Lyrics for Wake Up as interpreted by piesupreme

Wake Up Lyrics
Come on!
Uggh!
Come on, although ya try to discredit
Ya still never edit
The needle, I'll thread it
Radically poetic
Standin' with the fury that they had in '66
And like E-Double I'm mad
Still knee-deep in the system's shit
Hoover, he was a body remover
I'll give ya a dose
But it'll never come close
To the rage built up inside of me
Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy

Movements come and movements go
Leaders speak, movements cease
When their heads are flown
'Cause all these punks
Got bullets in their heads
Departments of police, the judges, the feds
Networks at work, keepin' people calm
You know they went after King
When he spoke out on Vietnam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

Yeah!

Yeah, back in this...
Wit' poetry, my mind I flex
Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat finesse
Whadda I got to, whadda I got to do to wake ya up
To shake ya up, to break the structure up
'Cause blood still flows in the gutter
I'm like takin' photos
Mad boy kicks open the shutter
Set the groove
Then stick and move like I was Cassius
Rep the stutter step
Then bomb a left upon the fascists
Yea, the several federal men
Who pulled schemes on the dream
And put it to an end

Ya better beware
Of retribution with mind war
20/20 visions and murals with metaphors

Networks at work, keepin' people calm
Ya know they murdered X
And tried to blame it on Islam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

Uggh!
What was the price on his head?
What was the price on his head!

I think I heard a shot (5 times)
I think I heard, I think I heard a shot

Background: 'Black nationalism'
'He may be a real contender for this position should he
abandon his supposed obediance to white liberal doctrine
of non-violence...and embrace black nationalism'
'Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to
pinpoint potential trouble-makers...'
'And neutralise them'

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

Spoken: "How long? Not long, 'cause
what you reap is what you sow."

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Raininbows
08-08-2009

Rated 0 
This is obviously one of the best Rage songs, and perhaps the most meaningful. Like many of you have said, this song's about the U.S goverment's countering of the black nationalist movement. My favourite line of the whole thing is "How long? Not long, cus what you reap is what you sow." It reminds me strongly of when Malcolm X said that Kennedy's assassination was the white man's chickens coming back home to roost (representing the violent receiving violence in return). Maybe the chickens came back to the wrong man in the end. I think Zack was saying that the world needed to wake up to the scheming governments of the past and present, wake up to all the coincidence and hazy historical events. Malcolm X was a bold visionary, and so is Zack. He thinks where others would get on with things, he speaks when others keep their mouths shut, and he shouts when other people chew the fat and waste time- And Rage's music was so much better because of it.

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Dstyles
06-11-2009

Rated 0 
During the breakdown the excerpts Zack is reading are taken from Cointelpro Papers. They are of two recordings (of the same quote) played through individual channels left & right with a slight delay initially on the right channel, then on the left.


"Black Nationalism"

[talking about Martin Luther King]....."he may be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obedience for white liberal doctrines of non-violence, and embrace black nationalism"

the left channel continues with the following;
"Carmichael has necessary charisma to be able to perform in this way"

"Through counterintelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them"


The part Zack is quoting from is as follows;

dated 03/04/68

The Counterintelligence Program is now being expanded to include 41 offices. ... For maximum effectiveness of the Counterintelligence Program, and to prevent wasted effort, long range goals are being set.

2. 'Prevent the RISE OF A "MESSIAH" who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a "messiah;" he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammed is less of a threat because of his age. King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed "obedience" to "white, liberal doctrines" (non-violence) and embrace black nationalism. Carmichael has the necessary charisma to be a real threat in this way.'
3. Prevent violence on the part of black nationalist groups. This is of primary importance, and is, of course, a goal of our investigative activity; it should also be a goal of the Counterintelligence Program. Through counterintelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them before they exercise their potential for violence.

