I teach, I say get the message out there!

Log in to reply
spokray
01-31-2008

Rated 0 
Oh, and the Nazi Act was the Law for the Protection of People and State which allowed the Nazis to disrupt Communist meetings, ban their propaganda, threw their leaders in jail, allowed the Govt. to listen in on conversations on the phone, read mail etc.

It really worries me how many people disregard what has happened in the past or are unable to see the patterns.

Log in to reply
omfgitsalex92
02-27-2008

Rated 0 
To the people who think Rage is hypocritical by signing with a major record label:

Tom Morello - "When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart."

Log in to reply
mcrkid123
03-22-2008

Rated 0 
I agree with deltajoy.

But it also could be about kids who watch disney "Believin' all the lies that they're tellin' ya" , everything that company says is a joke and a lie, it's blinding kids to be assholes. well to me anyway, it could also be about nintendo "Buyin' all the products that they're sellin' ya
", money grabbing,

Log in to reply
ciarannn
03-24-2008

Rated 0 
Rage sold out. Face it. To me, signing to a major label is selling out. It can be seen by everyone, though, that suing Tanya Andersen, a disabled single mother, for downloading this 'anti-capitalist' song is definitely selling out.

Log in to reply
MightyRenegade32
05-29-2008

Rated 0 
For all you people who think RATM is just a bunch of capitalist rip-offs, here's a quote from Mr. Morello himself.
"When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart."

Log in to reply
marshmallow1304
08-07-2008

Rated 0 
ciarannn, you do realize that Atlantic Records, not RATM, sued Tanya Anderson? That's why it's called "Atlantic v. Anderson". Major labels and the RIAA (MPAA, etc.) are evil, not the bands. The bands get ripped off too.

Log in to reply
skins189lbs
09-04-2008

Rated 0 
what does the line Cellular phones soundin' a death tone mean anyone know

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here