During a recent interview with the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello revealed that the band’s signature song “Killing in the Name” didn’t always have lyrics.
“It was originally an instrumental,” said Morello. “There’s a Rage Against the Machine video from Cal State Northridge—which is our first public performance—where we open the show with an instrumental version of Killing in the Name and Timmy [Commerford], I think, came up with that really cool [sings bass riff]. It’s got Brad’s crowd-bouncing beat is there from the very, very beginning. And then Zack laced it with the historic lyrics that you hear today.”
The final version of the song features vocalist Zack de la Rocha railing against institutional racism and police brutality with repetitive lyrics throughout the track. Released six months after the Los Angeles Riots over the LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, de la Rocha notes how law enforcement and white supremacy have often gone hand in hand:
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
“We actually left the lyrics off of the lyric sheet of the first record, because it’s I think it’s two lines, 16 ‘f-ck yous,’ and one ‘motherf-cker,’” added Morello. “And we’re like, ‘In the midst of all this grand political poetry, let’s just that one stand for itself… 'F*** you, I won’t do what you tell me’ is a universal sentiment. While it’s a simple lyric, I think it’s one of [Zack de la Rocha’s] most brilliant.”
The song remains relevant today. Earlier this year, as protests against police brutality and racism swept the nation, the lyrics for “Killing in the Name” saw a renewed interest on Genius as thousands of fans searched for the song.
Read all the lyrics to Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” on Genius now.