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SheikYerbouti23
04-09-2009

Rated 0 
If you consider exploitation immoral, then capitalism is certainly evil. There are undoubtedly a number of interesting, even valid criticisms of socialism/communism, but the whole "human nature" argument is totally passé and an utter cop-out. There was an article by Alfie Kohn published in the Boston Globe in 1987 entitled, "Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator", and it essentially puts forth a case that the patrimonial reward-punishment ethos of capitalism can actually diminish performance levels. Personally, I think that by putting forward the argument that, if humans could suddenly no longer attain monetary profit, there would remain not one incentive to produce and contribute, you say far more about yourself than you do about humans in general.

ibeatmymachine: First of all, whether or not Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Mao Zedong were even true communists to begin with has been subject to debate for decades now. Second, I challenge you to name one country lead by a socialist ("true" or otherwise) leader that, despite any bereavement along the way, is not better off now than it was prior to its adoption of Marxism-Leninism.

And we'll see how "great" America is when its phony bubble economy finally collapses. Obama better get used to bowing to King Abdullah.

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ibeatmymachine23
08-23-2008

Rated 0 
*Meant invading Georgia, not invading Russia, sorry.

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ibeatmymachine23
08-23-2008

Rated 0 
Wow Jack63815. You seem to know absolutely nothing. Lol. Please name an example of a country that has benefited from communism. (The people, not the government) Russia does not count. Look at them now. Economically, they are sky rocketing, which is obvious why, but the government is in WAY too much control. People can hardly speak against Putin, who still remains in control. (Yes, I am aware he is technically second in command. But that's just bullshit. The only reason he didn't run for president again was because law would not allow him too.) As for the whole "invading a country for NO REASON" thing, once again, look at Russia invading Russia. It may not be for no reason, but it certainly is for no GOOD reason. They have been bombing innocent civilians. If you are referring to Bush's surge in Iraq, stopping an evil dictator from torturing his own citizens is not for no reason. The way he handled the situation in Iraq is questionable, and I do not fully agree with the way he chose to deal with it. But he did deal with it, not just PICK HIS ASS like a liberal president would. All you fuckin libs LOVE to say it was none of our business to "stick our noses" in Iraq. But you also LOVE to point out that we didn't do anything in World War II, until the day after we were attacked, after the Holocaust, per se, had been going on for two years before. MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MINDS!!!! That is beyond hypocrisy. It is choosing any opinion, even conflicting ones, for your whole "blame america first" attitutde. This is a great country, which has its imperfections, but it is still the greatest nation on earth. No, I don't hate all liberals, I just get angry when I see the whole "blame america first" thing. ESPECIALLY when your two opinions contrast eachother. That's completely idiotic. Yes, I realize I am a conservative commenting on a rage against the machine song. I'll bet I get a lot of criticism. Bite me.

Good tune. Tom Morello is amazing.

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nickweb
08-19-2008

Rated +1 
About conspiracy to off leaders of the civil rights movement.
While I know both king and x were under government surveillance, and there may even have been plans in the work to off them, I just don't believe it was the government that did it in the end. Malcolm X did have major beef when he broke away from the Nation of Islam. I believe his killers were members? And that his minders from the Nation had also been given instructions to off him? Seems like a pretty basic case of a power struggle to me. As for King, wasn't he offed by some redneck nutcase? Anyway, I don't really know enough about it to pass judgement. It just seems to me like if the evidence for government involvement was that strong, people would have made more of a thing of it (like Spike Lee could've in his tribute film to Malcolm X.)
Conspiracy theorists discuss.

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Kolin_Shrugged
08-09-2008

Rated 0 
I am sick to my stomach hearing about how 'rad' che guevara is. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering that face has brought to people globally? I can't believe anyone could sit here and say that "cuba has had their head screwed on right the whole time." Are you kidding me??? Have you looked at history for the past say... i don't know 50 years? Do you realize how many people try to escape and leave Cuba, ANNUALLY?? Che Gueverra is the symbolism for communism and did it ever dawn on you guys how people under communism feel? They have no say, make no money and can never leave the country. If you really want a reality check, go over to eastern europe. They can tell you all about communism. Better yet, read anything by Ayn Rand. Absolute stupidity to suggest such a thing that cuba has had their head screwed. I saw Rage at Lolla and i loved it but to be honest, communism will never work and never has. Yea it's great on paper and in theory but people are greedy ass holes, thats why capitalism works so brilliantly. I am a libertarian and love freedom, thats why songs about waking up to things like the industrial war complex and bought media corporations, sound so refreshing. But to sit here and say Cuba has been run correctly, jesus, go live there and report back to me if you can ever make there and back in one piece.

