| Quotes & Speeches |
| Bombtrack (Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 5th 1993) Talkin' about the American Indian Movement. In 1977, after a series of long struggles against the BIA... get that spotlight out of my fukin' eye, man. Get that thing off. I'm talkin' to people and I can't even see 'em. In 1977 after a long series of troubles, the Ogllala Sioux Reservation was under attack by the FBI. People who were involved in the movement there, involved in defending their culture, defending their freedom, were being taken away, were being kidnapped, were being murdered and the one man who happened to be one of the leaders of AIM, was thrown in jail. He has sat there for 17 years for crimes he did not commit. His name is Leonard Peltier. and this brotha's been in jail and served his people and has served true freedom and constitutional rights and is being denied his own and I think it's a hypocrisy all of us need to expose in this country, so that, so that if we wanna raise our voice, for ourselves, here in America the same doesn't happen. We've got, we've got some pamphlets in the back, where we're selling some shirts. Please pick one up, and please send, please send your name or there's an address, you can send to what's his name? Fuckin' dixie-crat Clinton, whoever that fuckin' punk is...let's fill this fuckin' punk's room full of fuckin' mail. I know it's not the fuckin' most powerful form of fuckin' change but let's get this fuckin' ball rollin' all right. This song is called booombtrack. |
| Without A Face (Holland, May 26th 1996) It seems as soon as the, the wall in Germany fell, that the US government was busy building another one on the border between the US and Mexico. Since 1986 as result of a lot of the hate talk and hysteria that the government of the United States has been speaking, 1500 bodies have been found on the border. We wrote this song in response to it. It's called Without a Face. |
| Zack Being Honoured At The Liberty Foundation (December 6th 1998) Download We were at the grammies a couple of years ago, receiving an award for a song that, I know most of the people in the room had never heard. Um, and I remember leaving the er, the stage carrying this little ya know golden plated statue, and feeling a little disgusted and empty, er but to be here amongst friends who share a common vision and a common commitment to building a movement that challenges the system of exploitation and human suffering, and being recognized for our contributions to this process is very, very fulfilling and something we take great pride in. |
| An Intro To Bullet In The Head This next song goes out to those who still believe that there is an american dream. And still believe that within that dream there is something called freedom. It is time to fucking wake up, and begin to truely think for ourselves, and find new sources of information... otherwise - things like what's happening in the persian gulf with continue. They will be able to make decisions for you, unless you fucking wake up, and take that vail of complacence from your eyes, and fucking begin to remove the bullet from your head. |
| Bullet In The Head Speech on The Zapatista Movement (Tibetan Freedom Concert) Just for your personal attention, we would announce, and make very clear, that the U.S. government is starting another Vietnam in southern Mexico. We would like to make this very clear to you, because we believe, we strongly believe that the media in the U.S. is blocking it from your attention. What they're attempting to do, is prevent you, from getting involved here, to prevent the death of millions of indigenous people who took up arms, against the 65 year old dictatorship: the P.R.I. And at this moment in time, millions of indigenous people are being chased into the hillsides, by armies...fueled, and funded by the U.S. government. By the Clinton administration, by William Perry, and all them fuckin' pigs up in Washington. And we fell that it's important that we all know that and understand that, and that our action can stop it. So are you standin' in line? You believin' the lies? You bowin' down to this flag? You gotta bullet in your head?.... |
| Bullet In The Head (Stockholm, February 2nd 1993) For hundreds of years America has sent people into the fuckin' Middle East in the name of freedom, in the name of democracy and have murdered innocent women and children to rape, conquer and divide them of there resources. Today the situation still stands and people are still being murdered in the name of freedom. Wake up to your powers as an individual and speak out and act against fucking imperialistic actions like this. |
| Zacks Speech on Christmas at the KROQ Acoustic X-Mas Show When I say no more lies...I'm telling you that we're not here to celebrate this lie that is Christmas. With images of Santa, this prosperous white man, bringing presents and good hope to the communities of our countries is a fat lie. And is one installed only to legitimize the falsehood which is white supremecy. So no more lies...no more lies... |
