The embodiment of pure anger criticizes the government again and again. Rage Against the Machine is a thrash, punk, and rap group all mixed into one, and this splicing of musical genes is a portrait of good music, clever lyrics, and above all rage. The band's direction is usually to give the government a big middle finger, and say we are done with your crap. One song that especially gets the point across is their big hit Bulls On Parade.
My brother and father were both huge fans of Rage Against The Machine, so I myself got into the anger filled group. One of my favorite songs, Bulls On Parade, has a plethora of elements that make it a head banging good time. The thrash sound makes for a great song to listen to when you are really mad about something. Tom Morello is one of my favorite guitarists of all time, and this song is great reason why. One must truly listen to the song in order to really understand how Morello has really taken what you can do with six strings to its's limits. Another reason I love the song is it's cleverly written anti-government lyrics.
One example of this is the verse "Terror rains, drenchin, quenchin the thirst of tha power dons." These words indicate that our fear is what keeps the government powerful. By our dismay, the government may thrive and continue to oppress us. Another great example of anti-government lyrical genius, is when Zack de la Rocha raps "Weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes, just feed the war cannibal." This is Rage Against The Machine saying that the government pools more money into the military than it does on it's support of the poor. The verse then leads to "I walk the corner to the ruble, that used to be a library, line up to the mind cemetery now." Powerful stuff. it says that the government wants us to stay ignorant, and this is further backed up with "What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin." My final, and favorite verse in the song is "They don't gotta burn the books they just remove em." This is so powerful to me. Books that show the world how much it has failed, are the books that usually get banned and Rage Against The Machine is playing on how the government would rather the people be ignorant than realize how much we have failed. Truly powerful words, and it's why they have such a fan base. You don't have to be politically driven to love Rage Against the Machine, and I'd suggest the band to anyone who enjoys, thrash, rap, or punk. Just don't be surprised if you end up angry at our leaders as well.
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