Minus a Decade or Two: The Rage Never Ends

Rage Against the Machine is a band that many would argue was one of the most popular political bands in contemporary music and they certainly impacted many people in some way or another. I know their songs and I know that they produce very political music; and, I found it very interesting to learn about all of the things they’ve done. Rage went beyond just putting words and music together on an album and actually stepped out into the world to publicly SHOW what they believed in.

Here are a couple of the things that stuck out most to me.

The band was scheduled to play on Saturday Night Live during April of 1996 on a night when Steve Forbes was to be hosting the show. The band hung two upside down flags over their amplifiers in preparation for their performance. Right before the band went on stagehands from SNL and NBC were sent to take the flags down and the band was asked to leave the building. The bands bassist reportedly stormed into Forbes dressing room and threw pieces of the torn down flag around the room. Tom Morrello said about the flags, “Our contention that American democracy is inverted when what passes for democracy is an electoral choice between two representatives of the privileged class. America's freedom of expression is inverted when you're free to say anything you want to say until it upsets a corporate sponsor. Finally, this was our way of expressing our opinion of the show's host, Steve Forbes.”

Rage Against the Machine joined a campaign to close down Guantanamo Prison. The band also fought to declassify records regarding the use of music in torture. There are reports saying that some of Rage Against the Machine’s music was used during torture at the prison.

During their 1993 performance at Lollapalooza the band members stood on stage naked with duck tape over their mouths and the letters PMRC painted on their chests for fifteen minutes. This was in protest to the censorship by Parents Resource Music Center.

In Rage Against the Machine’s song “Killing in the Name,” the band, with only eight lines of lyrics, talks about discrimination, bigotry, and control. The song stresses the idea that there are people in positions of leadership and power who are guilty of racial discrimination and that many of them act on it. The first lines say “Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses.” This is a direct reference to people such as policemen being in the anti-color radical group the Klu Klux Klan and the group’s ritual of burning crosses. The “chosen whites” likely refers to how most people who commit racist acts usually feel that they are superior to others around. The line “You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites,” is saying that when police officers or military people commit acts of racism, they aren’t as likely to get in trouble because they were in uniform and have authority. What’s even worse is that because these people do have authority, someone fighting back against their acts of hatred would be the ones to get in trouble. Finally, the line “And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control” is directed to the people listening. The band is telling them to stop being lazy and do something about what’s happening. Just because officials are doing it does not mean that it’s right or that you have to sit back and watch. (The band Infectious Grooves actually produced a song titled “Do What I Tell Ya!” mocking this songs lyrics.)