| Mumia Benefit (Philadelphia, PA at The Electric Factory) Check it out, check it out. Apparently just before this concert, there was some friends of ours in an organization called "The Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal". And somebody that came out here to pass out some information were sweated for wearing this very t-shirt right here (Zack points to his shirt and it has a picture of Mumia in cuffs and it say's "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" underneath it). Now apparently it wasn't one of the promoters, and it wasn't some security guard, and I'm not going to make any assumptions but we're not naive enough to think that there aren't members of the intelligence community right here in this fucking crowd who wanna prevent you from understanding why Mumia Abu-Jamal should be free. So let this be a message to you mister whoever the fuck you are and whoever they think they are. You're not going to intimidate us, and your not going to intimidate anyone in here from becoming a part of the movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Yes. So in the back over here there's a table setup, and any of you can go over there and pick up as much information as you want. You should really check that shit out. Please do. |
| The Famous Speech (Stockholm February 2nd 1993 At The Melody) We've got to regain knowledge again, and we've got to regain an understanding again, of who we are. Not just those chosen to fuel systems, but individuals who have the power to criticize and analyze, and attack injustice when it becomes prevalent and apparent in front of our faces like it is in ours right now. We've been all put to sleep. Put to sleep to a system. A system that continues to perpetrate ignorance amongst our spirit and amongst our minds. One that wants you not to act. A system that would rather see all of you at that bar drinking beer filling your minds being put to sleep with beer or with drugs rather than acting against it and fighting a system which has been perpetrating imperialist lies and other fucking bullshit for five hundred years. So fuckin' drink up or fuckin' wake up. Your part of the solution or your part of the fuckin' problem. I am sick and tired of my own complacence in my life and I know I'm fuckin sick of yours. So wake up and stop fuckin' sleeping. Wake Up. |
| Zack's general statement regarding males showing disrespect towards females at Rage shows during the late '99 "Battle of Los Angeles" tour Hold up, I'm seeing something happening, and it's been going on all tour long. Thats you assholes that are ripping the clothes of these young ladies. If I see any of you fucking knuckleheads doin that shit, I'm gonna kick you the fuck out of this building. Women have to fear men at work, at the mall, at the stores, and in their homes, and they shouldn't have to fear them here at a Rage Against the Machine concert! |
| Tom Morello "I've always been on a personal mission to save the guitar." "We figured that since they weren't busy serving and protecting the community, which our tax dollars pay for, then they should at least be well fed. So we sent them 300 Krispy Kreme donuts." - Tom Morello, on the 300 off-duty police officers that protested their show in Worcester, MA on November 30, 1999. "In my own way, I was a rebellious kid." "I'm always excited about making music with Rage Against the Machine. Honestly, I think we've just scratched the surface of what we can do creatively." "I think we're way better than we've ever been, and there's no reason why the next record can't top even 'The Battle of Los Angeles'." "That's part of the job! There's a long, rich and savage history of dissidents in the United States being persecuted by law enforcement, so it's something we take for granted. But the second that you find the police department and government agencies patting you on the back and telling you to 'keep up the good work', that's when you break up the band." - Tom Morello, on fearing for his safety because of his political beliefs. "As Zack would point out on stage, it's obvious that the Order weren't afraid of our band or our music. They were afraid of our audience, that people might be listening. That's why they tried to boycott Rage Against the Machine. And their boycott was an abject failure." - Tom Morello, on the Fraternal Order of Police. "For the millennium [New Year's Eve], you really have a choice to make. You either have to be naked with your head on fire and a shotgun in Bali or else you have to spend time with friends or family around the fireplace. And I'm choosing option B" "I am enormously proud to be an American. I would say that the things that our corporate-controlled government has done at best are shameful and at worst genocidal-but there's an incredible and a permanent culture of resistance in this country that I'm very proud to be a part of. It's not the tradition of slave-owningfounding fathers, it's the tradition of the Frederick Douglasses, the Underground Railroads, the Chief Josephs, the Joe Hills, and the Huey P. Newtons. There's so much to be proud of when you're American that's hidden from you. The incredible courage and bravery of the union organizers in the late 1800's and early 1900's-that's amazing. People of get tricked into going overseas and fighting Uncle Sam's Wall Street wars, but these are people who knew what they were fighting for here at home. I think that that's so much more courageous and brave." "The only