Artist: Machine Head
Song: A Thousand Lies
Album: Burn My Eyes
Producer: Colin Richardson
Label: Roadrunner
Year: 1994
Notes:
Machine Head was political way before current events and ‘Stop The Bleeding.’ The band came out of the box swinging, with this track featuring on its 1994 debut. Robb Flynn told Kerrang! about it in an interview last year marking ‘Burn My Eyes’ 25th anniversary: ““We’d just gotten into the first Iraq war, so Bush senior was president, and that song was a really strong anti-war, anti-racism statement. We were listening to a lot of punk rock at the time, and we were practicing in a shared space with five punk bands, so it was very political and that was really seeping into what we were doing, for sure.”
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
Johnson was startled out of his contemplations by what sounded like a thousand roman candles going off at once.
Lyrics
What is a man that stays true to the game
But has to cheat a little to get by
Well that’s a person that I know too well
Don’t want to know but I don’t have to ask why
Everyone like a loaded gun
You want some shit I’ll fuckin’ pound you, son
Don’t need a reason, pain I’m feelin’
I gotta vent or else I blow inside
Introspection, termination
Can’t tell right from wrong
Fed up with this whole system
It’s gone on far too long
You tell a thousand lies been told a thousand times
Your words we hear but we cannot sympathize
Thousand lies been told a thousand times
Hard as nails the power to survive
What’s a man that stays true to the game
But can’t believe some of the things he sees
Anger’s a gift and I won’t be kept down
In poverty there is no democracy
Used needle and a crack vile
A broken bottle and a bullet shell
This urban life is so volatile
An inner city or a concrete hell
Introspection, termination
Can’t tell right from wrong
Fed up with this whole system
It’s gone on far too long
You tell a thousand lies been told a thousand times
Your words we hear but we cannot sympathize
Thousand lies been told a thousand times
Hard as nails the power to survive
So pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, get up
What is a man don’t stay true to the game
Don’t care for no one, only cares for his greed
He’s playin’ God killin’ thousands of people
‘Cause the power is the fix that he needs
Racist goal of the white devil
I watched our soul burnin’ over oil
A politician got no feelin’
It makes my motherfuckin’ cold blood boil
Introspection, termination
Can’t tell right from wrong
Fed up with this whole system
It’s gone on far too long
You tell a thousand lies been told a thousand times
Your words we hear but we cannot sympathize
Thousand lies been told a thousand times
Hard as nails the power to survive
Slow
Slow
Slow
—
‘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 