The document that was known as the "Obscure References FAQ" a long
time ago is now contained in Section [7].

See Section [9] for information on additions, changes, usage.

Enjoy, and send your comments, suggestions, and QUESTIONS.

- TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviated to the highest levels for length.

[1] GENERAL RAGE INFORMATION
     [1-1] What is Rage Against the Machine?
     [1-2] Did they ever break up?
     [1-3] Did they perform at Lollapalooza?
     [1-4] Did they perform naked or something?
     [1-5] What happened on Saturday Night Live?
     [1-6] What is the relationship between them and xxxx band?
     [1-7] Isn't being on Sony's Epic label hypocritical?
     [1-8] How can I contact Rage?
     [1-9] Are Rage communists, or what?
     [1-10] What does Rage have against sampling?
     [1-11] Does Rage hate white people?
     [1-12] Tattoos on the band
     [1-13] I heard on the radio...
     [1-14] Rage should go to China/Cuba/(other "communist" country)!
     [1-15] What was Radio Free LA?
     [1-16] Is that WWF theme a Rage song?

[2] BAND INFORMATION
     [2-1] The Guilty Parties
          [2-1-1] Zack de La Rocha, vocals/lyrics
          [2-1-2] Tom Morello, guitar
          [2-1-3] Tim Commerford, bass
          [2-1-4] Brad Wilk, drums
     [2-2] What equipment does the band use?
          [2-2-1] Zack de la Rocha, vocals
          [2-2-2] Tom Morello, guitar
          [2-2-3] Tim Commerford, bass
          [2-2-4] Brad Wilk, drums
     [2-3] What other bands would I like?

[3] RECORDINGS
     [3-1] What does xxxx in the lyrics to xxxx mean?
     [3-2] Rage Against the Machine
          [3-2-1] What is going on with the monk on the cover?
          [3-2-2] What is that I hear in "Wake Up"?
          [3-2-3] How do I make that buzzing sound in "Bullet in the Head"?
          [3-2-4] What are the lyrics to "Killing in the Name"?
     [3-3] Evil Empire
          [3-3-1] What does "Evil Empire" mean?
          [3-3-2] Who is that kid on the cover?
          [3-3-3] What are all those books in the liner notes?
          [3-3-4] What is Zack saying at the beginning of "Bulls on Parade"?
          [3-3-5] How do I make those cool sounds before "Revolver"?
     [3-4] What singles are there?
     [3-5] What about other stuff?
     [3-6] Rage Against the Machine: Video

[4] MEDIA PROPAGANDA
     [4-1] What is the significance of...
     [4-2] What songs are music videos?
     [4-3] What songs have appeared in movies?
     [4-4] Are there any Rage bootlegs (rare and live recordings)?

[5] LIVE
     [5-1] I heard a song I didn't recognize...
          [5-1-1] Covers
          [5-1-2] "Readings"
          [5-1-3] Totally Unreleased
          [5-1-4] Demo songs
          [5-1-5] Other Non-Album
     [5-2] Song xxxxx didn't sound the same when I heard it live...
     [5-3] Stage/Setup Layout
     [5-4] Miscellaneous live information

[6] POLITICAL
     [6-1] Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional
     [6-2] Mumia Abu-Jamal
     [6-3] Leonard Peltier
     [6-4] Supported Organizations

[7] LYRICAL REFERENCES
     [7-1] Rage Against the Machine
     [7-2] Evil Empire
     [7-3] Non-Album

[8] RAGE ON THE INTERNET
     [8-1] Are Rage on the internet?
     [8-2] Are there official homepages?
     [8-3] What is with that e-mail address?
     [8-4] Where can I talk to other fans?
     [8-5] What about "fan pages?"
     [8-6] Fan resource sites

[9] THE FAQ'S FAQ
     [9-1] The Guilty Parties
     [9-2] What about distribution?
     [9-3] Updates and Changes

[1] GENERAL RAGE INFORMATION

[1-1] What is Rage Against the Machine?

Rage Against the Machine is a band who formed in 1991 in Los Angeles.
Their first private performance was at a friend of Tim's living room
party, and they decided they had something. They took their name
from the title of Zack's previous band's unreleased second album.
They played a few shows, and were almost immediately contacted
by several labels. However, they all seemed to think the politics
were a gimmick, and Rage didn't bother with them. Their earliest
demos were recorded "before ever playing live" and were for sale
at their shows, and they made and sold about 5000 copies. They
signed with Epic after a short time, and their self-titled debut
album on Epic (a division of Sony) was released in November, 1992
(see C-2). They toured in support of various bands and gained more
and more recognition; their debut album went platinum; the rest is
history.

However, it goes far deeper than just the title of a band, in the
minds of many fans. Here is, in fact, a fan to explain:
Lee Smith :

"'Rage' by definition is violent uncontrolled anger. Rage is being
fed up with the Machine to the point of taking action.

"The Machine is what we have come to know of as our governments, our
politics, our economies, the people and corporate conglomerates
that have come to dominate our society in this day and age. The
Machine is the oppression of people everywhere, from Mexico to China
to the United States.

"The Machine is the politics that keep the people out of power; keep
the poor in their place and the rich in the lap of luxury. The
polluting fuel that runs the Machine is money. The Machine has
brainwashed the people with the media that they control, and now the
people have begun to believe that the Machine is the only way to
survive.

"Rage Against The Machine is a people's movement everywhere to try
and push back the corporations, the governments, the empowered
moralists from controlling our lives.

"Rage Against the Machine is about enlightening people, and changing
minds and attitudes towards a brighter future for all the people of
the world."

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[1-2] Did they ever break up?

Zack has said, "No, we never broke up."

Because of their almost-immediate signing with Epic and the
subsequent touring, they didn't really know each other as well as
they would have liked. So, they rented a house and one car in
Atlanta to live together for a while to get ready for the next
album, and they just about went crazy. They talked about breaking
up, but decided that wouldn't be right and didn't.

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[1-3] Did they perform at Lollapoolaza?

Rage played in 1993's Lollapalooza tour. Lollapalooza is a showcase
of various alternative bands and acts (at least it used to be) that
tours the US each summer with a different lineup of guests. They
also performed at four stops in the southeast US in 1996.

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[1-4] Did they perform naked or something?

At the 1993 Lollapalooza (see [1-3]) stop in Philadelphia, they got
up on stage naked with PMRC (one letter per person) painted across
their chests, electrical tape on their mouths and with the guitars
feeding back for fourteen minutes and just stood there in protest.
They played a free show a few days later to make up for not
performing their music. The PMRC is the Parents Musical Resource
Council, a group founded by Tipper Gore, that promotes music
censorship through stickers and ratings on albums and other such
means (see [2-1-2-1]). For those of you who just have to know, yes
they were completely naked. Tom wasn't even wearing his hat. It was
broad daylight; the audience got quite an eyeful. You can find
pictures around if you really must see for yourself.

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[1-5] What happened on Saturday Night Live?

This is more than you ever wanted to know about the incident, from
Rock Out Censorship's official statement, by Kenny Moore:

Many of you were left wondering why Rage Against The Machine
performed only one song when they appeared on Saturday Night Live on
April 13th. We hope that many of you, once you know about what went
down behind the scene, will join us and never watch the show again,
and to express your opinions in writing or by phone to Saturday
Night Live and NBC executives.

As many of you know, the show was hosted that night by ex-Republican
presidential candidate, and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to
RATM guitarist Tom Morello, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp
juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat
tax...by making our own statement."

To make that statement, RATM hung two upside-down American flags
from their amps. Seconds before they took the stage to perform
"Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags
down. The inverted flags, says Morello, represented "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."

RATM first attempted to hang the flags during a pre-telecast
rehearsal on Thursday, SNL's producers "demanded that we take the
flags down," says Morello. "They said the sponsors would be upset,
and that because Steve Forbes was on, they had to run a 'tighter'
show." SNL also told the band it would mute objectionable lyrics in
"Bullet In The Head" (which was supposed to be RATM's second song).
SNL even insisted that the song be bleeped in the studio because
Forbes had friends and family there.

On show night, following the first performance, and the flags being
torn down, RATM were approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered
to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, RATM bassist
Tim Bob reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds
from one of the torn down flags.

"SNL censored Rage, period. They could not have sucked up to the
billionaire more," said Morello. "The thing that's ironic is SNL is
supposedly this cutting edge show, but they proved they're
bootlickers to their corporate masters when it comes down to it.
They're cowards. It should come to no surprise that GE, which owns
NBC, would find 'Bullet' particularly offensive. GE is a major
manufacturer of US planes used to commit war crimes in the Gulf War,
and bombs from those jets destroyed hydroelectric dams which killed
thousands of civilians in Iraq." Morello noted that members of the
Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name,
"expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that
their show had censored the performance."

Because NBC is not a department of the U.S. Government, they were
within their rights to run their show as they see fit by censoring
Rage Against The Machine's performance. However, we as intelligent
viewers and citizens have the right to choose what shows we watch
and make our opinions known about how shows are being run. When SNL
made the decision to censor RATM, they did so because they were
worried what the sponsors of the show would think. They did not
take into consideration what the progressive minded fans of RATM
would think of their decision, or even what fans of their supposedly
irreverent brand of comedy would think of their decision. This is a
slap in the face to all of us. If it were not for the fans and
viewers of the show, there would not be a show there for the
corporations to sponsor. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to send
a strong message to the suits at NBC that we as viewers will not
tolerate programming decisions such as these. It is the nature of
the television industry that if the viewers are there, the corporate
advertisers will come. If some of the corporate suits get their
feathers ruffled over some controversy, but the ratings are still
there, other sponsors will be lining up to advertise with a popular
show. However, if a show takes a noticeable nose-dive in the
ratings, ALL the sponsors will be abandoning ship. To assist in
sending the message to NBC that we will not tolerate their decisions
to censor artist's free expression, we urge everyone to write or
call NBC Viewer Services and express your "RAGE" at this blatant
act of censorship.

Send your message to: NBC-TV, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, ATTN: Viewer
Services, New York, NY 10020. Phone: (212) 644-2333.

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[1-6] What is the relationship between them and xxxx band?

[1-6-1] Tool

Brad and Tom played "Calling Dr. Love" on the KISS tribute album
with Maynard James Keenan (Tool) and Billy Gould (Faith No More).
They called themselves Shanti's Addiction. Maynard does the "I've
got no patience now..." interlude on RATM's "Know Your Enemy."
Tom Morello is thanked on Tool's "Opiate" EP, and Tool is thanked
on Rage's debut album.
Also, there is this: Tom and Adam Jones, the guitarist from Tool,
supposedly went to high school together and played in a garage
band called Electric Sheep (with Adam on bass). This info is found
in various places but I don't know the ultimate source of it.

Here is the info I have currently:

- A video, from MTV's Headbanger's Ball about 3-4 years ago, which
has Tom and Maynard joking together about Tom beating him up
in high school.
- A quote from Danny Carey, Tool drummer, speaking about the
formation of Tool: "I met Adam [Jones, guitarist] through Tom
Morello of Rage (Against The Machine). And I was living beside
Maynard."

So when I see something from one of the musicians themselves
directly saying if it was Adam or Maynard, this section will get
quite a bit shorter.

The best Tool homepage:
http://toolshed.down.net/

[1-6-2] Pearl Jam

Rage opened for them on at least one date in 1992 and they
thanked the group on their first album, and Brad may have played
drums "with Eddie Vedder" but that's not for sure.

The best Pearl Jam homepage:
http://www1.ixa.net/horizons/

[1-6-3] Public Enemy

Chuck D, PE's "lead man," and the band are good friends. Zack has
performed with him at various shows, and he is rumored to have
something to do with the next album. He also interviewed Zack, Tom,
and Tim for Rip magazine. Rage will hopefully be producing at least
one track on Public Enemy's upcoming album, and vice-versa. Rage
has also covered the Public Enemy song "Black Steel in the Hour of
Chaos".