bad "f-word" is FCC." - Tom Morello on censorship "This is a very unlikely tour package to be playing in venues this size. You've got Wu-Tang Clan, like the least commercial, least radio friendly, most raw hip-hop group on the planet, who also, coincidentally, has the number one album, and then Rage Against The Machine, whose politics make Ralph Nader look like Ghengis Khan." - Tom Morello, on the Rage/Wu-Tang tour on MTV's Week in Rock "I just finished reading Noam Chomsky's (who visited Israel a couple of weeks ago) biography, and among books I've taken I got one specially for Israel. A book that will give me some Info and understanding of some of the places we'll visit. It's called the "Bible" (the old testament)." - Tom responding to a question about books he reads on tour "Things like rebellion and resistance to authority are absolutely as much a part of the human experience as love and cars are, and it's a part that doesn't get covered very much in pop music." - Tom Morello in Alternative Press "A good song should make you wanna tap your foot and get with your girl. A great song should destroy cops and set fire to the suburbs. I'm only interested in writing great songs." - Tom Morello in Alternative Press "Of course, music is an art form, and it's not all that competitive. But we don't ever intend to be the second-best band on a stage at any show." "It�s not at all the case where our audiences are empty glasses that we pour knowledge in. I think that Rage Against the Machine fans are for the most part pretty intelligent, and a lot of them are pretty pissed off and have got their own ideas." - Tom Morello, explaining Rage�s relationship with the fans. "This will be our final conduction of the afternoon..." - Tom said this at their first show before playing the last song... I thought it was funny Zach De La Rocha "They use force, to make you do, what the deciders, have decided you must do." - Zack uses this quote from Black Panther member Eldridge Cleaver usually at the beginning of Killing in the Name. He'll repeat it like 5 times, and then the song starts. "It's been 20 years....they have no proof....and he's still in jail" - Zack says this 4 or 5 times before Freedom every once and awhile. Freedom has sortof become the song for Leonard Peltier, that's why Zack says that before it...I've only heard it once though. "He has the nerve to call us violent when last year there were 80,000 cases of police brutality filed against departments all over the country this sheriff pig is poppin' off, poppin'off about how we're violent. Well, shit, he belongs to the most violent gang in US history." - Zack referring to a Sheriff who tried to get the Rage concert banned. "The classroom's the last room to get the truth." - Zack says this before Take the Power Back sometimes "Everybody have fun on inauguration day? It was fun. I like the fireworks my self. Nice." - Zack talking about inauguration day... "For mister Bob Grant, you racist mother fucker. For the censors of Saturday Night Live. We gotta shut down the programs of Vietnow" - Zack said this before Vietnow on SNL (Saturday Night Live) "Eh yo light man. Cut these fuckin sprinkler lights and shit, this ain't no Alice in Wonderland." -Zach getting mad at the light guys (again!) Brad Wilk "The music wouldn't exist without the politics. When we're playing a show, if something clicks for any one kid in the audience - starting that change, that process of thinking for themselves - that's the most potent time Rage Against the Machine can have as a band." "It�s nice to see kids going off to songs they haven�t heard yet." - Brad Wilk on fan reaction to the new material. |
| Speeches |
| Quotes |
| Zack getting mad at the crowd during Settle For Nothing in Italy "You know what, if you're gonna fucking come on stage, then jump on, and get the fuck off!"...."Listen up for a second: I don't mind anyone up here coming up on stage and diving, expressing yourselves in anyway that you see fit. If this music angers you and makes you want to jump around, that's fine - But if it affects the ability for the music to communicate to you. Then I might as well fucking leave the stage right now, because it's not fucking...that's not our goal man. We wanna make this more than just a fucking little side show. So give your respect as long as you respect what's being said, and what's happening up here. Ok?" |
| Zack's general response to the Fraternal Order of Police's charges that Rage supports "cop-killers" "Cops have been following us around all over the country saying we support cop killers. Let's make it completely clear. We don't support killers, and especially not killer cops. We do support innocent brothers and sisters being framed up in prisons all over this country, people like Mumia Abu-Jamal." |
| The speech on South Africa, after Producer (before Township Rebellion) "After decades upon decades of racial and economic opression in South Africa, we can now say that european dominence in South African no longer exists. The Aparti regime and the Africanas no longer have a grip on the past of Africans, Africans determine their past now and begin to determine those into the future. This song is called Township Rebellion." |
| An Interview Timmy C from Radio 105 FM - My Site |