i know that fred hampton was a black panther, but of course, that doesnt really help out the overal meaning of the song. just some trivia i guess

Fred Hampton was thought of as a threat to the FBI, and other agencies. When the Black Panthers, and the "Rainbow Coalition" began to rise, the FBI and police took action. Hampton was killed during a police raid at the Illinois Black Panther Headquaters. Many believe that the raid was a planned assassintion. I believe this song talks about this issue, and how it relates to today.

hey, this is the lyrics to the wrong song. Down rodeo starts "Im rollin down roseo with a shotgun these poeple aint seen a brown skined man since their grnadparents bought one"

yea this person submitted them without that part i guess

Rodeo is one of the richest streets in Beverly Hills... all the upscale shops and such... (and it is the right song, they just missed a couple lines). The song is mostly about the difference between the millionares that shop on the street and the poor that make the stuff...

This song is about racism against rich blacks. If ya ever seen the South Park with Micheal Jackson, you'll really know what I mean.
He also talks about, like what I said about Revolver, they use war to kill rich blacks.

wrong lyrics ..these are the real ones

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

Bangin' this bolo tight on this solo flight can't fight alone
Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone
Tha pen devils set that stage for tha war at home
Locked wit out a wage ya standin' in tha drop zone
The clockers born starin' at an empty plate
Momma's torn hands cover her sunken face
We hungry but them belly full
The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull
In tha ruins there's a network for tha toxic rock
School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block
Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor
The remains left chained to the powder war

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first
Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yes I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic
They ain't gonna send us campin' like they did my man Fred Hampton
Still we lampin' still clockin' dirt for our sweat
A ballots dead so a bullet's what I get
A thousand years they had tha tools
We should be takin' 'em
Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin' em
Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to
Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
Make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first
Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

The rungs torn from the ladder can't reach the tumour
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer

Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we'll never have
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don't have

i dont think its a "quiet peaceful dance"
i think its a "quiet peaceful death"
and i think the songs about the relation between how black people live now compared to how they lived 200 years ago, and how nothing is being done to change it. also its about how a black person cannot voice his/her opinion beacuse no one will listen.

first amennment = right to free speach and to be heard
fith amendmant = right to be silent so evidence cant be used against you

"Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first "

"The clockers born starin' at an empty plate
Momma's torn hands cover her sunken face
We hungry but them belly full
The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull"

"Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first "

it is just a quiet peaceful DANCE, that's how it's written in the Evil Empire cd jacket

I do think it's about racism, but I don't agree that it's JUST about white vs. black. I think "these people ain't seen a brown-skinned man since their grandparents bought one" is referring to Zach himself as a Chicano.

"the clockers born starin at an empty plate
mommas torn hands cover her sunken face
we hungry but they belly full
the structure is set ya never change it with a ballot pull"
IMO this talks about class oppression. Clockers refers to people who are born into the working class (clock in and out of work) but no matter how much they work they never get their fill ("sunken face"). And the lower classes accomplish nothing by voting because the ones with their "belly's full" have rigged the government system to work in their favor.

"In tha ruins there's a network for tha toxic rock
School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block
Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor
The remains left chained to the powder war"
Here, I think Zach talks about the destruction of capitalism, and the havoc industries wreak in their wake when they move their factories to the poorer southern hemisphere. When these industries leave town, the effects are felt everywhere "from schoolyard to precinct, suburb to project block".

That's what I loved about rage, the lyrics are so specific and politically charged that they are no longer lyrics, but manuscripts and manifesto's.

"We hungry but them belly full" also references Bob Marley's song "Them belly full" btw.
(...Zack being a big fan of Marley)

the structure is set ya never change it with a ballot pull

Bush rigged the election so a lot of black people couldnt vote in florida. this helped him get in (read Michael moore's stupid white men)

This is also Zack saying that instead of people in the ghetto fighting among themselves, they should direct their anger against the rich, like those who live on Rodeo drive - "rollin' down rodeo with a shotgun".

Gummy - good point, as a generic sort of thing that's probably right but the Bush instance wouldn't happen until four years later.

Zack is the best rap lyricist ever, seriously. He's a genius, just read the lyrics man. You can see it in them, but it's the way he fits them together that makes it so incredible.

Lemme tell you man, Zach de la Rocha has a lot of shit to say...I'm not against it or anything, actually i think it's fuckin cool. Anyways, yeah this song has such a sick beat, and then you have that RAGE that this band always had in that song too...and that makes this song awesome. I love it.

I don't like rap music, and I know RATM isn't a rap group, but you can't deny that Zach is a rapper. The thing that makes him different than other rappers (besides the obvious difference in the musical delivery) is that Zach actually delivers a message. He makes you think about stuff, where conventional rap is just bitching and moaning. It's too bad Rage broke up.

u guys are all wrong , im a very good friend of zacks and iw as with him when he write this song its about how hard life is as a black man and how rich white ppl can liv thier live and blacks have almost nothing and they cant even voice thier opinion or rebel because they just get shot down and its DANCE and he was kinda stoned so i dont kno what that means but the rest is about life a a black right next to rich white folk
-X

Who else but Zack De la Rocha could deliver a verbal jab to both rap and capitalism in the same line.

"Fuck tha G ride, I want the machines that are makin' em."

