Do you ever listen to music and not even realize what the lyrics are telling you until you look back? That might be the case with Rage Against the Machine. Their lyrics could have more meaning behind them than you thought. How do these relate to today’s world?
Picture this: it’s 1992, and the first album, titled “Rage Against the Machine” of a new band also called “Rage Against the Machine” was released. You don’t know what to expect, so you listen to their first song, “Bombtrack”. Rage Against the Machine is a band that clearly shows its political views, as seen in the lyrics of “Bombtrack”. According to songfacts.com, “inspired by Rage Against The Machine’s political viewpoints, this song’s main theme is authoritative oppression, ranging from landlords and “power whores” to censors. This fact represents the idea of complete authority oppression. It’s important to know that Rage is well-known for being anti-government, but only towards specific policies. They are known for targeting both parties. Another lyric in “Bombtrack” that demonstrates this idea is “…And the business that burned us all… See through the news and the views that twist reality… Enough I call the bluff…” These lyrics are talking about fake news and being tired of it. This is definitely still popular on social media today. Another amazing expression of their anti-government mindset is the song “Bullet in the Head” from the same album.
Initially, they thought “Bullet in the Head” wouldn’t do a
ny good. They were planning on just selling it as a demo at shows. However, according to their drummer, Brad Wilk, “We were just going to sell the demo at shows. We never thought record companies would be interested in a band that said ‘**** You’ 16 times in a song!” This is one of their most anti-government songs, very clearly representing raging against the “machine” (government). There are many critical lyrics in this song. One of them is “Believin’ all the lies that they’re tellin’ ya Buyin’ all the products that they’re sellin’ ya… They say jump and ya say how high… Ya brain-dead…Ya gotta ******’ bullet in ya head”. This is arguably one of their most essential and rageful lyrics, truly representing raging against the machine. “They say jump, and you say how high” demonstrates how people will mindlessly listen to any supposed power above them. “Buyin all the products that they’re sellin ya” represents how people will buy useless products and listen to the propaganda. A good example of this could be the new Apple iPhone pocket. A $230 pocket for your phone? – “Buyin all the products that they’re sellin ya”.
Wrapping up, Rage Against the Machine has a prominent anti-government theme. These are just two songs from their first album. Now, imagine what all of their songs are about. Rage has influenced many with their ideologies and lyrics since the early ’90s. All this time, many people have missed their point entirely, which is why it’s essential to take a deeper look at their lyrics. Not just Rage Against the Machine, you should look into the lyrics of your favorite artist.
