Lyrics to Rage Against the Machine
It's just another bombtrack
And suckas be thinkin' that they can fake this
But I'm a put it at a higher level
Cause I'm inclined to stoop down
Hand out some beat-downs
Cold runna train on punk ho's that
Think they run the game
But I learned to burn that bridge and delete
Those who complete at a level that's obsolete
Instead I warm my hands on the flames of the flag
As I recall out downfall
And the business that burned us all
See through the news and views that twist reality
Enough
I call the bluff
Manifest destiny
Landlords and power whores
On my people they took turns
Dispute the suits ignite
And then watch 'em burn
The thoughts of a militant mind
Hardline, hardline, after hardline
Landlords and power whores
On my people they took turns
Dispute the suits ignite
And then watch 'em burn
Chorus:
Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn
Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn
Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn
Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn
Another funky radical bombtrack
Started as a sketch in my notebook
But now dope hooks make punks take another look
My thoughts ya hear and ya begin to fear
That ya card will get pulled if you interfere
With the thoughts of a militant, militant mind
Hardline, hardline after hardline
Landlords and power whores
On my people they took turns
Dispute the suits ignite
And then watch 'em burn
Killing in the name of
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Those that died are justified
For wearin' a badge and their chosen white
You justify those that die
For wearin' their badge and chosen white
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Those that died are justified
For wearin' a badge and their chosen white
You justify those that die
For wearin' their badge and chosen white
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me.
Those that died are justified
For wearin' a badge and their chosen white
You justify those that die
For wearin' their badge and chosen white
In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and write
So-called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their god
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
We gotta take the power back
Bam, here's the plan
Mother fuck Uncle Sam
Step back
I know who I am
Raise up your, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beats and lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickless
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back
We gotta take the power back
We gotta take the power back
We gotta take the power back
Chorus:
We gotta take the power back
We gotta take the power back
Come on
Come on
The present curriculums
I put my fist in em
Eurocentric
Every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture, I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attepting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
Cause holes in out spirit are causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior?
Who's inferior?
It's time
We needa check the interior
Of the system who cares about only one culture
And that is why we gotta take the power back
Chorus
The teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can't recall
The student's eyes don't perceive the lies
Bouncing off every fucking wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to the
Bullshit that he learned in school
Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hand from it
Gotta get it, gotta, get it together then
Like the mother fuckin' weatherman
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back
Chorus
A jail cell is freedom from the pain in my home
Hatred passed on, passed on and passed on
A world of violence rage
But it's one that I can recognise
Having never seen the color of my father's eyes
Yes, I dwell in hell
But it's a hell that I can grip
I tried to grip my family
But I slipped
To escape from the pain
An existence mudane
I gotta 9, a sign, a set and now I gotta name
Read my writing on the wall
No one's here to catch me when I fall
But death is on my side
Suicide
A jail cell is freedom from the pain in my home
Hatred passed on, passed on and passed on
A world of violence rage
But it's one that I can recognise
Having never seen the color of my father's eyes
Yes, I dwell in hell
But it's a hell that I can grip
I tried to grip my family
But I slipped
To escape from the pain
An existence mudane
I gotta 9, a sign, a set and now gotta name
Read my writing
On the wall
No one's here to catch me
When I fall
Caught between my culture and the system
Genocide
Read my writing on the wall
No one's here to catch me when ifall
If ignorance is bliss
Then knock the smile off my face
If we don't take action now
We'll settle for nothing later
If we settle for nothing now
We'll settle for nothing later
This time the bullet cold rocket ya
A yellow ribbon, instead of a swastika
Nothin' proper about ya propaganda
Fools follow rules when the set commands ya
They said it was blue
When the blood was red
That's how you got a bullet blasted through ya head
Blasted through ya head
Blasted through ya head
I give a shout out to the living dead
Who stood and watched as the feds cold centralized
So setence on the screen
You was mesmerized
Cellular phone
Soundin' a death tone
Corporations cold
Turn ya to stone before ya realize
They load the clip in omnicolor
They pack the 9, they fire it at prime time
Sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz
And mutha fuckas lost their minds
Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
They load the clip in omnicolor
They pack the 9, they fire it at prime time
Sleeping gas, every home was like Alcatraz
And mutha fuckas lost their minds
No escape from the mass mind rape
Play it again hack and then rewind the tape
Play it again and again and again
Until ya mind is locked in
Beleivin' all the lies that they're tellin' yea
Buying all the products that they're selling ya
They say jump and ya' say how high
Ya' brain dead
Ya' gotta fuckin' bullet in ya head
Just victims of the in-house drive-by
They say jump, you say how high