A Public Enemy homepage:
http://www.defjam.com/artists/pe/enemy.html

[1-6-4] Downset

This is sort of an anti-connection, really. The bands share a lot of
fans, and their styles are very similar, which has led people to
think Downset is ripping off Rage because Rage is much more
well-known. Downset obviously does not like this, and they had at
least two separate songs on early 7-inches and whatnot, devoted
entirely to ripping Rage and Zack. I have removed the lyrics
themselves from this FAQ in the interest of saving space; no one
cared anyway.

The best downset. homepage:
http://www.downset.demon.co.uk/

[1-6-4] Porno for Pyros

Stephen Perkins (drummer for Porno for Pyros) played "trashcan
percussion" in the interlude to "Know Your Enemy" with Maynard James
Keenan from Tool, and also played with Zack, Tom and Flea from Red
Hot Chili Peppers during the Radio Free L.A. broadcast. Perry
Farrell (vocals, Porno for Pyros) is also thanked on both albums and
had a hand in their selection for Lollapalooza (which he founded).

[1-6-5] The Prodigy

Tom and Liam Howlett, who puts together most of The Prodigy's
material, collaborated to create "One Man Army" for the Spawn
soundtrack in the spring of 1997. Tom created the guitar and Liam
worked with it, each creating their parts across the world from
each other over the phone. Tom has said he'd love to work with him
again.

[1-6-6] Wu-Tang Clan

Zack is a huge Wu fan and listened to them all through the 1996
tour, so they asked the enormous rap group to join them on their
1997 summer tour. The tour went very well, despite occasional
weirdness on behalf of the Wu; on several occasions, they
collaborated on stage. The RZA and Rage's version of "My
Country 'tis of Thee" as performed on an early date in the tour
was completely spontaneous, and they did it from time to time. The
Wu withdrew from the tour about halfway through, citing "internal
conflicts."

[1-6-7] Snoop Doggy Dogg

Tom, Tim and Brad redid Snoop's song "Snoop Bounce" in the studio,
for a Snoop single. I have heard the song, but don't know anything
about the single. Feel free to mail me anything to add here.

[1-6-4] The Alkoholiks

Zack remixed a track for them for their album "Contents Unda
Pressure," and also played bass and drums on the track "Liquidation."

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[1-7] Isn't being on Epic hypocritical?

I believe Tom says it best:

"A lot of labels contacted us, and lots of them just didn't seem to
understand what we wanted to do. They kept talking about the
message of the music as a gimmick. They were interested in us just
because there was a buzz... They saw us as the latest local rock
band to be hyped. But Epic agreed to everything we asked--and
they've followed through... we never saw a conflict as long as we
maintained creative control. When you live in a capitalistic
society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes
through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his
works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people
buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the
converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists,
but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary
message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart."

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[1-8] How can I contact Rage?

Rage Against the Machine
PO Box 2052
Los Angeles, CA 900069

email: RAGEemail@aol.com
http://www.ratm.com/

See Section [8-*] for more information.

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[1-9] Are Rage communists, or what?

This is a touchy subject. Tom seems to be, what with the hammer and
sickle, "commie" hats, Sendero Luminoso support, and all, and he also
seems to belong to the RCP, the Revolutionary Communist Party. Or
not; until we hear from Tom one way or another we will never know.
The other members of the band, I have no idea.

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[1-10] What does Rage have against sampling?

They don't have anything against sampling in the least. It is
commonly thought that because of the disclaimer in the liner notes
that they somehow disapprove of it. Not true. They are simply
proud of the fact that they can create those sounds without the use
of machinery aside from their instruments.

Note that they changed that disclaimer slightly in Evil Empire...

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[1-11] Does Rage hate white people?

Some people apparently think this. No, they do not. Rage is against
all discrimination. Besides, how can a band hate whites when the
bassist and drummer are white, the guitarist is half-white, and the
vocalist is of mixed race? Some people just don't get it.

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[1-12] Tattoos on the band

Everyone but Tom apparently has at least one. Zack has Dr. Martin
Luther King on his left shoulder. Brad has a huge swirly
thing, according to him it is the number 3, on his left shoulder to
his elbow and a lion's head on his right upper arm. Tim has a thick
black armband above his left elbow and a tribal round thing on his
right pectoral. There is also a green head with a red head punching
through it above his right elbow; a huge face extending across
exactly half of his back, neck to waist; and a large design over
his entire left leg. The solid black color seen on the cover of Spin
is probably body paint for the photo shoot, the rest is real. He
also has a nipple ring in the Killing in the Name video.

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[1-13] I heard on the radio...

A common preface to moronic, unfounded statements. Haven't you been
paying attention? "Turn on the radio, nah, fuck it! Turn it
off!" Deejays love to sound like they know something you don't by
spewing out rumors. Don't listen to them, listen to the band and
press releases.

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[1-14] Rage should go to China/Cuba/(other "communist" country)!

Here's an excellent quote from Tom Morello to shut people like this
up with:

"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-owning founding
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 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."

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[1-15] What was Radio Free LA?

RFLA was a project Tom put together and hosted to bring politics to
the forefront of commercial radio, at least for a little while. It
was made available free to any radio station interested in carrying
it, and was funded by Sony. It featured interviews with VERY
prominent world figures, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Noam Chomsky, and
Subcommandante Marcos. Between the political talk was music; Zack,
Tom, Stephen Perkins and Flea collaborated to redo all the songs off
Evil Empire in their own unique style. Beck performed and spoke,
and a series of hilarious "edited" presidential speeches were aired.
Also, several young activists spoke on behalf of youth rights and
for the garment workers union; Michael Moore put forth some of his
own brand of political humor as well. It lasted a little over 2
hours, and was cut off in some areas because of this. Tom hopes to
put together another show in the future.

http://www.radiofreela.com/

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[1-16] Is that WWF theme a Rage song?

Sometime in 1997 a couple of "wrestlers" in the World Wrestling
Federation who call themselves "Degeneration X" started using,
as their introductory music, a song that sounds like a really,
really bad ripoff of a Rage song (not one in particular, just
the sound). Since there are apparently enough stupid people to
actually think it was a Rage song and mail me about it, it needs
to be said: IT IS NOT A RAGE SONG. The only information I have
about who may have done it is, possibly, a band called "Sevendust.
" Although, if they did not do it, this could be considered slander
(it is a really, really horrible song).

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[2] The Guilty Parties

[2-1] Who are the members of Rage?

[2-1-1] Zack de La Rocha, vocals/lyrics

Zack was born January 12, 1970 in Long Beach, CA and is primarily
Chicano in descent. His parents separated when he was a child. His
father was an artist (see 2-1-1-1), and he grew up with his mother
in Irvine, CA. Before Rage, Zack sang in a very well-known hardcore
band called Inside Out and played guitar in a band called
Hardstance. He writes and performs poetry and organizes local shows
in addition to his Rage-related activities. He is also currently
involved in building a community center near his home.

[2-1-1-1] Is Zack related to Beto de la Rocha?

Beto is Zack's father. He was a founding member of Los Four, a
group of Chicano artists who created murals in Los Angeles and was
crucial to the early Chicano mural movement. He had a breakdown in
1983, during which he and a young Zack destroyed all of his work.
He then isolated himself in his house, becoming devoutly religious.
When Zack would visit him on the weekends he was forced to take part
in his fasting and other activities, generally very detrimental to a
young boy. Beto has since reemerged and runs an ice cream shop in LA
and has performed poetry with Zack. After experiencing his son's
work, he has taken up painting and writing once again.

Beto's ice cream can be found at:

560 N. Westlake
Valencia, CA 90026
413-7861

[2-1-1-2] Does Zack speak Spanish?

Nope. I suspect he is learning, however.

[2-1-2] Tom Morello, guitar

Tom Morello was born in New York City May 30th, 1964 and grew up in
the Chicago suburb of Libertyville. His father was a member of
the Mau Mau guerrilla army which freed Kenya from British
colonial rule, see section [2-1-2-1] for information on his
mother. Tom graduated from Harvard in 1986 with an honors degree in
Political Science. Before joining Rage, Tom was in an LA band called
Lock Up, which released a weird album on Geffen.

[2-1-2-1] Tom's Mom

Tom's mom, Mary, is Italian and Irish and founded Parents For Rock &
Rap (see [6-4]), an anti-censorship organization, in 1987. She
recently won the Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award for her work in
the organization in June of 1996. She traveled with Rage when they
were with Lollapalooza, and introduced them as "The best fucking
band on this tour." She still does this whenever she is at a show.

[2-1-2-2] The "commie" hat

To the best of my knowledge, he made his various hats that say
"commie" on the front. He might have gotten them at Revolution
Books in Los Angeles, but most likely he made them.

This is probably also a good place to say that underneath those
hats, Tom has no hair. He had a huge 'Fro in college, but went bald

. [2-1-3] Tim Commerford, bass

Tim's father is an aerospace engineer. He is the youngest of five
kids, and his mother was a mathematician who died of brain cancer
when he was twenty. He and Zack have been friends since elementary
school, and it was Zack who turned him on to playing bass; he was
with Zack back during the Inside Out hardcore days as well. He
follows Brad Wilk's philosophy of being in the band for the music,
but has since decided it is also about "education." He writes
poetry on the side, and loves jazz music.

[2-1-3-1] Why does Tim keep changing his name?

Tim was listed as "Timmy C." on RATM, then as "Tim Bob" on Evil
Empire. He has said that he will change his name for every album,
though he has given no reason why.

[2-1-4] Brad Wilk, drums

Brad was born September 5, 1968 in a hospital/sanitarium in
Portland, Oregon. After watching money ruin his father as a child,
he tries to put minimal worth in material things. He became involved
with Rage through his placement of an ad in a periodical, and Tom
responded. He is in the band for the music, and is not especially
politically inclined. He has mentioned a weird connection to the
number 3 throughout his life, and little "3"'s are plastered all
over his drumkit.

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[2-2] What equipment does the band use?

Many thanks to Rog Patterson, the band's production manager, for
this (mostly) definitive information. There are still some
specifics I don't have, but I'll get them some time. These may not
be current past the 1996 tours.

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[2-2-1] Zack de la Rocha, vocals

*Microphones*

Audix OM-7

[2-2-2] Tom Morello, guitar

*Guitars*

Tom's main guitar is a Strat-style body modeled after a Kramer with
an extra-wide rosewood Performance neck. The hardware is from all
different guitars. Tom also brings a stock Fender American Standard
Telecaster along on the road, just to be safe. Other guitars have
also been seen in various photographs and performances, but
specifications are unknown. Tom claims they are all "mongrels."
Note: The custom is the blue one, with "Arm the homeless" written on
it, and a small red/yellow hammer and sickle sticker. The
Telecaster is yellow. One of his other "backup" guitars has
"Sendero Luminoso" written on it and is black and white. Also,
this information is pretty old and may be wrong following all the
recent touring. On the 1997 tours, he started bringing a 12-string
Gibson SG along for certain songs, but any modifications or whatever
aren't known yet.

*Effect pedals*

1. Dunlop Crybaby
2. Digitech Whammy
3. Ibanez (custom) Delay
4. DOD EQ Delay
5. Ibanez Flanger

*Amplifiers*
Stock 50-watt Marshall JCM 800 2205 Head

[2-2-3] Tim Commerford, bass

*Guitars*

Modified Fender Jazz Bass
Rickenbacker 8-string

*Effects pedals*

Marshall Guvnor distortion pedal feeds one amp stack. Whole stack
switched in or out as required.

*Amplifiers*

2 Ampeg SVT-II Pro heads, each driving an Ampeg SVT 8x10" cabinet

[2-2-4] Brad Wilk, drums

*Drumkit*

Pork Pie (custom made)

*Cymbals*

Zildjian

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[2-3] What other bands would I like?

Bands similar to Rage that are popular with Rage fans include:

Korn - 311 - Downset - Juster - Orange 9mm - Snot - Deftones

These bands typically share the rap-metal style, but have their own
variation on it. Tool is also popular, but doesn't really sound
like Rage at all.

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[3] RECORDINGS

[3-1] What does xxxx in the lyrics to xxxx mean?

