Wake Up

Annotation

Rap Metal group Rage Against the Machine formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA, featuring members Zack de la Rocha (vocals), Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums). Known for their political protest songs, they released a few Vietnam War-related tracks: "Wake Up" (1992), on the album "Rage Against the Machine", which referenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s opposition to the war, the single "Vietnow" (1996), which compared current problems with Vietnam, and "Sleep Now in the Fire", on the album "The Battle of Los Angeles", which referenced Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War. The song "Wake Up" (Epic Records # Z 52959) focused on racism within the American government and counter-intelligence programs by the FBI. Interestingly, this included looking back to the Vietnam War era, referencing Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous anti-Vietnam War speech: "you know they went after King, when he spoke out on Vietnam" - on 4 April 1967, MLK delivered his most controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" at Riverside Church in New York, in which he took a strong position against the war, opposing the policies of President Johnson. He shortly followed this up with the speech "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", delivered at Ebenezar Baptist Church Atlanta, Georgia, on 16 April 1967, featured on the record "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", released by Black Forum Records (# BF-451), a spoken-word sub-label of Motown Records. In 1971 this posthumously won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. King's opposition to the Vietnam War can be traced back to 1965, although most of his public speeches on the issue took place in 1967 and 1968, when he took part in many anti-war demonstrations, which caused tension between King and President Johnson.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

Rap Metal group Rage Against the Machine formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA, featuring members Zack de la Rocha (vocals), Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums). Known for their political protest songs, they released a few Vietnam War-related tracks: "Wake Up" (1992), on the album "Rage Against the Machine", which referenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s opposition to the war, the single "Vietnow" (1996), which compared current problems with Vietnam, and "Sleep Now in the Fire", on the album "The Battle of Los Angeles", which referenced Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War.The song "Wake Up" (Epic Records # Z 52959) focused on racism within the American government and counter-intelligence programs by the FBI. Interestingly, this included looking back to the Vietnam War / Civil Rights era, referencing Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous anti-Vietnam War speech: "you know they went after King, when he spoke out on Vietnam" - on 4 April 1967, MLK delivered his most controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" at Riverside Church in New York, in which he took a strong position against the war, opposing the policies of President Johnson. He shortly followed this up with the speech "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", delivered at Ebenezar Baptist Church Atlanta, Georgia, on 16 April 1967, featured on the record "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", released by Black Forum Records (# BF-451), a spoken-word sub-label of Motown Records. In 1971 this posthumously won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. King's opposition to the Vietnam War can be traced back to 1965, although most of his public speeches on the issue took place in 1967 and 1968, when he took part in many anti-war demonstrations, which caused tension between King and President Johnson.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Rap / Hip Hop Songs

Rap Metal group Rage Against the Machine formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA, featuring members Zack de la Rocha (vocals), Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums). Known for their political protest songs, they released a few Vietnam War-related tracks: "Wake Up" (1992), on the album "Rage Against the Machine", which referenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s opposition to the war, the single "Vietnow" (1996), which compared current problems with Vietnam, and "Sleep Now in the Fire", on the album "The Battle of Los Angeles", which referenced Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War.The song "Wake Up" (Epic Records # Z 52959) focused on racism within the American government and counter-intelligence programs by the FBI. Interestingly, this included looking back to the Vietnam War era, referencing Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous anti-Vietnam War speech: "you know they went after King, when he spoke out on Vietnam" - on 4 April 1967, MLK delivered his most controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" at Riverside Church in New York, in which he took a strong position against the war, opposing the policies of President Johnson. He shortly followed this up with the speech "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", delivered at Ebenezar Baptist Church Atlanta, Georgia, on 16 April 1967, featured on the record "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam", released by Black Forum Records (# BF-451), a spoken-word sub-label of Motown Records. In 1971 this posthumously won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. King's opposition to the Vietnam War can be traced back to 1965, although most of his public speeches on the issue took place in 1967 and 1968, when he took part in many anti-war demonstrations, which caused tension between King and President Johnson.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Come on, although ya try to discredit... / The needle, I'll thread it, radically poetic / Standin' with the fury that they had in '66... / Still knee-deep in the system's shit / Hoover, he was a body remover... / 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

About the artist

American rap-metal band formed 1991 in Los Angeles, California. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Civil Rights · MLK · Anti-War

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Metal Songs · Rap / Hip Hop Songs