• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Shout out to Zack de la Rocha lyrics from the 90s that are still relevant

Status
Not open for further replies.

Joe

Member
Bombtrack
Instead I warm my hands upon the flames of the flag
As I recall our downfall
And the businesses that burned us all
See through the news and the views that twist reality

Enough
I call the bluff
Fuck Manifest Destiny


Take The Power Back
The present curriculum
I put my fist in 'em
Eurocentric every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attempting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
Holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior? Who's inferior?
Yeah, we need to check the interior
Of the system that cares about only one culture
And that is why
We gotta take the power back

Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the motherfuckin' weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back

Bullet In The Head
I give a shout out to the living dead
Who stood and watched as the feds cold centralized
So serene on the screen, you was mesmerized
Cellular phones, soundin a death tone
Corporations cold turn ya to stone before ya realize
They load the clip in omnicolor
Said they pack the nine, they fire it at prime time
The sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz
And muthafuckas lost their minds!

Bulls On Parade
Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal
I walk tha corner to tha rubble that used to be a library
Line up to tha mind cemetary now
What we don't know keeps tha contracts alive an movin'
They don't gotta burn tha books they just remove 'em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as tha cells
Rally round tha family, pockets full of shells

Vietnow
Merge on tha networks, slangin' nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let 'em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let's capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord
Shock around tha clock, from noon 'til noon
Men grabbin' they mics, and stuff 'em into tha womb
http://genius.com/1566253
Zack calls the so-called news and religious messages of the religious right and conservative white power structure that typically comes on AM radio, “AM mayhem”. It claims to be honest and blessed by the Lord to speak for the stable order of white, elite America. But Zack will later say their voices are lying and evil.
http://genius.com/3117998
Based on the fact that as the pendulum swings between liberals and conservatives depending on the voters views on abortion Zack is basically stating that the anti-abortion conservatives could as well shove a microphone into the womb and hear what the fetus has to say about abortion.

Without A Face
It's my life for their life so call it a free trade
"Por vida" and our name up on tha stall
I took a death trip when I tried ta cross tha white wall
Walk unseen past tha graves an tha gates, born without a face

Wind Below
Them bury life wit IMF shifts, and poison lips
Yo they talk it, while slicin' our veins yo so mark it
From the FINCAS overseers, to them vultures playin' markets
She ain't got nothin' but weapon and shawl

Roll Right
Lick off the shot my stories shock ya like Ellison
Main line adrenaline Gaza to Tienanmen
From the basement I'm dwellin' in
I cock back tha sling to stone a settler
And breaks him off clean, call me the upsetter
Here comes the hands on the leashes
The cross, the capital, the pale families, the fear and the mouthpieces
The single sista lynch
The cell doors crash
And the master's drums echo, echo, echo, echo, echo, echo
Roll right! Roll call!
http://genius.com/4526484
A reference to Ralph Ellison who wrote the “Invisible Man” in 1952, a novel addressing issues facing post Civil War African Americans. The book won the US award for National Book Award for Fiction in 1953.
http://genius.com/1935702
Zack draws a parallel between Gaza and Tienanmen square, both where people fought/fight for freedom against what he sees as oppression.
http://genius.com/1935669
Throwing stones with a sling at settlers and Israeli military is a hallmark of the Palestinian protesters.
http://genius.com/7334078
In reference to the massive amount of minority fathers, specifically a disproportionate number of blacks, incarcerated in the United States. “Single Sista lynch” is a metaphor for the US Government’s pathological destruction or “lynching” of black families by removing the father from the family unit via incarceration.

