Artist: Rage Against The Machine
Song: Vietnow
Album: Evil Empire
Producer: Brendan O’Brien
Label: Epic
Year: 1996
Notes:
Want to get scared? Put your radio on the AM and start surfing. Back when there were ownership limits, changing the frequency could change the sound. But now it’s all talk, all the time. And the talk is peddling fear. And the fear is sponsored by those selling the solution. Rights? Yeah, right. Not even over your own body. Throw you in a cage while burning a cross out front. Don’t forget Rodney King. Or Ollie North.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
“The average male would be able to get into his TV set, to live the dream rather than just watching it.”
Lyrics
Turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Merge on tha networks, slangin’ nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let ’em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let’s capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord
Shock around tha clock, from noon ’til noon
Men grabbin’ they mics, and stuff ’em into tha womb
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages an scapegoats
Undressed and blessed by tha Lord
Tha same devil that ran around Managua wit a sword
Check out tha new style that Ollie found
I tune in wit a bullet ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Tha program of Vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Flex tha cerebellum, fire, uh!
Somebody gotta shell ’em
These evil angels lists, hittin’ tha AM playlist
Paid ta say this
That one inhuman, illegal, single woman
Tha one wit out a room
The transmissions wippin’ our backs
Yeah, comin’ down like bats from Stacy Coon
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Tha sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages and scapegoats
One caution tha mics a detonator unwound
Ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Check tha heads bow in vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Radio, nah fuck it, turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Chris Smith, Author 