Ya standin' in line
Believin' the lies
Ya bowin' down to the flag
Ya gotta bullet in ya head
Born with insight and a raised fist
A witness to the slit wrist
As we move into '92
Still in a room without a view
Ya got to know
Ya got to know
That when I say go, go, go
Amp up and amplity defy
I'm a brother with a furious mind
Action must be taken
We don't need the key
We'll break in
Something must be done
About vengeance, a badge, and a gun
Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system
I was born to rage against 'em
Fist in ya face, in the place
And I'll drop the style clearly
Word is born, fight the war, fuck the norm
Now I got no patience
So sick of complacence
With the defiance
The mind of a revolutionary
So clear the lane
The finger to the land of chains
What? The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy
Something must be done
About vengeance, a badge, and a gun
Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system
I was born to rage against 'em
Now action must be taken
We don't need the key
We'll break in
I've got no patience now
Sick of complacence now
I've got no patience now
Sick of complacence now
Sick of sick of sick of
sick of you
Time has come to paaaaaaay
Yes I know my enemies
They're the teachers who taught me to fight
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
Althought ya try to discredit
Ya still never edit
The needle, I'll thread it
Radically, poetic
Standin' with the fury that they had
And like e-double, I'm mad
Still knee-deep in the system's shit
Hoover, he was a body remover
I'll give ya a dose
But it'll never come close
To the rage built up inside of me
Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy
Movements come and movements go
Leaders speak, movements cease
When their heads are flown
Cause all these punks
Got bullets in their heads
Departments of police, the judges, the feds
Networks at work, keepin' people calm
You know they went after King
When he spoke out on Vietnam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot
Wit' poetry, my mind I flex
Flip like, Wilson, vocals never lackin', dat finesse
Whadda I have to do to wake ya up
To shake ya up, to break the structure up
Cause this blood still flows in the gutter
I'm like takin' photos
Mad boy kicks open the shutter
Set the groove
Then I stick and move like I was Cassius
Rep the stutter step
Then bomb a left upon the facists
Yea, the several federal men
Who pulled schemes on the dream
And put it to an end
Ya betta beware
Of retribution with mind war
20/20 visions and murals with metaphors
The networks at work, keepin' people calm
Ya know they murdered X
And tried to blame it on Islam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot
What was the price on his head?
Silence
Something about silence makes me sick
Cause silence can be violent
Sorta like a slit wrist
If the vibe was suicide
Then you would push da button
But if ya bowin' down
Then let me do the cuttin'
Some speak the sounds
But speak in silent voices
Like radio is silent
Though it fills the air with noises
Its transmissions bring, submission,
As ya mold to the unreal
Mad boy grips the microphone
With a fistful of steel
Chorus:
Fistful of steel
Fistful of steel
Fistful of steel
Fistful of steel
Yes, it's time to flow like the fluid in ya veins
If ya will it, I will spill it
And ya out just as quick as ya came
Not a silence one
But a defiant one
Never a normal one
Cause I'm the bastard son
With the visions of the move
Vocals not to soothe
But to ignite and put in flight
My sense of militance
Groovin', playin' this game called survival
Status the elite, the enemy, the rival
The silent, sheep, slippin', riffin', trippin'
Give ya a glimpse of the reality I'm grippin
Steppin' into the jam and I'm slammin' like shaquile
Mad boy grips the microphone
Wit' a fistful of steel
Chorus
A 44 full of bullets
Face full pale
Eyes full of empty
A stare full of nails
The roulette ball rolls alone on the wheel
A mind full of fire
And a fistful of steel
If the vibe was suicide
Then you would push da button
But if ya bowin' down
Then let me do the cuttin'
Rebel, rebel and yell
Locked in a cell
Yes, the structure's a cell
Mad is the story I tell
How long can we wait
Come on, seein' what's at stake
Action for reaction
If your mind's in a somewhat complacent state
Get a check-up
This is a stick up
Out freedom of your life
I wish I could be peaceful
But there can be no sequel
Chorus:
Now freedom must be fundamental
In Johannesburg
So South Central
On the mic, 'cause someone should tell 'em
To kick in the township rebellion
Yes, so you thought ya could get with the hardlines
That fill your mind
The thoughts, battles fought
and lessons taught
And I'll display the fitness
And flip like a gymnast
Raise my fist and resist
Asleep, though we stand in the midst of the war
Gotta get mine
Gotta get mine
Keepin' the mic warm against the norm
'Cause what does it offer me
I think often it's nothin' but a coffin
Gotta get wreck 'til out
Necks never swing on a rope
From here to the cape of no hope
Chorus
Why stand on a silent platform
Fight the war
Fuck the norm
Why stand on a silent platform
Fight the war
Fuck the norm
Solo, I'm a soloist on a solo list
All live, never on a floppy disk
Inka, inka, bottle of ink
Paintings of rebellion
Drawn up by the thoughts I think
It's set up like a deck of cards
They're sendin' us to early graves
For all the diamonds
They'll use a pair of clubs to beat the spades
With poetry I paint the pictures that hit
More like the murals that fit
Don't turn away
Get in front of it
Chorus:
Brotha did ya forget ya name
Did ya, lose it on the wall
Playin' tic-tac-toe
Yo, check the diagonal
Three brothers gone
Come on
Doesn't that make it three in a row
Anger is a gift
Chorus
Yo, check the diagonal
Three million gone
Come on
Cause ya know they're counting backwards to zero
Enviroment
The enviroment exceeding on the level of our unconsciousness
For example
What does the billboard say?
Come and play, come and play
Forget about the movement
Anger is a gift
Freedom, freedom, yea right
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