No one ever speaks out criticising the capitalist excesses that rap music endorses, but that line obviously alludes to it. Unlike the rap world that forgets about the poverty that it came from and focuses on owning as many cars and wearing as much jewelry as you can, Zack's form of "rap" deals with more important issues. Instead of having that powerful lower class anger subdued by the empty promises of material wealth and upward mobility, he focuses on the means of production and how to take them back.

This song kicks so much ass...I mean, seriously, Zack is pissed off in most of his songs, and I just think that's awesome.

Anyways, this song kicks ass, it's one of their best, right up there with Bulls on Parade (and Maria, my favorite).

This line fucking rocks: "Yeah I'm rolling Rodeo with a shotgun these people ain't seen a brown skined man since their grandparents bought one." I fucking LOVE that line.

This is my favorite RATM song...

I always viewed it as rich vs. poor, seeing as Rodeo is a street in L.A. full of fancy shops and Hollywood stars...

De La Rocha is the best rapper I've ever heard, lol...

No, seriously, he is...Comes up with some great rhymes that actually mean something, won't find that with 50 Cent or Nas...

RATM are the best rap-metal band ever...though Linkin Park is proably second...Everyone hates on LP, but they write some good songs...

Fred Hampton, who is mentioned in this song, was a member of the Black Panthers. He was killed during a police raid, which is widely believed to be an assassination rather than a killing.

Rodeo is a very famous street in Los Angeles, known for its Hollywood stars and shopping centers.

Put those two together, the song is about the racism against rich black people.

"Rollin' down Rodeo with a shotgun, these people ain't seen a brown skinned man since their grandparents brought one."

Obviously de la Rocha is referencing that many of the celebrities are whites, and that seeing a brown-skinned man on Rodeo would surprise them.

The last line,
"Such a quiet, peaceful death"
references Hampton's death at the hands of the police. Many people thought his death was not justified, and believe that racism was a large part of the killing.

Altogether, a very good song. de la Rocha pieces his material in a very effective way. And I probably should commend Morello on his fantastic guitar work.

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

He wants to punish the rich white people who spend all their money buying overpriced goods in places like Rodeo Drive and are ignorant to the fact that other people are suffering.

Bangin' this bolo tight on this solo flight can't fight alone
Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone

not sure what this means, maybe he's recording a track and talking about what he is doing to get more people to join him because he can't do it alone

Tha pen devils set that stage for tha war at home
Locked wit out a wage ya standin' in tha drop zone

there's a war between the rich and poor in this country, poor people can't get jobs so they can't save up to move to where there are jobs

The clockers born starin' at an empty plate
Momma's torn hands cover her sunken face
We hungry but them belly full
The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull

people are born with nothing, while other people consume all the resources; there is no way to change the structure of society, voting doesn't change anyhting either

In tha ruins there's a network for tha toxic rock
School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block

the only reliable job is selling drugs such as crack; while rich kids are in school and then go home to the suburbs the poor are out in the projects and getting arrested because they can't make money legally

Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor
The remains left chained to the powder war

sometimes companies open factories in the poor areas (assuming this is LA, they expand from downtown to south central where the poor people live). they then hire the poor to do manual labor in the factories, which creates a few jobs, but everyone else still has to sell drugs

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first

people get killed all the time there, and you have to plead the fifth (right to remain silent) cause you don't really have freedom of speech

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yes I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic
They ain't gonna send us campin' like they did my man Fred Hampton

they won't kill us this time, like they did to fred hampton, one of the black panther party leaders i think?

Still we lampin' still clockin' dirt for our sweat
A ballots dead so a bullet's what I get

we still make almost no money for all the work we do, and voting doesn't change anyhting so maybe shooting people will

A thousand years they had tha tools
We should be takin' 'em
Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin' em

they've been controlling everything for years, it's our turn, we're tired of stealing cars we want the machines that are making them

Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to
Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn

we've got a room full of people ready to go and kill the people on the west side (the rich area in LA cause it's by the coast)

Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
Make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first
Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one

Yeah I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun

The rungs torn from the ladder can't reach the tumour
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer

rungs are torn from the ladder preventing anyone from going up who isn't already at the top, but there's only one of everything, which leaves the people at the bottom with nothing

Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we'll never have
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don't have

I can't beleive no one has gotten this yet.. maybe its because people are too busy posting "d00d this song rules, its like linkin park!" GTFOutta here kid.

Just a quiet peaceful dance!

This refer's to a dance the Native Americans did to mourn lost ones. The military saw this as a war dance and slaughtered the Natives. I believe it was Custer but i could be wrong.

AND FOR THE RECORD
Linkin Park is a money grubbing band created and sold by record executives to feed on the poorly adjusted youth who relate to their angty crybaby music. They are talentless and do nothing new, if you dig it good for you but PLEASE don't try to compare it to Rage because theyre songs aren't about lost love or angst. They are political with a meaning.

SOAD14: "u guys are all wrong , im a very good friend of zacks and iw as with him when he write this song its about how hard life is as a black man and how rich white ppl can liv thier live and blacks have almost nothing and they cant even voice thier opinion or rebel because they just get shot down and its DANCE and he was kinda stoned so i dont kno what that means but the rest is about life a a black right next to rich white folk
-X"

hmm...I seriously doubt that if you spell like that. I used to be really into Linkin Park, then fell away. Some of the samples are pretty good, thats why I like some of it now. RATM is one of my favorite bands, for their messages, and Zach's voice. I love it XD.