Leading up to the election of November 2000 between George Bush and Al Gore, Rage Against the Machine dismantled the idea of democracy with their incendiary single “Guerrilla Radio.” The single, from the band’s third album The Battle of Los Angeles, covered the media impact on the 2000 election and delved into other social and political transmissions.
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The Meaning
Written by the band—Zack de la Rocha, Tim Commerford, Tom Morello, and Brad Wilk—”Guerrilla Radio” calls out a third world war, lack of concern for those in poverty, outs the uglier ends of leadership, the impact the election would have on the country and its people, and much more behind the lyrics.
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More for Gore or the son of a drug lord sings de la Rocha, referencing the alleged complicity of the CIA with the drug trade in the inner city under the George Bush Sr. administration.
Transmission third world war third round
A decade of the weapon of sound above ground
No shelter if you’re lookin’ for shade
I lick shots at the brutal charade
As the polls close like a casket
On truth devoured
A silent play in the shadow of power
A spectacle monopolized
The camera’s eyes on choice disguised
Was it cast for the mass who burn and toil?
Or for the vultures who thirst for blood and oil?
Yes a spectacle monopolized
They hold the reins and stole your eyes
Or the fistagons
The bullets and bombs
Who stuff the banks
Who staff the party ranks
More for Gore or the son of a drug lord
None of the above fuck it cut the cord
Mumia Abu-Jamal
More imagery and messages move through “the lyrics “Guerrilla Radio,” including a call out to former Black Panther Party member and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.
Before his imprisonment, Abu-Jamal also worked on radio and interviewed Bob Marley, basketball player Julius Erving, and more but was reprimanded for his coverage of the news related to civil rights.
Contact I highjacked the frequencies
Blockin’ the beltway
Move on D.C.
Way past the days of Bombin’ M.C.’s
Sound off Mumia gwan be free
Who gottem yo check the federal file
All you pen devils know the trial was vile
An army of pigs try to silence my style
Off ’em all out that box
It’s my radio dial
During Rage Against the Machine’s performance on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999, the band performed “Guerrilla Radio” with de la Rocha wearing a Free Mumia Abu-Jamal T-shirt.
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This song plays like a radio broadcast, questioning the point of U.S. democracy—A silent play in the shadow of power / A spectacle monopolized / The camera’s eyes on choice—and how Americans don’t know the true intentions of those representing them in office. In true Rage Against the Machine fashion, it’s also a call to question more and take action.
It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime
What better place than here, what better time than now?
“Guerrilla Radio” Grammy
“Guerrilla Radio” went to No. 6 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, along with peaking at No. 11 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2001.
The song was also featured in the video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, along with soundtracks of Guitar Hero Live, and Madden NFL 10.
The Video
The music video for the “Guerrilla Radio” sent a message to the garment industry, and workers’ rights and shows footage of sweatshop workers in the beginning. It also parodied the late ’90s commercials for Gap clothing, the words “everybody in denial” flash, playing on the phrasing “everybody in khaki.”
Deeper into the video, a man is seen putting the workers’ money in his pocket. A young girl is pulled from her mother, and the band’s white backdrop transitions to a dark room lit by strobe light.
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
