Title of Song: Killing in the Name
Performer: Rage Against the Machine
Year Released: 1992
1.)
54-year-old Zach De La Rocha is the vocalist of the band Rage Against the Machine and is best known
for how he incorporates his activism into his lyricism. He takes inspiration from his own experiences
dealing with racism and even once chose to go to a march for Palestine instead of the Hall of Fame
induction.
Tim Commerford is the bassist of the group and was born into a good family. That is before his father
divorced him ill mother and left the family in ruins. Tim met Zach when they were in school, and he then
took up a love for music which he carried into his adult years when him and Zach met the rest of the
future band members.
Brad Wilk is the drummer of the band. He played the drums since he was 13 and made a career out of his
talent. The drummer practices Buddhism and is probably one of the calmest of the group, with the rest
taking louder stances against human rights violations.
Tom Morello, the guitarist of the group, was born into a politically active family and has been in the
practice of activism from a very young age. This is reflected in his actions with the band with their
constant speaking out for people’s rights and against censorship.
2.)
The song was written by the entire group as a whole, but initially was thought of by a riff created by Tom
Morello.
3.)
The message of the song ‘Killing in the Name’ is a political statement about the abuse of authority in
America. The lyrics are inspired by the brutal beating and killing of Rodney King, which sparked five
days of riots and outrage against the police brutality taking place in Los Angeles.
4.)
Some other well-known songs by the band are ‘Testify’ and ‘People of the Sun’. The group is not widely
popular among the general public however due to their lyrics being very politically motivated and
activism influenced as well as their obscene language.
5.)
This song shows me a few things about American culture. The first being how often times, artists and
their songs can be a platform for speaking out against injustices. Another thing this tells me about
American culture is how imbedded freedom of speech is in our culture to the degree that artists can say
whatever they want about political situations and their only repercussions being how fans or the media
might view them. Coincidently, this also shows how large censorship is in media and how saying the
wrong thing can result in your work being pushed out and accepted less. This is reflected in the modern
times as ‘cancel culture’.
6.)
The main major event, that also influenced the lyrics of the song, was the act of police brutality on
Rodney King, which ultimately resulted in his death. This violent killing and abuse of power sparked
many riots across Los Angeles and also inspired the lyrics behind the song. The protests and riots that
took place were not only in response to the violent killing of King, but also due to years of pent up anger
about the systematic racism and discrimination against black people in Los Angeles throughout the
preceding years.
7.)
The song, at the time of release, did fairly well and reached at least the top 50% of a number of charts.
8.)
There is one well known cover of the song by Limp Bizkit which one of the band members went on to
apologize for inspiring the creation of Limp Bizkit.
9.)
The song is significant to American history because it records the rage felt by many Americans against the
abuse of authority by people in power. This song also is a reflection of how constantly throughout the
nation’s history, the people have had a problem with police abusing their power. Constant cases spark
civil rights movement after civil rights movement, with one of the most recent being the 2020 case of
George Floyd. It is almost as if civil rights movements and protesting police brutality has become a part
of American culture.
10.)
I don’t believe the song still has an impact on American or global culture today, because of how modern
media and popular musical genres are less on the side of rock and alternative music and more rap and hip
hop or pop centric. I do, however, believe that the song still has relevance in today’s world due to the
rampant human right’s violations taking place across the globe and in America. One example would be
the proposed project 2025 which scares many because of the Republican party proposing it and now also
having the presidency as well as the majority in the House and Senate.