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fellyrage
04-22-2008

Rated 0 
simply about the government eliminating the people who " gave the power to the'have nots"

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perhapspsychology
12-30-2007

Rated 0 
The Matrix. WAKE UP! This is the song @ the end of the movie. Maybe life should be viewed as one wild ride, fear nothing, escape what needs to be escaped, and then you just might WAKE UP!

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ZOMBIE_LORD_77
12-17-2007

Rated 0 
Pretty awesome song... you guys have pretty much sumed up the meaning. About the communism discussion, I don't think it will ever work, at least in the form demonstrated in the past century. The reason for this is that it is based on the idea of equality and rights of all people, but to make sure that people stay equal, there has to be heavy govornment moderation, and to achieve this, you need authority figures. Inevitably, these authority figures will become corrupt, and then guess what? People aren't equal any more! The borgeoise (spelling?) have returned, but now in the form of leaders who pretend to support socialism to further their disguise.

HOWEVER, that does not by any means make our (the U.S.) system acceptable. We are leaning ever more towards the facist end of the scale, and our liberties are being stripped from us quietly and covertly (in a manner that I think, with further study, would prove disturbingly similar to the previous rise of Facist dictators in democratic societies... for example, a guy called Hitler...)

And this isn't even to mention how much we covertly oppress poor nations around the world... a discussion of this could go on for pages.

So the best type of govornment, I think, would be a socialized democracy, because despite the fact that corruption inevitably takes hold in all forms of govornment, democracy can limit this pretty effectively if the power is given to the laws, not the individual govornment officials, as was originally intended in the good ol' U.S.A.

Why can't everybody just get along? :D

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melloncollie45
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
Oh yeah I forgot. It is also unbeliavably likely that all these radicals were taken out by the government seeing as they did it in S. Vietnam in the 60's so they had the 'right' people in control.

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melloncollie45
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
Oh yeah I forgot. It is also unbeliavably likely that all these radicals were taken out by the government seeing as they did it in S. Vietnam in the 60's so they had the 'right' people in control.

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melloncollie45
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
Never has a name fit a band more than with Rage. If theres one thing we can thank Bush for is making Rage get back together. Supposedly they got back together because it was clear that since Bush was still in office no one heard their message. WAKE UP!!!

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The Inner Circle
10-13-2007

Rated 0 
This song and soundgarden's 'Outshined' have the most awesomely wicked riffs I have ever heard. And Zack is a prophet.

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thatscrazytalk74
08-29-2007

Rated 0 
Someone mentioned something about "Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat finesse", and how it's referring to Flip Wilson, and that may be true, but seeing how RATM is always singing about politics, I think it's referring to President Wilson, and how racist he was. I don't know, just a thought.

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DeltaTheNoob
08-15-2007

Rated 0 
Malcolm X was not directly murdered by the government. By the time he was assassinated he'd made several key world-leader contacts in Asia and Africa, especially in countires which were suffering from white colonialism at that time. The US government especially hated it when he would publicly draw a parallel in his speeches between the colnialism of those countries and the sruggle for black rights in the US.
As well as this, he had made an enemy of the leadership of the Nation of Islam, who were corrupt and hypocritical, and since he knew of the illicit relationships of Elijah Muhammad (a person whom the NOI members were taught to believe was a divine being), he had very sensitive information about them which they couldn't afford to let out.
The actual assassination was summed up by his sister, Ella, as "The government were the puppeteers, and the NOI the willing puppets".