What was formerly known as a separate FAQ file entirely has now been
assimilated into this one. It can be found as Section [7] now.

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[3-2] Rage Against the Machine

[3-2-1] What is going on with the monk on the cover?

The burning monk on the cover of Rage Against The Machine is Thich
Quang Duc, an elderly Buddhist monk. He is immolating himself on a
main intersection in Saigon, Vietnam on June 11, 1963 to protest the
rule of Ngo Dinh Diem, the American-backed leader of Vietnam who was
leading an anti-Buddhist campaign in southern Vietnam. This action
was witnessed and filmed by many members of the American media and
led to the end of the Diem rule in Vietnam. This photo won the 1963
Pulitzer Prize.

[3-2-2] What is that I hear in "Wake Up"?

Right around 4:38, some whispering starts in the background. Zack is
reading a portion of a COINTELPRO document. COINTELPRO was the FBI's
COunterINTELligence PROgram, which functioned during the 60's and
70's to covertly disrupt civil rights organizations such as the
American Indian Movement, the Black Panthers, the SDS, the Women's
movement, Martin Luther King, etc. The document he is reading
outlines FBI goals to disrupt black civil rights actions and states,
in part:

"Prevent the rise of a messiah who could unify and electrify the
militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such
a 'messiah;' he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther
King, Stokely Carmichael, and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this
position... King could be a real contender for this position should
he abandon his supposed 'obedience' to 'white liberal doctrines' of
nonviolence and embrace black nationalism..." "Prevent violence on
the part of the black nationalist groups. This is primary
importance, and is, of course, a goal of the Counterintelligence
Program. Through counterintelligence it should be possible to
pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them before they
exercise their potential for violence..."

And so on. The full document, and thousands more were made public
only recently through the Freedom of Information Act, can be
accessed in Ward Churchill and Jim Vandel Wall's book, _The
COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against
Domestic Dissent_, South End Press, Boston (MA), 1990. Page 110.

[3-2-3] How do I make that buzzing sound in "Bullet in the Head"?

Pull your amp plug out of your guitar and touch it to the strings.
Note: if you do this with a high power system, there is a rare but
plausible scenario where you could die. Electrocuting yourself
could ruin your carpet, so don't do this. Tom has a special
mechanism to prevent frying himself, but you don't. So be careful.

[3-2-4] What are the lyrics to "Killing in the Name"?

These are not in the liner notes, for whatever reason (they are the
only ones missing). There is no authoritative lyrics sheet that I
know of, so if you have a better guess that what is here, send it
to me.

 Killing in the name of
 Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses (x4)

 Killing in the name of (x2)
 Now you do what they told ya (x11)

 Those who died
 Are justified
 By wearing the badge, they the chosen whites
 You justify
 Those that died
 By wearing the badge, they the chosen whites (x2)
 
 Some of those that work forces
 Are the same that burn crosses (x4) 
 Killing in the name of (x2)

 Now you do what they told ya (x4)
                                  now you're under control (x7)
 Now you do what they told ya (x8)

 Those who died
 Are justified
 By wearing the badge, they the chosen whites
 You justify
 Those that died
 By wearing the badge, they the chosen whites (x2)
 
 Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me (x16)
 Mother fucker!

[3-3] Evil Empire

[3-3-1] What does "Evil Empire" mean?

Evil Empire is what former US President Ronald Reagan referred to
the USSR as in a speech in 1982. Here is what Zack has to say:

"It's a title I thought was a bit [...]. Ha ha ha. Toward the end
of the Cold War, the Reagan administration constantly tried to breed
this fear in the American public by referring to the Soviet Union as
the Evil Empire. We've kind of come to understand that you can
pretty much flip that on its head to see that the US has been
responsible for many of the atrocities in the late 20th century."

[3-3-2] Who is that kid on the cover?

That kid is named Ari Meisel, and he is 15 or so years old. He
attends (or attended) the United Nations International School in
New York. The original artwork is derived from _Crimebuster_,
which is (C) Mel Ramos.

At least, that was the info for that kid when the album came out.
Some of it may have changed.

[3-3-2-1] What is "_Crimebuster_?"

The previous information I had guessed on has turned out to be
correct. Mel Ramos is a pop artist who teaches at the state college
in Hayward, California. The original graphic was a painting that
Rage modified somewhat. If you would like to see the actual,
original painting, it can be found on the WWW at this location:

http://tesla.csuhayward.edu/~art/crime.html

[3-3-3] What are all those books in the liner notes?

Consider it a reading list... and note than some of these may not
exactly be available at your local library, though most are. This
is the complete list of books, as compiled using both the CD and LP
liner notes.

 TITLE                                   AUTHOR
 
 The Age of Reason                       Jean-Paul Sartre
 What Uncle Sam Really Wants             Noam Chomsky 
 Play It As It Lays                      Joan Didion 
 The Black Panthers Speak                Philip Foner, ed. 
 Power at Play: Sports and
 the Problem of Masculinity              Michael A Messner
 90 Years of Ford                        George H. Dammann 
 Tropic of Cancer                        Henry Miller 
 Live from Death Row                     Mumia Abu-Jamal 
 The Autobiography of Malcolm X          Malcolm X (with Alex Haley) 
 Rebellion from the Roots:
 Indian Uprising in Chiapas              John Ross 
 The Anarchist Cookbook                  William Powell 
 Race for Justice: Mumia Abu-Jamal's
 Fight Against the Death Penalty         Leonard Weinglass 
 Hegemony and Revolution: A Study of
 Antonio Gramsci's Political &
 Cultural Theory                         Walter L. Adamson 
 A Portrait of the Artist as a
 Young Man                               James Joyce
 Guerilla Warfare                        Che Guevara
 The Media Monopoly                      Ben H. Bagdikian
 The Fire Last Time: 1968 and After      Chris Harmon
 Democracy Is in the Streets             James Miller 
 Joe Hill                                Gibbs M. Smith 
 50 Ways to Fight Censorship &
 Important Facts to Know About
 the Censors                             Dave Marsh 
 Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer               Bruce W. Talamon 
 The Wretched of the Earth               Frantz Fanon 
 Soledad Brother: The Prison
 Letters of George Jackson               George Jackson 
 Killing Hope: U.S. Global
 Intervensions since World War II        William Blum 
 Chronicles of Dissent                   Noam Chomsky and David
                                         Barsamian
 Class Warfare: Interviews
 with David Barsamian                    Noam Chomsky and David
                                         Barsamian
 The Marx Engels Reader                  Robert C. Tucker 
 The Teachings of Don Juan:
 a Yaqui Way to Knowledge                Carlos Castaneda
 Promissory Notes: Women in
 the Transition to Socialism             Sonia Kruks, et al. 
 Johnny Got His Gun                      Dalton Trumbo 
 Marxism and the Oppression of
 Women toward a Unitary Theory           Lise Vogel 
 East Los Angeles: History 
 of a Barrio                             Ricardo Romo
 Inevitable Revolution: 
 The United States in 
 Central America                         Walter ??????
 Chicano Politics: Reality and
 Promise 1940-1990                       Juan Gomez ??????
 The Ghost of Chance                     William S. Burroughs
 First World, Ha Ha Ha!: 
 The Zapatista Challenge                 ???????
 Culture of Narcissism: 
 American Life in an Age of
 Diminishing Expectations                ???????
 The Aesthetic Dimension: 
 Toward a Critique
 of Marxist Aesthetics                   Herbert Marcuse

[3-3-4] What is Zack saying at the beginning of Bulls on Parade?

"Come wit' it now." It may sound vaguely like "Quit it now" on the
album, but live it is clearly "Come wit' it now."

[3-3-5] How do I make those cool sounds before Revolver?

That sound is made by a special guitar. One day Tom was visiting the
Ibanez (guitar makers) headquarters and had a chance to test out a
new guitar they were building. Apparently, while messing with the
guitar, Tom discovered that when you put that guitar's pickup
selector in the "in between" on/off position, this weird little
chirping noise is heard and can be manipulated with the tone knob
thanks to some weird defective internal pickup. Tom immediately
bought the guitar and has used it for this song since. He is, in
fact, using this guitar in the picture on the inside of Evil Empire.

Back to top

[3-4] What singles are there?

Note: This information is strictly for CD versions. There have
been several vinyl editions of some of these, but until someone
lays that info out and sends it to me, I will not try to
sort it out. Be aware that what is presented here is not complete
in this respect.

[3-4-1] "Bombtrack"

The domestic Bombtrack single has the album version of Bombtrack,
the "swing" version of the song with an extra verse (which later
becomes part of Without a Face) from the BBC radio show "Evening
Session" with Mark Goodier, and a live version of Bombtrack with a
small speech by Zack about Leonard Peltier. Cover is red with a
picture of Che Guevara, inside has a background of a building being
knocked down with a wrecking ball.

[3-4-1-1] My "Bombtrack" single says "Pinkpop" on it. What is that?

Pinkpop is a European music festival that Rage has played at for
several years. This special edition has a slightly modified cover
and different tracks, making it into a sort of "super-single"
because it has all the non-album tracks from the Bullet in the
Head, Freedom, and Bombtrack single combined with the album track
Bombtrack.

[3-4-2] "Bullet in the Head"

Tracks are the album-verion "Bullet", a remix by Sir Jinx, and
"Bullet" and "Settle for Nothing" live in Amsterdam. In addition
to the standard CD formats, there is a vinyl version, with "limited
edition" red vinyl, with blood coming out from the center hole of
the record. Tracks are the album-verion "Bullet", a remix by Sir
Jinx, and "Bullet" and "Settle for Nothing" live in Amsterdam.

[3-4-3] "Killing in the Name"

This was a single that was only released on the first European tour,
and is thus very difficult to find. Contains the album track of
"Killing", plus "Darkness (of Greed)" and "Clear the Lane," both
from the original demo sessions. The vinyl version has "white
vinyl." If you know what the artwork is, feel free to let me know;
I have never seen this record.

[3-4-4] "Freedom"

The album track, plus live recordings of Take the Power Back and
Freedom from the 1993 Vancouver show. The cover is black, says "rage
against the machine" on top, and "Freedom" on the bottom.

[3-4-5] "Bulls on Parade"

The BOP single has the album version of BOP, and a live performance
of the Allen Ginsberg poem "Hadda be Playin' on the Jukebox" set to
music by Rage. It is over 10 minutes long. The cover artwork for the
import is a shot of a militia-style family wearing camouflage and
carrying guns in their living room; the little girl is wearing a
beauty pageant costume. The back wall is covered with hunting
trophies and stuffed animals and the like. The cover of the domestic
single is a simple drawing of a microphone with a grenade for a
mouthpiece.

[3-4-6] "People of the Sun"

There are two versions of the People of the Sun single. There is a
domestic release, which has the album "People of the Sun," "Without
a Face" (Live), and "Zapata's Blood" (Live). The cover is a black
and white photo of a sickle, corncob, and Aztec-style feather lying
on a gray background. There is also a European release which has a
colored tint to the cover and different tracks: the album version
of "POTS", and "Killing in the Name" and "Bullet in the Head, album
tracks from RATM.

[3-4-7] "Down Rodeo"

This is not an actual single, although it started off being the next
one from Evil Empire in late 1996. The only track on the promotional
radio discs is the album version of Down Rodeo; the cover artwork is
a man and woman walking hand-in-hand through the bombed out ruins of
a city; B-52 bombers are flying overhead. The artwork is supposedly
by Winston Smith, who has done work for Green Day and Jello Biafra.

[3-4-8] "The Ghost of Tom Joad"
Although it probably won't be made available for commercial sale,
this single was included in the packaging for the video as a "free
bonus single." It contains the studio recording of their version of
Bruce Springsteen's song, see section [5-1-1-3] for more
information. The cover is purple, black, and white and shows a
policeman on horseback with a billy club attacking a group of people
who are throwing broken bottles and things. A legion of police
officers is seen in the background. Europe seems to be getting an
entirely different version of this single, however-- it has three
songs instead of one. In addition to the studio version of Tom Joad,
live versions of Vietnow and Tom Joad from the Irvine Meadows show
on the video are included.