Testify
The movie ran through me
The glamour subdue me
The tabloid untie me
I'm empty please fill me
Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning
Your voice it is so soothing
That cunning mantra of killing

Guerrilla Radio
A spectacle monopolized
The camera's eyes on choice disguised
Was it cast for the mass who burn and toil?
Or for the vultures who thirst for blood and oil?
Yes a spectacle monopolized
They hold the reins and stole your eyes
Or the fistagons
The bullets and bombs
Who stuff the banks
Who staff the party ranks

Calm Like A Bomb
Yes back through tha shanties and tha cities remains
Tha same bodies buried hungry
But with different last names
These vultures rob everyone
Leave nothing but chains
Pick a point here at home
Yes tha picture's tha same
There's a field full of slaves
Some corn and some debt
There's a ditch full of bodies
Tha check for tha rent
There's a tap, tha phone, tha silence of stone
Tha numb black screen
That be feelin' like home

There's a mass without roofs
There's a prison to fill
There's a country's soul that reads post no bills
There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill
There's a right to obey
And there's a right to kill

Mic Check
With this mic device
I spit nonfiction
Who got tha power
This be my question
Tha mass or tha few in this torn nation?
Tha priest tha book or tha congregation?
Tha politricks who rob and hold down your zone?
Or those who give tha thieves tha key to their homes?
Tha pig who's free to murder one Shucklak
Or survivors who make a move and murder one back?
http://genius.com/4113659
Is it the fault and product of the politicians who lie, steal and gerrymander? Or is it the responsibility of the electorate who continue to vote (sit idly by) for the status quo?
it is unclear whether "shucklak" is a low-level, petty street thief or if it is the sound of a gun.

"murder one" could also mean murder in the 1st degree

Maria
Tha sun ablaze as Maria's foot
Touches tha surface of sand
On northern land
As human contraband
Some rico from Jalisco
Passed her name to tha boss
She stuffed ten to a truckbed
She clutches her cross
Here comes tha exhaust
And it rips through her lungs
She's off fast to tha pasture
Like cattle she'll cross
Degree 106
Sweat and vomit are thrown
And she prays and suffocates
Upon tha memories of home
Of Yanqui guns for blood debts on tha loans
Of smoldering fields rape rubble and bones
Of graves hidden trapped up in visions of war
Of nothing no one nobody no more
These are her mountains and skies and
She radiates
Through history's rivers of blood
She regenerates
And like tha sun disappears only to reappear
She's eternally here

Ashes In The Fall
Listen to the facists sing
"Take hope here
War is elsewhere
You were chosen
This is Gods land
Soon we'll be free
Of blot and mixture
Seeds planted by our Forefathers hand"
A mass of promises
Begin to rupture
Like the pockets of the new world kings
Like swollen stomachs In Appalachia
Like the priest that fucked you as he whispered holy things
A mass of tears have transformed into stones now
Sharpened on suffering
And woven into the slings
Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress
Taking today what tomorrow never brings

No Shelter
The main attraction: distraction
Got ya number than number than numb
Empty ya pockets son; they got you thinkin that
What ya need is what they sellin
Make you think that buyin is rebellin
From the theaters to malls on every shore
Tha thin line between entertainment and war

Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
Fourth Reich culture - Americana
Chained to the dream they got ya searchin for
Tha thin line between entertainment and war
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
RATM really appealed to me when i was a 15 year old edgelord, wonder how it holds up?

I remember buying the self titled album when CDs came in those huge blister packs.
 
Battle of Los Angeles is still one of the best albums I've ever heard. I one day hope they'll have a reunion tour, especially during these times.
 

Xe4

Banned
Man, RATM was the shit when I was in middle school. I need to get back to listening to some of their tracks.
 
I never really listened to Rage Against the Machine, but I really liked his stuff in One Day as a Lion. I'll have to check out his older work.
 

Joe

Member
Loved it back then. Will have to dig out the CDs. His delivery was spot on.
RATM really appealed to me when i was a 15 year old edgelord, wonder how it holds up?