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aficianado
07-06-2007

Rated 0 
Excellent song. I bought the Matriz soundtrack and I don't know why I haven't really got into RATM. Maybe I should even though they disbanded. The music and powerful angry vocals are great but what sets it apart is the history and the passion in the message. I believe the same stuff, any government that becomes too extreme whether on the left or the right will do anything to 'neutralise' potential troublemakers. I wish RATM were around now and make some powerful anti-Bush songs.

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starchmonkey
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
um pengers what the fuck are you talking about? Thats way off. The song is talking about racism, not anything about "9/11 conspiracies" or lame shit like that. Fuck off and learn some shit before you type what ever you feel like next time.

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PearlJamRules
06-12-2007

Rated 0 
I think this song is about how everytime someone comes along who is a treat to the goverment, who could possibly lead a revolution, he is assassinated or eliminated.
this song is basically a wake up call to people to realize whats going on and saying, like many rage songs, that we need to stand up and fight for whats right.
i think the last line of the song "How long, not long cause what you reap is what you sow" is saying that when they murder the revolutionaries it should lead to an outrage and even bigger revolution.

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_z
05-21-2007

Rated 0 
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys r such dumb shits! You all clearly DO NOT know whatwake up is all about. The song is clearly about the gay rights movement in New York City during the 1970's. JESUS..... Sort your shit out and get it right da first time....... peace out

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tinger99
04-26-2007

Rated 0 
I've been trying to figure out the line "Standin' with the fury that they had in '66" and what in 1966 Zach is referring to. The Black Panthers were founded in October of that year, and that's what I think he is referring to, but I'm still not positive. Can someone confirm this?

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draven66
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
this song is about the cointelpro (counter intelligence program) and the fact that such a government program exist(ed) should have you pissing your pants or wanting to kick some serious ass. Fortunetly thats what this song is for, to get people to wake up and consider not accepting the agenda in store. Sacrifice. Jefferson and Weishaupt spoke of enlightening the people to dispell tyranny and darkness yet any of the "have-nots" that speak out nowadays to mobilize the bewildered herd against fascist elites usually have a bullet coming their way in one form or another. Kinda makes you think twice before building your life around sedated materialism. Was the vision of the founding fathers undermined? By who? It's time to take a long look around you and consider that nothing is what it seems anymore. The technocratic New World Order that is being slipped through below your peripheral vision that undermines everything this country was supposed to stand for is happening NOW every day you press every day you fill up your tank for the lives it takes. Our way of life is about dancing on the backs of the bruised, and as the song prophesizes in the last two lines, we the people that outnumber these elite Rothschild bankers, we the people that pull the weight for the decadent that create war for profit are very pissed off and will trample them under foot when the floodgates break. Don't let them buy you out, your children's freedom depends on it. We gotta take the power back.

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pengers11
03-07-2007

Rated 0 
The song is to tell people to wake that people in the western world are not living in free countries. Though they are led to believe that they are. Events such as 9/11 constructed by the government to justify a war ''that probably won't end in our lifetimes'' (I think it was Dick Cheyney who said that) in the east. Rage dedicated an album to the stand up comic Bill Hicks. Check him out on youtube and he should explain more.

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riskcody
02-02-2007

Rated 0 
Dude, the problem isn't capatalism, the problem is its new form "Neo-liberalism". What the average person fail to see is that the MAJOR problem today IS the big corporates and conglomerates. For crying out loud, Pepsi was responsible for the military coup on Chile.

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Jack63815
12-16-2006

Rated 0 
people OMG!! i've read so many comments about "Communism doesn't work cause of bad leaders" etc etc. why does everyone just believe everything a government tells you. the west influences u that communism was corrupt not any more that invading a country fo NO REASON! listen 2 this song's title "wake up". try to open u'r mind and see that nothing is just black and white. many ppl from russia i've talked to as friends said communsim worked it was the greed of the west that made it fall. i mean look, when USSR was in power there was no wars in eastern europe. then we gave them "democracy" and look what happens. i think we shud all look at U.S, Israel and U.K before we start looking for criticism on other countrys."wake up"

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