COOL THING: If you look closely, the police officer's badge has a
piece of black tape over the ID number. Officers do this when they
are engaging in activities they shouldn't be; they don't want their
ID to be seen by whoever might report them.

[3-4-9] "Vietnow"

Contains the tracks "Vietnow" from Evil Empire, "Clear the Lane"
demo track, "Zapata's Blood" and "Black Steel" from the "People of
the Sun" EP. The cover is a black and white photograph of an older
lady, seen from the back, carrying a radio and walking down a
mountain.
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[3-5] What about other stuff? (Miscellaneous)

[3-5-1] This record appeared in my mailbox...

A 7" 45 RPM record (vinyl) was sent to all members of the fan club.
What fan club, you ask? Never had your mail answered three years
ago? Well, it turns out Rage's manager was a jackass and the fan
club address had become backlogged with thousands of pieces of mail.
Rage dumped the manager, and sent this, in a packet with information
on the EZLN (see section [6-1]), as a sort of apology.

"Fuck Tha Police" is taken from the Mumia Abu-Jamal benefit (see
section [6-2]) in Washington DC on 8/13/95. "Bombtrack" is the
"swing" version from Mark Goodier's Evening Sessions, on the BBC.
[3-5-2] Another record just showed up!

Another 7" 45 RPM record (vinyl) was sent to all members of the fan
club in November of 1997, in the same style as the first one.

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" is the studio version recorded in Atlanta,
and the b-side of "Vietnow" is from the August 23, 1997 Detroit show.

[3-5-3] What about soundtracks and compilations?

Rage is featured on...
 
 Higher Learning soundtrack:      "Year of the Boomerang"
                                   (see section [4-3-2])
 
 The Crow soundtrack:             "Darkness"
                                   (also known as "Darkness 
                                   of Greed" and "Genocide")
                                   (see section [4-3-1])
 
 Tonnage (Sony) compilation:      "Freedom" (Live, see [3-4-4])

 Insanity (Columbia) compilation: "Bullet in the Head" (Remix)
                                  "Bombtrack"
                                  (from "Evening Sessions")

[3-5-4] People of the Sun EP

This is a 10" vinyl released by Revelation Records, which is the
hardcore label which released recordings by Zack's previous two
bands. My best guess is that Sony couldn't release "Black Steel
in the Hour of Chaos," which has Chuck D performing with Rage,
due to copyright reasons or something. So they went to RevRec.
The track listing goes like this: "People of the Sun" (album track),
"Without a Face" (Live), "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"
(w/Chuck D), "Zapata's Blood" (Live), "Bulls on Parade" (album
track), and "Hadda Be Playin' on the Jukebox" (Live). There is
Zapatista (see section [6-1]) literature in the liner notes. This
is essentially a compilation of the "Bulls on Parade" and "People of
the Sun" singles, with the Chuck D track thrown in.

[3-5-5] What is this double-CD?

Sony has released a double-CD set; The Australian version of RATM
(although I don't know how it differs from the domestic version)
packaged with "Anger is a Gift," which contains 4 tracks: "Year of
the Boomerang," "Darkness (of Greed)," "Freedom (remix)," and "Take
the Power Back (Live)."

[3-5-6] What is "Live and Rare"?

This looks to be an official Sony release, though I have
never heard an official word. It is a collection of all the b-sides
from all singles up to People of the Sun, and was available as a
promo for the Japan tour dates in summer 1997. So, it may be an
official import, but the band MOST LIKELY did not have anything to
do with its release, making it unofficial in some sense.

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[3-6] Rage Against the Machine: The Video

Towards the end of the Summer 1997 tour, the band decided they
should put together a video, as they had a huge backlog of video
showing the Rage live experience. They taped the last two shows
of the tour, then added stuff from 1994, 1996, and all the music
videos up through "People of the Sun." It is an official Epic
release, and can be found at most music stores.

[3-6-1] Who is that woman who talks about censorship?

That is Tom's mother. See section [2-1-2-1] for more information
about her.

[3-6-2] Various weird things

* During the Reading Festival footage, you can see some guy sitting
on stage roll a joint, in the back by the bass amps.

* Brad alternately is and is not wearing a black shirt during "The
Ghost of Tom Joad." You can see this type of thing again in several
of the video clips.

* Send any more interesting things you may have noticed...
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[4] MEDIA PROPAGANDA

[4-1] What is the significance of...

[4-1-1] ...the guy's face on the shirts, singles, and posters?

The guy on the Bombtrack single is Che Guevara, a leader of the
communist revolution in Cuba and attempted revolutions elsewhere in
Central America and eventually in Africa. He is seen on old TV
propaganda from Cuba on CNN every now and then. He was a dashing
revolutionary with a very romantic image. Rage also has the same
image painted onto Tom's amp cabinet.

[4-1-2] ...the kid with the gun to his head?

The guy with the gun is General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, head of the South
Vietnamese National Police. The kid getting shot is a Viet Cong
terrorist.

[4-1-3] ...the woman on the poster and shirt?

This artwork is from the cover of _Promissory Notes: Women in the
Transition to Socialism_, by Sonia Kruks, et al. (See [3-3-3].)

[4-1-4] ...the four guys with guns and hoods?

These are Zapatista freedom fighters. See [6-1] for further
information.

[4-1-5] ...the "nuns with guns"?

The origin of this artwork is unknown, but Tom saw it one day and
thought it was so amusing he bought the rights to it.

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[4-2] What songs are music videos?

There have been several Rage videos. MuchMusic in Canada apparently
airs these videos unedited, while MTV in the USA heavily censors
them. They are collected on the official video, up till "Ghost of
Tom Joad."

[4-2-1] "Freedom"

The video for "Freedom" deals with the case for Leonard Peltier, who
was the leader of the American Indian. Rage is playing live at a
small club for the musical portions of the videos. Throughout the
video, the Peltier case is detailed with shots of Peltier, members
of AIM, and a reenactment of what took place on the Pine Ridge
reservation. The video clips of this reenactment are from the
documentary "Incident at Oglala." During most of the video, quotes
from Sitting Bull and general AIM information scrolls along the
bottom of the screen. The video ends with a picture of Leonard in
prison and the phrase "justice has not been done." See section [6-3]
for more information on the Leonard Peltier case.

COOL THING: Brad plays with his drumkit facing the back wall in this
video, as he was prone to doing in 1994. Supposedly, he felt like
mixing up the stage scene that people are used to. After a while he
set up huge truck mirrors in front of him so he could still see the
crowd while playing.

[4-2-2] "Bombtrack"

Due to the fact that this video doesn't appear in the official video
collection of what they had done through Evil Empire, I seriously
doubt it exists. However, if it does, this is what I have heard:

Supposedly, this video dealt with the Shining Path, a Maoist
revolutionary group in Peru. The band is seen playing in a cage,
in a mockery of the actual treatment of the leader of the Shining
Path's captured leader. When caught by the Peruvian government,
Abimael Guzman was put in a literal cage for the media to see, much
like an animal at a zoo.

[4-2-3] "Killing in the Name"

This video is entirely shots of the band playing live. The
club sizes are larger than the "Freedom" video. In the beginning,
they show a picture of Brad with long hair yelling some sort of
obscenity at the camera. The video flashes throughout all the band
members; towards the end of the video during the "Fuck you..." part,
there is a fan on stage trying to jump off while a large security
guard is repeatedly grabbing at him and roughing him up. Then,
Zack comes over and starts getting in the guy's face and yelling at
the much bigger guard as the fan dives out into the crowd.

[4-2-4] "Bullet in the Head"

This video is more of the band playing live; however, it is an
actual performance in its entirety. It takes place in a weird
warehouse, with equipment lying around and sound guys doing stuff;
Zack jumps between two rows of lights the entire time. The video's
sound is the actual peformance, as opposed to a dub of the album
track like most videos. It was likely made before the first album
was released.

[4-2-5] "Bulls on Parade"

An outdoor stage performance of Bulls on Parade from the Big Day Out
Festival in Australia and a club performance in Sydney is
interspersed throughout clips of young people organizing in the
streets with political signs, military drills, flags, and other
similar images. Several scenes show people scrawling things on
walls and posting up propaganda. Various lyrics are flashed on top
of these scenes in a scrawled sort of handwriting throughout.
Antique-looking film is used with scratches, dust, etc.

COOL THING: Towards the end of the video; if you look really close,
in the scene where a person in black with a baseball cap paints a
figure on the wall, his jacket says "Libertyville" and something
else. As said in [2-1-2], Tom is from Libertyville and wears the
high school's shirts and hats pretty often. Looks like he recruited
from his home town for actors in this video...

[4-2-6] "People of the Sun"

The video opens with shots of a dead Latino girl; her arm starts
bleeding and the blood shows the words "Trickle down." Statistics
illustrating the plight of the Zapatistas are shown from a film
projector being run in a morgue where the bodies of dead Latinos
are stored. Military footage of US arms arriving in Mexico and the
Zapatistas themselves are interspersed with this and shots
of the band playing in front of a brick wall in about a 10 by 10
space. The version seen on MTV is the edited version; scenes of a
Mexican worker being buried alive and trampled, and dead teenagers
in the morgue, have been removed and replaced with military footage.
The black and white documentary-style scenes of the laborer and the
vaqueros are most likely from the movie "Que Viva Mexico" by Sergei
Eisenstein, from the 1930's.

Back to top

[4-3] What songs have appeared in movies?

Zack has said that he wishes their music was in more movies, so
maybe that is something we can look forward to.

[4-3-1] The Crow

"Darkness" is heard coming from a car's sound system as it drives
past the hot dog stand that the cop and the girl eat at several
times during the movie. It is also found on the soundtrack.

[4-3-2] Higher Learning

The earliest version of "Year of the Boomerang" is on the Higher
Learning soundtrack, and is played when Remy is hanging his posters
in his dorm room and when Malik is running down the hall. A
differently-mixed, older version of "Tire Me" is played during the
first standoff with Remy's gun.

[4-3-3] Natural Born Killers

"Bombtrack" and "Take the Power Back" do not appear on the
soundtrack, but appear in the movie. "Bombtrack" starts when Mickey
Knox grabs the shotgun and starts shooting after telling the joke in
prison; the guitar-picking intro to "Take the Power Back" begins as
he herds the people out of the cell. It cuts off right before Zack
starts rapping.

Back to top

[4-4] Are there any Rage bootlegs (rare and live recordings)?

Yes, there are nearing a hundred to the best of my knowledge.
Complete listings can no longer be found due to the huge explosion
recently, but there are several web pages which come close.
Start here:

http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/Towers/1823/propnet.html

[4-4-1] Are these illegal? Where can I get them?

http://www.liii.com:80/~jek/amb-faq.html

This is the URL for the alt.music.bootlegs (newsgroup) FAQ. It has
everything you ever wanted to know about them, and then some.

[4-4-2] What ones are good?

Due to the fact that there are dozens of boots available, it really
is impossible to pick the "best," but some are better than others.
Ask around with people who know to get the inside track. With the
recent explosion of boots from the latest tours, you should be able
to find some good ones. Don't buy them unless you listen first!

Back to top

[5] LIVE

[5-1] I heard a song I didn't recognize...

If it was in the last year or two, it was likely a cover. Prior to
that, it was probably just a song they never released or a
"reading". For a very long time, Rage didn't do covers at all on a
regular basis. That is not the case now however. The fate of the
simply "unreleased" songs is not known at this time. The "Demos"
section is only here for completeness.

[5-1-1] Covers

[5-1-1-1] "Fuck tha Police"

By the rap group NWA, off the album "Straight Outta Compton".
Occasionally played live, most well known performance was August
13th, 1995 in Washington D.C. at the "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" concert.
The recording can be found on bootlegs and the 45 (vinyl record)
sent to fan club members (see section [3-5-1]). Officially
released.

[5-1-1-2] "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"

Originally by the rap group Public Enemy (see section [1-6-3]) on the
album "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back". Played
occasionally on the 1996 Evil Empire tours, most notably at
Pinkpop '96 where Chuck D came out to do the vocals with Zack. Found
on the People of the Sun EP and a few other miscellaneous places.
Officially released.

[5-1-1-3] "The Ghost Of Tom Joad"

A cover of the song by Bruce Springsteen, off the all-acoustic album
of the same name. Musically, it was reworked considerably by RATM.
Played at every show from 1997, with the possible exception of the
secret club gigs. Recorded in the studio in Atlanta during the 1997
US amphitheater tour. Officially Released.

[5-1-1-4]"Sound of Da Police"

Originally a KRS-One song, from the album "Return of the Boom Bap."
This was covered occasionally throughout the 1997 tours, starting on
the European festival circuit. Some may remember this as "that
whoop-whoop song", as not many recognize the original. Not
officially released.

[5-1-1-5] "Clampdown"

Originally a Clash song, off the album "London Calling" which was
released in 1979. Rage covered this their very first show ever,
October 23, 1991. Unknown if they ever did it again.

[5-1-2] "Readings"

[5-1-2-1] "Hadda Be Playing On The Jukebox"

This song has been released on the People of the Sun EP as well as
the "Bulls On Parade" single, but is still regarded with confusion.
It is RATM's version of the Allen Ginsberg poem. This song was
mainly performed live in 1993, where Zack would read from a book as
the band backed him with a bebop/jazz soundtrack.

[5-1-2-2] "The House of Rage" or "Rape"

The true name is unknown, if it ever had one. This song was played
at the Universal Amphitheater at the KROQ Acoustic X-Mas on
12.12.93. It was THE only time it has been played. During this
"song", Tom Morello did vocals, both reading and screaming passages
from the King James version of the Bible while Tim and Brad thrashed
in the background, to no true rhythm. The passages were, in order:

 Exodus 20:1-7
 Romans 3:10-14
 Proverbs 31:10-15
 Romans 3:20

[5-1-3-1] "Producer"

This song was done live throughout 1994, especially during the
European Festival season and at the Leonard Peltier Benefit on
4.29.94 in Los Angeles, CA. Since that time, it has not been done.
This song is regarded as one of the very finest original Rage songs
ever by most everyone who has heard it, and it is very unfortunate it
never reappeared. The name is definitely "Producer," as Zack can be
heard saying it very quietly before the song starts on a recording
of the 1994 Glastonbury festival show. If anyone has any information
on what happened to this song, please contact the author at
rattmann@cts.com.

[5-1-3-2] "Testify"

This song was played at the Universal Amphitheater at the KROQ
Acoustic X-Mas on 12.12.93. As far as is known, this was one of the
few, if not the ONLY time it has been played. Don't look for this
song to be played again in the future, many of its lyrics later
became "Down Rodeo". If anyone has more information, contact the
author at rattmann@cts.com.

[5-1-3-3] "End of the Tunnel"

The only known time this song was played was at "The Medicine Show"
on November 25, 1992. Although the music was entirely different,
lots of its lyrics later became "Wake Up," so it'll probably never
reappear.

[5-1-3-4] "Hit the Deck"
I have very, very little information regarding this song. It was
performed during their very first show October 23, 1991 in the CSUN
(Cal State Northridge) Quad, but everything else is pretty much
unknown. The title is assumed.

[5-1-4] Demo songs

The following songs were on RATM's studio demos (see Section [1-1]),
but otherwise have never existed. Note, these are simply the "fan
names" given to the songs.

 "Autologic"
 "The Narrows"
 "Mindset's a Threat"

[5-1-5] Other Non-Album

Several other songs have been released, but don't fit the earlier
categories.

[5-1-5-1] Clear the Lane

This song has appeared all over the place. First, it is one of the
"Demo songs" from 1991 that was never really played live; it has
since made its way onto several bootlegs, most recently "Vietnow."
It is also found as "Get Down" on fan recordings, but the official
name is "Clear the Lane." It will probably not ever be played live.

[5-1-5-2] Zapata's Blood

A song that made its first appearance May 11, 1996 in England. It
evolved over the course of the 1996 tours, and is a very different
song than much of what Rage has done. It details the situation of
the Zapatistas over an improvised groove. Although it changed
often, the most well-known version has been put on various
recordings several times. It appears on the "People of the Sun EP"
and the "Vietnow" single, as well as on the video (in a shortened
form).

Back to top

[5-2] Song xxxx didn't sound the same when I heard it live...

Rage has changed many songs since they were released on the albums
and singles, likely to keep them interesting to play after 5 years
of playing some of the same songs. This is a song by song list of
the most noticeable live changes. Much of this information was
provided by Kirk Smith.

[5-2-1] "Bombtrack"

Tim helps on vocals during "BURN!" part.

[5-2-2] "Killing in the Name"

* Often, back in the earlier days, before heading into the song,
Zack would quote from Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul On Ice:" "They use
force, to make you do, what the deciders, have decided you must do."

* Another part of the song has changed live numerous times. It has
been done any of 3 different ways: "were the same that bore
crosses"; "were the same that burnt crosses"; "were the same that
burnt churches" (added on 1996 tours, relevant to the time where
numerous chuches, primarily of Black attendance, were being burnt in
the southern United States).

* During the "Fuck you...." part, Zack will normally salute everyone
with the finger and the crowd back to him.

* Tim always does vocals on the part for "and now ya do what they
told ya" as Zack does "and now your under control". The album
version is just Zack mixed on top of himself.

[5-2-3] "Settle for Nothing"

* At the end of the song (the louder vocals part), instead of
screaming the part "if we don't take action now, we'll settle for
nothing later" over and over, Zack will normally yell something
similar to "if we don't take action now, now, now, now... we'll
settle for nothing later."

[5-2-4] "Bullet in the Head"

* Tim will often do vocals on the part for "they say jump, you say
how high."

[5-2-5] "Know Your Enemy"

* At the end, during the "yes I know my enemies" part, Zack never
includes the word "ignorance" as is on the album.

* Maynard James Keenan, who does the vocals on the "I got no
patience now..." part on the album, will do the vocals if for some
reason he is in attendance at the show. If he isn't, which is the
norm, Zack will either do them himself, or just let the band play
without including them.

* During shows in 1994, instead of saying "as we move into '92....,"
Zack would use the following lyrics: "As we move into '94, bringin'
the people's war."

[5-2-6] "Wake Up"

* On the album, there is the part where Zack reads from the
COINTELPRO documents, right before the "WAKE UP!" end of the song.
This is never done live. Often, Zack will totally improvise about
something on his mind, or else, he will just leave the rhythm
section to play.

[5-2-7] "Fistful of Steel"

* Zack often will dedicate this song to all the women at the show
(as an expression of empowerment, not romance).

* Since at least 1996 or so, this song has had MANY lyrical changes
to add a definite feminist theme to it; changes like "Mad girl grips
the microphone" and "she" instead of "I" or "he." He also says
"Her" instead of "The" in the song's final chorus.

[5-2-8] "Township Rebellion"

* This has always been the least-performed of any songs off the
first album. Beginning on the 1996 tours, the end part of the song
("...when ignorance reigns, life is lost") was often added to the
end of "Freedom" to close out shows.

[5-2-9] "Freedom"

* About 99% of the time, a concert is closed with this song. If you
don't hear it, and they leave the stage, there'll almost surely be
an encore.

* On the second chorus live, instead of saying "Brotha did ya forget
ya name," Zack will often say "Sista" in place of "Brotha".

* The song will normally stop when it is time for the "anger is a
gift" part. And that line is said MUCH louder than on the album,
often screamed as "Your anger is a GIFT!" to the crowd. Typically,
before the second "Anger is a gift," zack will often include the
following lines: "Forget about yourselves, forget about your
history, forget about your culture, and just buy, just buy..."

[5-2-10] "People of the Sun"

* This song has been performed live since the band began doing
shows. When Evil Empire was being done, the lyrics were completely
reworked by Zack, and since its release, to my knowledge, the
version with original lyrics has not been performed. The original
lyrics were entirely different with the exception of the chorus and
title.

* Tim does vocals for the part "It's comin' back around again".

[5-2-11] "Vietnow"

* Tim will do tons of vocals on this song, every few lines. It
isn't worth it to list them, there are so many.

[5-2-12] "Tire Me"

* This song was first performed on the tours during 1994, and has
gone through many lyrical versions (such as found in the movie Higher
Learning (see Section [4-3-2]). An early version, performed at the
Peltier benefit show in early 1994, didn't have any other lyrics
besides "You're tryin' to tire me, tire me." However, the song has
not changed musically at all.

[5-2-13] "Without a Face"

* This song was first performed on the tours during 1994. First a
nearly instrumental version appeared, but it was very short (30
seconds or so) and had a different bassline. Then, Zack added
lyrics, although it still had a different chorus, which did not
include the words "without a face". The song was then referred to
as "White Walls" or "Across the White Wall" and had Tim singing
parts of it.

* The second verse of this song first appeared in the version of
Bombtrack performed on the well-known "Mark Goodier's Evening
Session" from Europe in the summer of 1993. At that time, it was
the third verse on that version of "Bombtrack."

[5-2-14] "Roll Right"

* This song was first performed during the few shows RATM played
during the summer of 1995, as was the case with "Revolver."
Although the chorus was basically the same, the lyrics in the verses
were totally different then.

* Starting in mid-1996, a new, more mellow and funky version of this
was being played. The lyrics were the same, however, the music was
much slower. From interviews with Tom, it seems as though the
actual music played was sort of just improvised. This redone
version of the song has normally been done just before "Freedom" to
close out shows since that time.

[5-2-15] "Year of tha Boomerang"

* This song has not been performed live since around 1995, though it
was common in 1994. It changed little between the time it was
originally done and the Evil Empire version; the original had the
guitar-screech throughout the whole song, instead of just the chorus.

Back to top

[5-3] Stage/Setup Layout

* Normal band stage alignment when viewed from the crowd: Tim at
left, Tom at right, Brad in center-back, and Zack everywhere. This
setup has been the same in every single show, picture, and video.
However, Brad played with his drumkit facing backwards for a while.

* Zack and the microphone stand: Zack is very mobile in his vocal
performance. However, once in a while he will use a mic stand during
some songs. He has been known to use it during the following:
"Snakecharmer", "Tire Me", "Producer", "Hadda Be Playing On The
Jukebox" (while he reads from a book), "The Ghost of Tom Joad", and
"Revolver" (occasionally).

* The only prop Rage has consistently used throughout shows has been
the upside down American flag draped over the bass amplifiers. It has
been graffitied in various ways, and says "Failed," "Simmering T" and
sports a huge circle-A (for "Anarchy") on the left side. Various
versions of it have been seen, with other grafitti like "666" and
"You've been tricked" and so on.

* For the 1997 US summer tour, Rage used large scale stage props
for the first time, probably due to the size of the venues
(amphitheaters). The back of the stage was a huge mural, with 8
boxes on it. The boxes had sayings and pictures to match. Several of
these same boxes make appearances in the "Bulls on Parade video."

   Who prays loudest?
   Who salutes longest?
   Who follows orders?
   Who is bought and sold?
   Who is free to choose?
   Who is beyond the law?
   Who dies first?
   Who laughs last?

* In 1997, an introductory song of sorts was played with the stage
bathed in red light before the band comes out. It was the
"Communist International," better known as the national anthem for
the Soviet Union when it still existed.

Back to top

[5-4] Miscellaneous live information

* Opening a show: Rage will open a show NORMALLY with one of a
few songs - often either "People of the Sun", "Bombtrack", or
(between 92-94) "Take the Power Back".

* Closing a show: Rage will close with "Freedom" about 99% of the
time. Starting in '96, a portion of "Township Rebellion" ("...when
ignorance reigns life is lost") was added to the end of "Freedom"
to close out shows.

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[6] POLITICAL

[6-1] Ejercito Zapatista Liberacion Nacional

The Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN, Zapatista
National Liberation Army in the Spanish language) is a leftist
revolutionary group in southeastern Mexico. It principally operates
in the state of Chiapas, although its demands and influence are
national. The members of the EZLN are primarily indigenous people
from the Lacandon Jungle region of Chiapas, Mexico. The EZLN has
around 12,000 troops, 2-3000 of whom are fairly well-armed. There
are 11 general demands of the EZLN, as outlined in the 1st
Declaration From the Lacandon Jungle; they are: work, land, shelter,
food, health, education, autonomy, freedom, democracy, justice, and
peace. The EZLN took its name from the Mexican revolutionary leader
Emiliano Zapata, who led the armies of the south in the Mexican
Revolution, developed the Plan de Ayala (see Section [7-2-7-3]), and
was eventually betrayed and killed. The movement was born just over
12 years ago in the Lacandon jungle.

Zack has visited the region to "help out" the EZLN on several
occasions, and often wears a shirt with "E Z L N" written on the
chest. Several Evil Empire songs deal with this subject as well.
For further information, see [6-4] and [7-2].

Back to top

[6-2] Mumia Abu-Jamal

Information provided by Refuse & Resist! (see section [6-4])

At the time of his arrest, he was a prominent radio journalist and
president of the local chapter of the Association of Black
Journalists. Mumia was also a strident critic of Philadelphia's
racist police force, and was affiliated with the Black Panthers. One
evening in 1981 when Mumia was moonlighting as a cab driver, he came
upon a cop beating his own brother. The street was full of people
(the bars had just closed) when Mumia ran to his brother's defense,
and after the ensuring conflict, Mumia was sitting on the curb shot
in the body, his brother was bleeding from the face, and the cop lay
dead. Following his arrest, he was beaten several times by police
and was said by police to have confessed to the murder of the police
officer. Mumia has always maintained that he did not kill the cop,
and a number of witnesses blamed another man who fled the scene.
Prosecutors argued for the death penalty by reciting his history in
the Black Panthers and quoting his political writings. Mumia was to
be put to death for consorting with radicals and upholding
revolution. Mumia sits on death row because of who he is and the
political views he advocates. He exposes police brutality and racism
and stands with revolutionary peoples throughout the world.

Rage performed in the Mumia defense fund benefit in the Capitol
Ballroom, Washington, DC on August 13, 1995. A bootleg of this
performance called "Killing Your Enemy in 1995" can be found (see
section [3-5-1]).

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[6-3] Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier was a leader of AIM, the American Indian Movement.
In the late 1970's, at Pine Ridge, a group of FBI and ATF agents
approached a building where Peltier and other AIM members were
trapped. A siege and shootout followed where 2 FBI agents were
shotgunned to death. Peltier was arrested and plead not guilty,
however he would not reveal who did the shootings. He has since
resided in the Federal Prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. There is an
excellent film by the name of "Incident at Oglala" which details
his case, as well.

Rage gave a free concert for him which raised $70,000+ for his
defense fund, and give out information about the case whenever
possible (see section [6-4]).

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[6-4] Evil Empire liner notes

Anti-Nazi League
PO Box 2566
London N4 2HG, England
171.924.0333

Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru
PO Box 1246
Berkeley, CA 94701
415.252.5786
http://www.csrp.org/

FAIR
130 W. 25th ST.
New York, NY 10001
email: fair-info@fair.org
http://www.fair.org/fair

International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal
PO Box 19709 Philadelphia, PA 19143
215.476.8812
email: mumia@aol.com
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-1/mumia002.html

Parents for Rock & Rap
PO Box 53
Libertyville, IL 60048

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
913.842.5774
email: lpdc@idir.net
http://www.unicom.net/petier/index.html

Refuse and Resist
305 Madison Ave. STE. 1166
New York, NY 10165
212.713.5657
email: refuse@calyx.com
http://www.calyx.com/~refuse

National Commission for Democracy in Mexico
601 N. Cotton STE 1-103
El Paso, TX 79920
915.532.8382
email: moonlight@igc.apc.org

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[7] LYRICAL REFERENCES

[7-1] Rage Against the Machine

[7-1-1] "Bombtrack"

[7-1-1-1] "I call the bluff, fuck manifest destiny"

"Manifest Destiny" was the social theory in the USA in the 19th
century which claimed that the USA and its white, Christian citizens
were chosen by God. Because of this "choosing" they were entitled
to any land they pleased, despite who already owned it (not limited
to Native Americans; also including other countries), with the
purpose being that they spread their religion of Christianity and
their concept of "civilization" to the other, "inferior", people of
the world.

[7-1-2] "Killing in the Name"

[7-1-2-1] "The same that burn crosses"

Referring to the practice, by the Ku Klux Klan, of burning crosses
in the front yards of people they wish to threaten.

[7-1-3] "Take the Power Back"

[7-1-3-1] "Like the motherfuckin' Weathermen"

The Weathermen were a militant sub-group in the late-1960's
politically-focused Students for a Democratic Society. The
Weathermen were known for bombing buildings at various college
campuses and similar activities to illustrate their point. SDS
distanced themselves from the Weathermen after the bombings started.

[7-1-4] "Settle for Nothing"

[7-1-4-1] "I got a 9 a sign, a set, and now I got a name"

A "9" refers to a 9-millimeter handgun, a popular weapon with street
gangs due to its effectiveness and relatively low cost.

[7-1-5] "Bullet in the Head"

[7-1-5-1] "A yellow ribbon, instead of a swastika"

A yellow ribbon is used, in the United States, to signify support for
its troops in foreign wars. A yellow ribbon was most recently used
to show support of US troops in the Gulf War, the focus of the song.
A swastika is the symbol of the Nazi Party, now illegal, in Germany,
and of Nazism in general.

[7-1-5-2] "They load the clip in omnicolor"

A color-imaging technique used in television and film, similar to
Technicolor.

[7-1-5-3] "Sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz"

Alcatraz, known as The Rock, was an island prison several thousand
feet into San Francisco Bay near San Francisco, California. It was a
virtual torture chamber for society's worst criminals. A breakout
attempt occurred there May 2nd, 1946, sleeping gas was one of the
weapons used to subdue the inmates. It is now a major tourist
attraction.

In addition, during the 1960's, a band of Native Americans who
claimed ownership of the island took it over and held it for over
a year. The conflict ended suddenly when the federal government used
sleeping gas in a surprise attack.

[7-1-6] "Wake Up"

[7-1-6-1] "Standin' with the fury that they had in '66"

1966, the year of the founding of the Black Panthers, the most
prominent Black Power group of recent times (probably ever).

[7-1-6-2] "And like E-Double, I'm mad"

E-Double is Erick Sermon from EPMD, and they wrote a song called
"I'm Mad."

[7-1-6-3] "Hoover, he was a body remover"

J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director 1924-1972. One of the most powerful
men in Washington during his time as Director, he formed the FBI into
what exists today. He was a sworn foe of communism, and was regarded
as one of the nation's leading patriots by many people. He was
legendary for turning a blind eye to civil rights causes and
rights-violations of suspects.

[7-1-6-4] "...they went after King when he spoke out on Vietnam"

Martin Luther King Jr., the US's foremost civil rights leader,
assassinated in 1968. A pacifist, he was one of the nation's
strongest critics of the US's involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

[7-1-6-5] "Flip like Wilson, poetry never lacking that finesse"

Flip Wilson was a prominent black comedian in the mid-60's.

[7-1-6-6] "Then I stick and move like I was Cassius"

Cassius Clay, now Muhammad Ali, was one of the greatest boxers the
world has ever seen. In June of 1967, Ali was given a 5 year prison
sentence for refusing to enter the US army on the basis of his
Islamic beliefs. The Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1970.
Ali was the most notable figure in the anti-war movement to chose
prison over fighting.

A second interpretation has recently appeared:
Cassius was one of the conspirators who assassinated (by stabbing)
Caesar in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar," with their motivation
declared as Caesar becoming too power hungry.

[7-1-6-7] "...they murdered X, and tried to blame it on Islam"

Malcolm X, a leading proponent of black nationalism and the Islamic
religion, was assassinated in 1965. He had been a minister of the
Nation of Islam, but was suspended because of his dissenting views
after a time. He formed his own group, Afro-American Unity, which
became a rival of the Nation of Islam. His death is attributed
by the authorities and his family to the Nation of Islam, but
conspiracies abound stating otherwise.

[7-1-7] "Fistful of Steel"

[7-1-7-1] "Visions of the MOVE"

The MOVE organization is a coalition of black activists whose focus
is the teachings of John Africa and who were under various forms of
harassment from the Philadelphia police until their house was bombed
by them in 1985. Mumia Abu-Jamal (see Section [6-2]) is affiliated
with the organization as well.

If you can provide more in-depth information on this subject, contact
the author at <rattman@cts.com>.

[7-1-7-2] "Steppin' into the jam and I'm slammin' like Shaquille"

Shaquille O'Neal, a basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers,
whose style is pure strength to force the jam from inside the key
using his tremendous size (300 lbs).

[7-1-8] "Township Rebellion"

[7-1-8-1] "In Johannesburg or South Central"

Johannesburg, South Africa, focal point for racial tensions in the
formerly apartheid-governed country. South Central, Los Angeles,
California. A minority-dominant and profoundly poor section of LA
that has garnered national attention due to the various rap groups
and artists that it has produced. Intense gang activity.

[7-1-8-2] "To the cape of no hope"

The Cape of Good Hope is off the coast of South Africa, and is the
"horn" of Africa. See also Section [7-1-8-1].

Back to top

[7-2] Evil Empire

[7-2-1] "People of the Sun"

[7-2-1-1] "Since 1516, minds attacked and overseen"

1516, the year that the Spaniards arrived in Central America and
began their systematic destruction of the indigenous culture and
religion. They did not leave until several hundred years later.

[7-2-1-2] "Blood drenched, get offensive like Tet"

Tet is the Vietnamese New Year. In late 1967 U.S planners decided
to let troops celebrate over Tet, despite intelligence they had that
made this a VERY bad idea. During most of the U.S forces were
relaxing, and on January 30 the offensive began. At about that time
20,000 North Vietnamese Army were spotted at Khe Sanh. Troops were
sent to attack, and all of a sudden 84,000 Viet Cong were spotted
along 22 major U.S installations. This is what was now known as the
Tet offensive. The U.S. beat back all of the attacks, but a physical
victory was never the goal of the VC and NVA. Their goal, which was
met, was to turn public opinion against the war. This was due in a
large part to the fact that the newsman got caught in some close
quarters fighting and had plenty to say about the ordeal. The film
"Full Metal Jacket" by Stanley Kubrick has an excellent account of
this series of battles (though it is not the focus of the movie).

[7-2-1-3] "When the fifth sun sets, get back, reclaim"

The Aztecs believed that 4 worlds existed before the present
universe (worlds = suns). Each one was ruled by a different god of
a different element, and we are currently in the fifth sun.

[7-2-1-4] "Spirit of Cuahtemoc, alive and untamed"

Cuahtemoc was the leader of the Aztec empire during the Spanish siege
of Technochtitlan, in 1521. After the city's fall, he was captured,
deceived, tortured, and killed by the Spaniards. This lyric does
NOT refer to the mayor of Mexico City, Cuahtemoc Cardenas. This man
was simply named after the Aztec leader.

[7-2-1-5] "I'm the Marlboro man"

Marlboro brand cigarettes, whose primary advertising technique is a
handsome cowboy on the range smoking a cigarette. He is known as
the Marlboro Man. The original Marlboro Man recently died of lung
cancer. This ad campaign will be eliminated very soon following
federal anti-tobacco legislation

[7-2-1-6] "City of Angels does tha ethnic cleanse"

Nickname for Los Angeles, California. California's Proposition
187's goal was to eliminate and deny all federal assistance to
anyone not able to prove residency, primarily immigrant Latinos.

[7-2-2] "Bulls on Parade"

[7-2-2-2] "Either drop the hits like De la O..."

De la O was a dynamite/explosives expert who was a great asset to
Emiliano Zapata in the Mexican war for Independence. Some notable
actions were blowing up trains and making a particularly critical
arms cache accessible to the rebels at one point in the fighting.

[7-2-2-2] "...or get tha fuck off tha commode"

A "commode" is a euphemism for a toilet in the United States.

[7-2-2-3] "That five sided fist-a-gon"

A twisting of the name Pentagon. The Pentagon is in Washington,
D.C., and is the headquarters of the Department of Defense of the
United States. The "fist" indicates the force often exercised by
the military.

[7-2-3] "Vietnow"

[7-2-3-1] Introduction (Rather subjective. By the author.)

This song is one huge reference to the extremely popular, and
extremely right-wing, radio shows hosted by such people as Rush
Limbaugh, Watergate convict G. Gordon Liddy, and son of Ronald
Reagan, Michael Reagan. Liddy teaches how to kill federal agents
with "head shots, people, head shots," Limbaugh speaks about the
"liberal media," "feminazis," and "eco-wackos." Other popular topics
of discussion include: The evils of socialism and communism; the
"invasion" of America by illegal immigrants; the United Nations as a
Trojan horse for letting other countries take over America; the
small clique of Jewish bankers in the basement of the World Bank
in New York that controls the world's economy; the ever-popular
black helicopters that are just off our shores waiting to invade;
and the "coming Apocalypse" as written in the Bible (any minute
now).

[7-2-3-2] "Crosses and kerosene"

See section [7-1-2-1].

[7-2-3-3] "The same one that ran around Managua wit a sword"

Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was a large Indian town in the
16th century. It was then taken by the Spanish. In 1931, Managua was
destroyed by a severe earthquake and fire, and subsequently rebuilt.
In 1972 another earthquake occurred, resulting in more than 10,000
casualties. Much of the former city center has never been rebuilt.
During the Iran-Contra affair in the mid 1980's, Oliver North
(see B-3-d) and company funded the counter-revolutionaries in
Nicaragua, based in Managua.

[7-2-3-4] "Check out tha new style that Ollie found"

Oliver North, whose conviction in the Iran-Contra scandal of the
1980's was overturned on a technicality, now hosts an extremely
right-wing radio talk show and has run for Senate.

[7-2-3-5] "Comin' down like bats from Stacy Coon"

Former Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Stacey Coon was one of the
four LAPD policemen videotaped beating black motorist Rodney King in
the early 90's. He was the only one to be convicted. The 1992 LA
riots followed the trial (and acquittals).

[7-2-4] "Tire Me"

[7-2-4-1] "Colorful words for the Laos frontiersmen"

The "Laos Frontiersmen" are the Hmong tribe from Laos, which the CIA
used and then set about to destroy once their objectives were
achieved. The CIA used the Hmong region as a big airstrip in which
to drop supplies for the Hmong rebels. When the helicopters and
aircraft left Laos to return from whence they came, they carried
poppies and refined heroin to other regions where they were able to
sell it, thus funding their covert operations.

[7-2-4-2] "I wanna be Jackie Onassis"

Jackie Onassis was the wife of John F. Kennedy and later Greek
shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. She was the symbol of glamour
and "good" for many people of her generation. An auction of her and
Kennedy family belongings at Sotheby's in New York in 1996 raised
millions of dollars for the middle-aged Kennedy children.
Incidentally (or not, probably), she died very close to the same
time as Richard Nixon, and Zack has said that "This song was
written to celebrate the death of Richard Nixon."

[7-2-5] "Down Rodeo"

[7-2-5-1] "Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone"

Sly and the Family Stone, a funk band from the 1960's and '70's.
They were critically important influences toward the development of
rap as a musical style, as well as the establishment of funk itself.

[7-2-5-2] "Rollin' down Rodeo with a shotgun"

Rodeo Drive, in Beverly Hills, California is one of the most
expensive streets in the world, where stores sell such things as
three thousand dollar purses. The stereotype of Rodeo Drive's
patronage is that it is predominately white. Rodeo Drive is where
Julia Roberts shopped in the movie "Pretty Woman," and is a good
representation of it.

[7-2-5-3] "Plead the Fifth 'cause you can't plead the first"

In the US Constitution, the 5th Amendment gives trial witnesses the
right to refuse to testify on the grounds that what they say might
incriminate themselves. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution
guarantees the right to free speech, assembly, and press.

[7-2-5-4] "My man Fred Hampton"

A member of the militant Black Panthers, Hampton was a 20-year-old
Illinois state leader. He was gunned down in his bed with fellow
Panther Mark Clarke in an early morning raid of the group's Chicago
headquarters on Dec. 4, 1969. The attack, aided by the help of an
informant/spy, was masterminded by the city's police force and the
FBI's powerful counterintelligence program (COINTEL-PRO).

[7-2-5-5] "Fuck tha G ride"

A G ride is a euphemism for a fashionable car, especially in hip-hop
culture. Derives from "G" being short for "gangster."

[7-2-6] "Without a Face"

[7-2-6-1] "Jack for Similac, fuck a Cadillac"

Similac is a popular brand of baby formula, sold in powdered form
(just add water). A Cadillac is a luxury car, made by Chevrolet,
and only affordable to the wealthy. A popular car with drug dealers
and gangsters as well as the elderly.

[7-2-6-2] "'Por Vida'"

"Forever," or "For Life," literally, in Spanish, "Por Vida" is a
phrase used most often in a cultural manner, as in "La Raza Por
Vida," which means, roughly, "the Latino race and culture for life
and forever." It is a concept.

[7-2-6-3] "Mais [maize], was all we needed to sustain"

Maize is the strain of corn grown in most of South America. "Mais"
is also the Spanish word for corn in general.

[7-2-6-4] "Ya down with DDT"

DDT is a banned pesticide, widely used prior to the "discovery" that
it is a class-A carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). The wipeout of
hundreds of species can be attributed to its use, which still occurs
in less developed regions such as Central and South America. It was
recently internationally banned, but use continues where options are
not viable.

[7-2-6-5] "Path is Luminoso"

"Sendero Luminoso" means "Shining Path" in English and is the name
of one of the leftist revolutionary guerilla groups in Peru. It was
close to capturing the country at one time, but was put down by the
new US-backed Peruvian government under Alberto Fujimori. It is
treated as a terrorist organization instead of a political party by
the governments of most countries.

[7-2-6-6] "Headin' north like my name was Kid Cisco"

The Cisco Kid is a fictional Latino who, with his sidekick Poncho,
was a cowboy in a series of old American western movies.

[7-2-6-7] "Wilson's hand around my throat"

Pete Wilson, Republican governor of California, campaigned almost
entirely on an anti-immigration platform and is a leading proponent
of such measures as Proposition 187, which aims to cut all benefits
to illegal immigrants. Prop 187 is being contested in the courts and
is currently inactive.
[
[7-2-6-8] "Another SS curtain call"

The Schutzstaffel, known as the SS, was the secret police for the
Nazi political party and Hitler's personal guard when he came to
power in the 30's through to Germany's defeat in World War II.

[7-2-7] "Wind Below"

[7-2-7-1] The "Wind Below"

The "Wind Below" refers to a book called _Chiapas: The Southeast in
Two Winds a Storm and a Prophecy_, by Subcommandante Marcos. Marcos
is the unofficial spokesperson of the EZLN in Mexico and the second
section of the book is entitled "The Second Wind: The Wind From
Below." The line "We in wit tha wind below," is a reference to the
whole of the Zapatista movement itself.

[7-2-7-2] "NAFTA comin' with tha new disaster"

The North American Free Trade Agreement, which was hotly contested
in the United States political scene, allows for free trade between
Canada, the US, and Mexico. Proponents said it removed trade
barriers, and detractors said US businesses would ship all their
manufacturing to Mexico because of the virtual slave labor available
there. What has actually occurred is subject to interpretation.

[7-2-7-3] "Tha Plan de Ayala's kin"

The Plan de Ayala was a plan made by Emiliano Zapata prior to the
Chiapas rebellion. Its main idea was to give land to the
landworkers. The slogan of the plan is "Tierra y Libertad" (Land and
Freedom).

[7-2-7-3] "IMF shifts and poison lips"

The IMF is the Internation Monetary Fund, which is associated with
the World Bank and the United Nations and controls much capital
around the world. It is reported that the IMF has sent military
equipment, weapons and the like to the Chiapas area to assist the
Mexican army in fighting the Zapatistas (see Section [6-1]).

[7-2-7-3] "Tha fincas overseers"

In the jungles of Mexico, a finca is a form of ranch house or a
plantation-style farm, where the workers are essentially slaves to
the owners of the land. The meaning of this word has shifted quite
a bit, and now can also be considered just a big house as well as
the more traditional plantation meaning.

[7-2-7-4] "She is Chol, Tzotzil, Tojolobal, Tzeltal"

Indigenous Central American Mayan tribes, nearly wiped out during
the Spanish invasion. Historically and currently the under-class in
Mexican society.

[7-2-7-5] "Ejidos and Ovaries"

An "ejido" is a communal farm formed when the "campesinos" in
Mexico, especially in the Chiapas region, take over a farm to form
a collective. Basically, it is a Mexican communal farm owned by no
one.

[7-2-7-5] "GE... NBC... Disney... ABC..."

Major multinational American corporations and broadcasting
conglomerates. GE owns NBC (among many, many other things), and
Disney owns ABC (also among many, many other things). The Disney
merger likely happened after the lyrics were written, and is
therefore an interesting coincidence. GE has owned NBC for years.
See Section [1-5] for information regarding the censorship of Rage
Against the Machine by NBC on their program "Saturday Night Live."

[7-2-8] "Roll Right"

[7-2-8-1] "Shock ya like Ellison"

Ralph Ellison wrote "Invisible Man," in 1952. A fictional account
of a black man in a white world, it is now regarded as a classic and
widely read in the US school system. In its time it caused a great
disruption because of the harsh truthfulness and the power of
Ellison's prose.

[7-2-8-2] "Gaza to Tiananmen"

The Gaza Strip is a narrow band of desertlike land along the western
Mediterranean coast. It has been fought over by Israelites and
Palestinians for many years and is a continuing territorial dispute.
Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, China, was the site of a massacre of
demonstrating pro-democracy students in June of 1989.

[7-2-8-3] ?? "Sickest stilo"

"Sick" is a word used to mean "cool" or "good" in the hip-hop
culture. A "stilo" is a stiletto, a long, thing knife. Note, these
are only guesses, I don't really know.

[7-2-8-4] "Take 'em to, the 7th level"

The 7th level (sphere) of hell, as according to Dante's Inferno. It
was reserved for the warmakers and usurers.

[7-2-9] "Year of tha Boomerang"

[7-2-9-1] The "Year of the Boomerang"

See Section [7-2-9-3].

[7-2-9-2] "Dark now in Dachau"

Dachau was a Nazi-run concentration camp in World War II. It was the
primary site for the grotesque medical experiments performed on
prisoner Jews, twins, Gypsies, and so on.

[7-2-9-3] "Grip tha cannon like Fanon"

Frantz Fanon wrote such works as Wretched of the Earth, wherein he
denounced the third-world colonization practiced by prosperous
nations. One of Fanon's most famous speeches was called the "Year
of the Boomerang." In the speech he talked about the oppressor's
force boomeranging back to destroy him in the form of colonial
revolutions. He was referring to the Algerian War, specifically.

[7-2-9-4] "Goin' out heavy sorta like Mount Tai"

Mount Tai, or Tai Shan, is part of the Tien Shan mountain range. It
is the section that lies in China near the village where the ancient
Chinese philosopher Confucius was born. It is 5000 ft. (1,500 m.)
high. In the "Little Red Book" of quotations of Chairman Mao
Tse-Tung, Mao utilizes an ancient Chinese proverb to say that to
die for the people is "as heavy as Mount Tai" and to die for the
imperialists is "as light as a feather." This is in the section of
the book titled "Serving The People."
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[7-3] Non-Album

[7-3-1] "People of the Sun" [original lyrics]

[7-3-2] "Testify"

[7-3-2-1] "My Mao Tse Tung gets offensive like Tet"

Mao Tse Tung was the leader of the People's Revolution in China, and
is regarded as one of the most influential communist thinkers the
world has seen. He put forth a particular type of communism,
emphasizing the agrarian peasant revolution.

[7-3-2-2] "Do me like Mumia Abu-Jamal"

See section [6-2].

[7-3-2-3] "Campin' like Hampton"

See [7-2-5-4] for information on Fred Hampton.

[7-3-2-4] "Let Saigons be Saigons"

A play on the phrase "Let bygones be bygones", as in, "Forget the
past, don't worry about it." Saigon was the name of the capital of
South Vietnam, it is now known as Ho Chi Minh City.

[7-3-2-5] "Wait a Ho-Chi-Minute"

Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Vietnamese communist
underground movement throughout much of the 20th century, right
into the Vietnam war. He led the Vietnamese peoples' war against
French colonialism for the whole of his life.

Any non-partisan additions to this section are welcome.

[7-3-2-6] "Tune to the word of Jose Marti"

Marti was a Cuban poet and essayist, and is considered Cuba's
national hero. Most of his time and energy was spent on political
action to free Cuba and preached about how Latin America should
unite. In 1892 he founded the "Cuban Revolutionry Party" and was
its primary leadership. In 1895 he landed in Cuba as one of
the heads of a rebels and killed in the battle with Spaniards in Ros
Dios, in Eastern Cuba. There are monuments to him found throughout
Cuba, in the same manner as Che Guevara.

[7-3-2-7] "Plead the fifth..."

See section [7-2-5-3] for information on the Fifth and First
amendments.

[7-3-2-5] "Nobody MOVE..."

See section [7-1-7-1] for information on the MOVE organization.

[7-3-3] "Hadda Be Playin' on the Jukebox"

I do not believe that I possess the knowledge of the 1950's-1960's
that is needed to accurately break down this HUGE poem/song. If you
believe you are up to the task, please mail me and we'll see what we
can work out.

[7-3-4] "Zapata's Blood"

The entire song tells the story of the Zapatista movement, and is
quite straightforward. See section [6-1] for clarification on the
origin, purpose, and goals of the movement.

[7-3-5] "The Ghost of Tom Joad"

This song is based on the book _The Grapes of Wrath_ by John
Steinbeck. Set in the 1930's, the book tells the story of the
fictional Joad family. They lose their farm in Oklahoma and have
nowhere to go but to California, looking for a chance to own land
of their own. They make this journey with thousands of other
families, and the residents of California resent the invasion. The
main protagonist is the eldest son, Tom Joad, who kills a policeman
after he watches his teacher being beaten to death by the police.
He is then forced to leave the Joad family when the police come
looking for him; the final verse of the song is taken almost
directly from the book. The parallels which can be drawn between
this book and the current situation with Latino immigration into
California are innumerable. It is truly an American classic, and
is recommended reading for all Rage fans (and responsible citizens
in general).

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[8] RAGE ON THE INTERNET

[8-1] Are Rage on the internet?

Tom is, yes. Tim and Brad, I have never heard one way or another.
In one interview Zack said he was just starting to learn about the
internet and computers, but he also said it could turn out to be
a bad thing, because it allowed people to just talk about things
instead of actually doing something about them.

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[8-2] Are there official homepages?

http://www.epiccenter.com/

http://www.ratm.com/

There are two; one at Epic's WWW server, which has some nice video
clips and occasional news, and another at www.ratm.com which is run
by some web-building company and is basically useless except for
merchandise ordering. Rage sells its t-shirts for $10 and hats for
$12 at shows, and the same goes for the large selection available at
this site. Don't pay $16 at the mall when you can pay $10 here!

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[8-3] What is with that e-mail address?

RAGEemail@aol.com

It is NOT answered by anyone in the band, so don't send "You guys
rule!!!!!" because that doesn't really accomplish anything. Feel
free to send thoughtful mail there, they will usually give a reply.

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[8-4] Where can I talk to other fans?

I do not currently know of any fan mailing lists that are worth
checking out.

However, if you don't mind putting up with much off-topic crap and
weird advertisements, Rage has a newsgroup: alt.music.rage-machine
It was started by myself with help from a few others in September
of 1996 and is carried most anywhere. If this newsgroup does not
appear on your news-server, you will need to request it from your
access provider. This person can usually be reached at:

support@(your domain name here).

[8-5] What about "fan pages?"

There are many, many fan pages, and I do not even want to try
to list them. 99% of them are totally useless and consist entirely
of ripped artwork and ripped information from other webpages, with
no credit given.

TIP: If you are thinking of starting a Rage web page, and don't have
something specific that NO ONE else has done, don't bother.

If you would like to check out a "complete" Rage fan site, which is
a composition of other pages' material with some new stuff thrown in,
you should visit:

http://ragesite.home.ml.org/

The Propaganda Network will make a reappearance sometime in the near
future, as it has undergone many changes and staff shakeups. I'll
add the address to the FAQ homepage when it goes up. Until then, the
above fan page is probably the best out there.

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[8-6] Fan Resource sites

General Rage info:
http://ragesite.home.ml.org/
Discography:
-not currently available-
The Unofficial FAQ:
http://www.users.cts.com/sd/r/rattmann/rage/
The RATM Concert Chronology:
http://www.radix.net/~wanamaker/ratm/propnet/index.html

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[9] The FAQ'S FAQ

[9-1] The Guilty Parties

Mail your threats, complaints, suggestions and questions to me at
rattmann@cts.com. My name is Gavin Rattmann, and I am a high school
student near San Diego, California. When I first got on the net,
there were about 4 Rage pages and the original mailing list.
Aaron Klink had a FAQ at his page (listed above) but I felt Rage
deserved a real effort. That is when this thing came about. I
took Aaron's shell (which you can't really detect any more) and
spent a weekend creating it from magazine articles, interviews,
personal knowledge, the mailing list archives, and the recordings
themselves. Actually, the Obscure References FAQ (R.I.P.) came
first, then this closely followed. First version was .1, which only
the list ever saw. And now this huge "information compendium," as I
called it in my college applications, sits before you...

Speaking of the list, the people on there gave me heaps of feedback
on the first draft, which was extremely useful. Only a partial list
of all the people who have helped me out with this thing appears
below, and I wish I had everyone. Mail me to add your name to this
list if I have missed you.

THE INCOMPLETE LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS:

Of very special note.. these guys are the BEST:

 Gaz Jones <gjones@cs.man.ac.uk>
 - For help with many discography aspects, FIRST Rage page on net,
   and has done the FAQ->HTML program
 Aaron Klink <aklink@umich.edu>
 - Created original FAQ, some lyrical references
 Lee Smith <phy4dls@cabell.vcu.edu>
 - For the personal observations in [1-1].
 Greg Yurkovic <yurkovic@sun0.muhlberg.edu>
 - For the list of Evil Empire books
 Kirk Smith <kirksm@umich.edu>
 - For video summaries, mass live info, various stuff
 
 Yazan Fahmawi <yazan@escape.com>
 Joseph Insane <jinsane@atnet.it>
 edwink@indosat.net.it
 HOXTW306@bus.orst.edu
 POSER@soap.rhein-main.de
 bm916@torfree.net
 George Morris <morris@voicenet.com>
 Nishant Taneja <dtaneja@learn.senecac.on.ca>
 Jason Bromberger <jasonb@accessus.net>
 Joey Simpson <simpson@ziplink.net>
 Roland Stadler <r.stadler@mail.tic.ch>
 Paul Andersen <pca@sirius.com>
 Mike Collins <x-phile1@ma.ultranet.com>
 Kenny Luong <slowburn@idirect.com>
 My Dad (Glenn Rattmann)
 RedAdder2@aol.com
 B. Rogers
 Alexis Craig
 Aidan Rantoul <rantoul@direct.ca>
 Matthew Atkinson <Matthew.G.Atkinson-1@ou.edu>
 Marcus Butler <marcusb@wsp1.wspice.com>
 Anders Quarfordt <anders.quarfordt@swipnet.se>
 Perry Fect <perfecto@usa.nai.net>
 Yannet Lathrop <Yannet.M.Lathrop-1@tc.umn.edu>
 Mario Ortegon <maortego@etzna.uacam.mx>
 Nothing@world.std.com
 Peter Olejnik <peter.olejnik@odyssey.on.ca>
 justin@aris.ss.uci.edu
 Dave Wanamaker <wanamaker@radix.net>
 Minuk Kim <mkim@adnc.com>
 Tripp Long <ll077929@sjuphil.sju.edu>
 Amanda <bluec@oocities.com>
 "Preak II" <tanstaafl@mailhost.net>
 Matt Myers <mattm@gi.net>
 Kabir Akhtar <kabir@down.net>
 Barbara <MSanti9148@aol.com>
 Walker Edmondson <edmondso@ix.netcom.com>
 Robert New <rsnew@deakin.edu.au>
 Dave <Zapata94@aol.com>
 Phil Dietrich <pdietric@umich.edu>
 Louie <lzanini@sprynet.com>
 Christian <aut000@goofy.zdv.Uni-Mainz.de>
 Thomas Seliger <thomas.seliger@stud.tu-muechen.de>
 saq@connection.com
 Travis <RageBoy17@aol.com>
 Mike <baney@home.com>
 Dima0@aol.com
 Jay Bazuzi <jbazuzi@usa.net>
 Kristen Ball
 Travis_Filiault@Brewsternet.com
 Louise <les8@cornell.edu>
 Gary Border <borderg@ocps.k12.fl.us>
 Thomas Seliger <thomas.seliger@stud.tu-muenchen.de>
 Wampus and Lacey (E-mail people)

Without the help of the above people, the RATM FAQ would not exist.

And I would like to extend a special thanks to Rog Patterson, the
band's Production Manager, who has contributed definitive
information on equipment and a few other things. Thanks Rog!
(For the curious, you can find him listed in a couple Rage
recordings' liner notes.)

Back to top

[9-2] What about distribution?

I'm going to try to make this section less uptight... I would
appreciate it very much if you would let me know when you do
something with this document that is something besides reading it
or printing it for friends or the like, namely widespread
dissemination in electronic or printed media. Thanks.

You DO NOT have the right to claim authorship or ownership of this
document or to remove the names of either (a) the primary author or
(b) any of the contributors. You may not use this document for
profitable enterprise (do not sell it or anything of the sort!).

Please ask me about anything you want to do with it beyond the
norm... I can almost guarantee that whatever you want to do with it
will be cool with me, I just want to know about it beforehand. And
if you want to use it for some sort of reference source for an
article or the like, that is also great. Just drop me a quick mail
telling me. Thanks.

I would prefer that no one has the document on their home server;
instead, please include a link to its homepage
( http://users.cts.com/sd/r/rattmann/rage/) if you would like to use
it as a resource on your page. That way, people will always be sure
to retrieve the most current document even if you can't or don't
update your website.

The Rage Against the Machine Unofficial FAQ is copyright(c) 1997
Gavin Rattmann. All rights reserved. All other copyrights are
owned by Epic/Sony/Retribution Music and/or respective owners and
are hereby acknowledged.

Back to top

[9-3] Updates and Changes

The Obscure References FAQ does NOT exist as of version 2.5. It is
Section [7] now.

Changes for 2.9:

- Occasional rewording
- New "Covers" info
- New "Totally Unreleased" info
- All some new "Video" things
- Changed some lyrical things around
- New "Vietnow" single info, "BOP" single info
- Added to some video summaries
- Some different info on Brad and Tim

The HTML version of this, with links and all that, may make an
appearance relatively soon. It depends on myself and the friend who
is helping write the program. In the meantime, please don't modify
this document to add links... thanks.

If the date on this document (found at the top) is more than a few
months past, it has probably been updated. Go to the homepage to
get the new version (and please keep your copy current!).

Coming in the next update:

- Final Tool info (yeah, right)
- Whatever happens Spring 1998. Big things could be happening, so
that'll be the next version. This version was pretty much just
clean up since 2.8 came out, as nothing else has really happened.

All new updates to this document can be found at the FAQ's homepage:

http://www.users.cts.com/sd/r/rattmann/rage/

Back to top

"Doing is the best way of saying" -- Jose Marti

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