I remember buying the self titled album when CDs came in those huge blister packs.
self-titled is a classic album but the style and lyrics did not age well. it's still great, i love it, and still give it some listens but it does feel retro.

evil empire and battle of la still hold up very well.

listen while reading the lyrics on genius.com and it takes every single song to the next level.

it's very easy to dismiss their music as edgy and teenager angst anthems but there is so much meat on the bones in their music and lyrics it's crazy. the lyrics are some serious next level shit.

or even on Revolver, a song about women in abusive relationships. there's these lyrics:
Her body numbs as he approaches the door
As he approaches the door
As he approaches the door
As he approaches the door
As he approaches
Hey revolver, don't mothers make good fathers?
Revolver!
then theres this build up on the bass and drums, building up this huge tension and then BAM. 2 smacks on the snare drum to signify 2 gun shots. it's fucking awesome

listen here https://youtu.be/CjJxDzisFwI?t=188
 
No Spiritual Surrender

Try to make me bow down to you.
Try to take my identity.
Try to make me just another pebble on the beach.
A green mind twists the plan.
A cold hand trying to silence me.
You try to grasp me, but I'm out of reach.

No Spiritual Surrender
No Spiritual Surrender
 

Jeff-DSA

Member
A lot of 90s lyrics are relevant still. Go through Pearl Jam's earlier catalog and you'll find TONS of super relevant lyrics...they're almost shockingly still on point.

"Glorified G"

got a gun, fact i got two
that's ok man, cuz i love god
glorified version of a pellet gun
feels so manly, when armed
glorified version of a pellet gun

"W.M.A."

he won the lottery when he was born
took his mothers white breast to his tongue
trained like dogs, color and smell
walks by me to get to him
police man
police man
he won the lottery by being born
big hand slapped a white male american
do no wrong, so clean cut...
dirty his hands, it comes right off
police man
police man
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police man
police man
jesus greets me...looks just like me...
do no wrong, so clean cut
dirty his hands, it comes right off
police man
police man
police man
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police man
police man
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police stopped my brother again
police man
police man
police man
all my pieces set me free...human devices set me free...
all my pieces set me free...
human devices set me free...
all my pieces set me free...
human devices set me free...
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
The The song from 30 years ago:

Are you ready for Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed?
What a [Incomprehensible]?
Let's go

They're 5 miles high as the crow flies
Leavin' vapor trails against a blood red sky
Movin' in from the east towards the west
With Balaclava helmets over their heads, yes

But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey, you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hijacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave

Islam is rising
The Christians mobilizing
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds

"It's war", she cried, "It's war", she cried, this is war
Drop your possessions, all you simple folk
You will fight them on the beaches in your underclothes
You will thank the good Lord for raising the Union Jack

You'll watch the ships sail out of the harbor
And the bodies come floating back
Watch the ships sail out of the harbor
And the bodies come floating back

But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey, you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hijacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave

Islam is rising
The Christians mobilizing
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds

If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He'd be gunned down cold by the C.I.A.
Oh, the lights that now burn brightest behind stained glass
Will cast the darkest shadows upon the human heart

But God didn't build himself that throne
God doesn't live in Israel or Rome
God doesn't belong to the Yankee dollar
God doesn't plant the bombs for Hezbollah

God doesn't even go to church
And God won't send us down to Allah to burn
God will remind us what we already know
That the human race is about to reap what it's sown

Islam is rising
The Christians mobilizing
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds

The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds

Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here
 

SmokyDave

Member
My favourite Zack line is 'I toss pieces of my syllables like salt by a sumo' from Roni Size's 'Center of the Storm'. It's not an especially relevant lyric, but there's just something about the flow and the rhythm of that line that I can't get enough of.

I guess that song also contains the line 'so to the mayor, may I, say I, endorse the wholesale murder of your force, of course'. That seems like a line that could've been written today.
 

bone_and_sinew

breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
I still listen to Rage. They made music with real lyrical depth, unlike the rest of their trash peers of the time.
 

Joe

Member
I will, thanks for the direction!

no problem. self-titled is another good starting point but if you're younger than 25 then the super-90's style of the lyrics and music might be a put off, that's why i suggest evil empire.

one of my favorite parts of evil empire is when you get to the song "tire me" it's cool to realize that even though it was never released as a single, had no radio play, no music video, and was recorded using a $20 guitar it still won a grammy in 1997 for best metal performance.
 

collige

Banned
He really is a great lyricist, the Irag War protest track he did with DJ Shadow is awesome. I think a lot of the rep RATM gets for being edgy is just from the "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" part in Killing in the Name.
 
Rage Against The Machine will always been one of my favorite bands.

Zack de la Rocha has been doing this for so long too. Here is giving a speech during an Inside Out show (his old hardcore band before RATM). I absolutely love it, and I love his response to the guy telling him to shut up and play songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsrc2t2k-_4

Inside Out was awesome by the way. Had a really good NYHC sound. Too bad they didn't do more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLl2CqrtdA4
 
The irony of having a band like Rage Against the Machine during the Clinton years and them disbanding around the time W Bush came to power...

But yeah, their albums still hold up.
 

No Love

Banned
Rage Against The Machine is, IMO, one of the absolute best rock groups to come out of the '90s. Fucking love the lyrics, the emotion, the passion, the unique sound... nothing else like them, really.

(Oh and the band members KILLED it with Audioslave/Chris Cornell. Insanely talented dudes.)

Thanks OP for reminding me that I need to do a RATM relisten.
 

Joe

Member
It's also worth noting that their best live performances came well after they broke up as a band. Right before their breakup they had an insane amount of energy on stage and the music did 90% of the heavy lifting to get the crowd going but zack was not zack. He wasn't mailing it in but he wasn't 100% present either.

This performance from 2010 in Brazil, 11 years after their last album, is probably the best performance I've seen from them and I've seen a LOT of their performances.

https://youtu.be/xzse3tmhzXE?t=38
 

Joe

Member
I personally like how No Shelter is on the godzilla soundtrack and pretty much proceeds to shit on godzilla as a movie.
 

IrishNinja

Member
miss the hell out of Zack/RATM, they'd be super relevant right now with police brutality/GOP clownshoes stuff too

hearing Zack outta nowhere on RTJ2 last year was also a highlight

Great description of fans of these lyrics.

wakka wakka wakka
 

Dion314

Neo Member
As somebody that was primarily a hip hop fan, I'll admit I got into RATM through the Matrix movies but they're dope to me and got me into other bands too.

It all holds up to me cuz I heard it so long after the music originally came out and if there was ever a time music like this needed to be made, it's right now
 
Just listened to Battle of Los Angeles yesterday during a run and I was struck by how the outro to Mic Check is completely relevant to this day. He may have been rapping about things that happened in the 90s and earlier, but shit is still going on in the 2010s.
 

Dinokill

Member
What about some NWA.

Fuck The Police

Fuck the police comin straight from the underground
A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, cause I ain't the one
for a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun
to be beatin on, and thrown in jail
We can go toe to toe in the middle of a cell
Fuckin with me cause I'm a teenager
with a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin my car, lookin for the product
Thinkin every nigga is sellin narcotics
You'd rather see, me in the pen
than me and Lorenzo rollin in a Benz-o
Beat a police out of shape
and when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still gettin swoll off bread and water
I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down, and grabbin his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showin out for the white cop
Ice Cube will swarm
on ANY motherfucker in a blue uniform
Just cause I'm from, the CPT
Ounk police are afraid of me!
HUH, a young nigga on the warpath
And when I'm finished, it's gonna be a bloodbath
of cops, dyin in L.A.
Yo Dre, I got somethin to say
 

elfinke

Member
Rage Against The Machine is, IMO, one of the absolute best rock groups.

I'd leave it there. I saw them half dozen times and wish it was many more. Tom as The NightWatchman is also amazing, if you haven't seen or heard him before.

Tim Commerford has just recently stopped surfing for five minutes to come up with some new tunes with his new band, a Future User, as well.
 
Bad Religion does the whole high brow political lyrics thing far better than Rage Against the Machine.

It probably helps the Greg Graffin is really, really smart.

I'd leave it there. I saw them half dozen times and wish it was many more. Tom as The NightWatchman is also amazing, if you haven't seen or heard him before.

Tim Commerford has just recently stopped surfing for five minutes to come up with some new tunes with his new band, a Future User, as well.

I heard some Future User on Sirius Radio Faction. It was pretty meh.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom