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Rage Against The Machine - The Battle Of Los Angeles lyrics



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01. Testify

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
UGH!

The movie ran through me
The glamour subdue me
The tabloid untie me
I'm empty please fill me
Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning
Your voice it is so soothing
That cunning mantra of killing
I need you my witness
To dress this up so bloodless
To numb me and purge me now
Of thoughts of blaming you
Yes the car is our wheelchair
My witness your coughing
Oily silence mocks the legless
Ones who travel now in coffins
On the corner
The jury's sleepless
We found your weakness
And it's right outside our door
Now testify

Now testify
It's right outside our door
Now testify
Yes testify
It's right outside our door

With precision you feed me
My witness I'm hungry
Your temple it calms me
So I can carry on
My slaving sweating the skin right off my bones
On a bed of fire I'm choking on the smoke that fills my home
The wrecking ball rushing
Witness your blushing
The pipeline is gushing
While here we lie in tombs
While on the corner
The jury's sleepless
We found your weakness
And it's right outside your door
Now testify
Yeah testify
It's right outside our door
Now testify
Now testify
It's right outside our door

Mass graves for the pump and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set

Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now controls the past
Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now?

Now testify
Testify
It's right outside our door
Now testify
Testify
It's right outside our door

02. Guerrilla Radio

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Transmission third world war third round
A decade of the weapon of sound above ground
No shelter if you're lookin' for shade
I lick shots at the brutal charade
As the polls close like a casket
On truth devoured
A Silent play in the shadow of power
A spectacle monopolized
The camera's eyes on choice disguised
Was it cast for the mass who burn and toil?
Or for the vultures who thirst for blood and oil?
Yes a spectacle monopolized
They hold the reins and stole your eyes
Or the fistagons
The bullets and bombs
Who stuff the banks
Who staff the party ranks
More for Gore or the son of a drug lord
None of the above fuck it cut the cord

Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio

Contact I highjacked the frequencies
Blockin' the beltway
Move on D.C.
Way past the days of Bombin' M.C.'s
Sound off Mumia guan be free
Who gottem yo check the federal file
All you pen devils know the trial was vile
An army of pigs try to silence my style
Off 'em all out that box
It's my radio dial

Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up
Lights out
Guerrilla Radio Turn that shit up

It has to start somewhere It has to start sometime
What better place than here, what better time than now?

All hell can't stop us now
All hell can't stop us now
All hell can't stop us now
All hell can't stop us now
All hell can't stop us now
All hell can't stop us now

03. Calm Like A Bomb

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Feel the funk blast
Feel the funk blast
Feel the funk blast
Feel the funk blast
Feel the funk blast
Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, check it out, yo, yo, yo

I be walkin' god like a dog
My narrative fearless
My word war returns to burn
Like Baldwin home from Paris
Like Steel from a furnace
I was born landless
This is tha native son
Born of Zapata's guns
Stroll through tha shanties
And tha cities remains
Same bodies buried hungry
But with different last names
These vultures rob everything
Leave nothing but chains
Pick a point on tha globe
Yes tha pictures tha same
There's a bank There's a church a myth and a hearse
A mall and a loan a child dead at birth
There's a widow pig parrot
A rebel to tame
A whitehooded judge
A syringe and a vein

And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard
what ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?

Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite

This ain't subliminal
Feel tha critical mass approach horizon
Tha pulse of tha condemned
Sound off America's demise
Tha anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Yes I spit fire
Hope lies in tha smoldering rubble of empires
Yes back through tha shanties and tha cities remains
Tha same bodies buried hungry
But with different last names
These vultures rob everyone
Leave nothing but chains
Pick a point here at home
Yes tha picture's tha same
There's a field full of slaves
Some corn and some debt
There's a ditch full of bodies
Tha check for tha rent
There's a tap, tha phone, tha silence of stone
Tha numb black screen
That be feelin' like home

And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?
What ya say, what ya say, what ya say, what?

Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite

Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm like a bomb
Ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite, ignite
Calm Like a bomb

There's a mass without roofs
There's a prison to fill
There's a country's soul that reads post no bills
There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill
There's a right to obey
And there's a right to kill
There's a mass without roofs
There's a prison to fill
There's a country's soul that reads post no bills
There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill
There's a right to obey
And there's a right to kill

04. Mic Check (Once Hunting, Now Hunted)

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Oh Wait a minute now
Ha ha ha
Come on
Wait a Minute Now
Check

To tha young r to tha e tha b to tha e tha l
Never give up just live up
Fed upon America
We be spittin' it up
Rippin' it up
For an even amount in each cup
To my brothers burning bare feet on black top
Whose curled 'neath tha shadows
From tha gaze of tha cops
Whose huntin' for 9 to 5's through factory locks
Is now hunted on this modern day auction block

Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?
Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?

Check check check check the check, oh
Packin

Flexin' and mashin'
With complex text
Fast and in a fashion
That snap back necks
Quicker than a fed cash tha company checks
Come with tha fire only Marley could catch
This be tha flame in tha cellar beware
Nameless cold millions gaspin' for air
Those naked and wageless
Now scream within cages
What, they make you pull your shit
Just to get your share, what?

Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?
Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?

Welcome down with the warrior sound, UGH!

With this mic device
I spit nonfiction
Who got tha power
This be my question
Tha mass of tha few in this torn nation?
Tha priest tha book or tha congregation?
Tha politricks who rob and hold down your zone?
Or those who give tha thieves tha key to their homes?
Tha pig who's free to murder one Shucklak
Or survivors who make a move and murder one back?

This mic device
I spit nonfiction
Who got tha power
This be my question
Tha mass of tha few in this torn nation?
Tha priest tha book or tha congregation?
Tha politricks who rob and hold down your zone?
Or those who give tha thieves tha key to their homes?
Tha pig who's free to murder one Shucklak
Or survivors who make a move and murder one back?

Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?
Mic Check, ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Mic Check, ha ha ha ha
I be the anti-myth rhythm rock shocker, what?

05. Sleep Now In The Fire

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
YEAAAH!

The world is my expense
The cost of my desire
Jesus blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
So raise your fists and march around
Dont dare take what you need
I'll jail and bury those committed
And smother the rest in greed
Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or i'll drag you to your grave
I'm deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name

Hey!
Hey!
Sleep now in the fire

Hey!
Hey!
Sleep now in the fire

The lie is my expense
The scope with my desire
The party blessed me with its future
And i protect it with fire
I am the nina, the pinta, the santa maria
The noose and the rapist, the fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire

Hey!
Hey!
Sleep now in the fire

Hey!
Hey!
Sleep now in the fire

For it's the end of history
It's caged and frozen still
There is no other pill to take
So swallow the one
That makes you ill
The nina, the pinta, the santa maria
The noose and the rapist, the fields' overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire

YEAAAH!

Sleep now in the fire!
Sleep now in the fire!
Sleep now in the fire!
Sleep now in the fire!

06. Born Of A Broken Man

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
My fears hunt me down
Capturing my memories
The frontier of loss
They try to escape across the street where
Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
In the name of my
In the name of my

Born of a broken man, but not a broken man
Born of a broken man, never a broken man
Born of a broken man, but not a broken man
Born of a broken man, never a broken man

Like autumn leaves his sense fell from him
An empty glass of himself shattered somewhere within
His thoughts like a hundred moths
Trapped in a lampshade
Somewhere within
Their wings banging and burning
On through endless night
Forever awake he lies shaking and starving
Praying for someone to turn off the light

Born of a broken man, never a broken man
Born of a broken man, but not a broken man
Born of a broken man, never a broken man
Born of a broken man, but not a broken man

My fear is hunting me down
Capturing my memories
The frontier of laos
They try to escape across the street where
Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
In the name of my
In the name of my

YEAAAH!

Born of a broken man, but not a broken man
Born of a broken man, never a broken man
Born of a broken man, never a broken man
Born of a broken man, but not a broken man

07. Born As Ghosts

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
The hills find peace
Locked armed guard posts
Safe from the screams
Of the children born as ghosts
Gates guns and alarms
Shape the calm of the dawn
Peering down into the basin
Where death lives on
When young run foaming at the mouth with hate
When burning batons beat the freezing who shake
Under the toxic sunsets they dine and toast
Of walls deny the terror faced
By the children born as ghosts

Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
We're the children born as ghosts

born as ghosts

One book and forty ghosts stuffed in a room
The school as a tomb
Where home is a wasteland
Taste the razor wire
And thought is locked in the womb
The tales that tear at the myth of the dream
Myth of the dream
Myth of the dream
A suffering that shocks the lives off the screen
Myth of the dream
Myth of the dream

Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
We are the children born as ghosts

Born as ghosts
Born as ghosts

Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
A warning, you sufferers, begin to speak our word
Born as ghosts
We're the children born as ghosts

Born as ghosts
Born as ghosts

08. Maria

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Tha sun ablaze as Maria's foot
Touches tha surface of sand
On northern land
As human contraband
Some rico from Jalisco
Passed her name to tha boss
She stuffed ten to a truckbed
She clutches her cross
Here comes tha exhaust
And it rips through her lungs
She's off fast to tha pasture
Like cattle she'll cross
Degree 106
Sweat and vomit are thrown
And she prays and suffocates
Upon tha memories of home
Of Yanqui guns for blood debts on tha loans
Of smoldering fields rape rubble and bones
Of graves hidden trapped up in visions of war
Of nothing no one nobody no more
These are her mountains and skies and
She radiates
Through history's rivers of blood
She regenerates
And like tha sun disappears only to reappear
She's eternally here
Her time is near
Never conquered but here

To tear away at tha mask

And now she got a quota
Tha needle and thread crucifixion
Sold and shipped across tha new line
of Mason Dixon
Rippin' through denim
Tha point an inch from her vein
Tha foreman approach
His steps now pound in her brain
His presence it terrifies
And eclipses her days
No minutes to rest
No moment to pray
And with a whisper
He whips her
Her soul chained to his will
"My job is to kill if you forget to take your pill"
Her arms jerks
Tha sisters gather round her and scream
As if in a dream
Eyes on tha crimson stream
Numb as her wrists spit shots of blood to tha floor
I am nothing, no one, nobody, no more

These are her mountains and skies and
she radiates
And through history's rivers of blood
she regenerates
And like tha sun disappears only to reappear
Maria she's eternally here
Her time is near
Never conquered but here

To tear away at tha mask
To tear away at tha mask
To tear away at tha mask

No minutes to rest
No moment to pray
No minutes to rest
No moment to pray
No minutes to rest
It eclipses her day
Just a moment to pray

Ugh!

To tear away at tha mask
Away at tha mask
To tear away at tha mask
To tear away at tha mask

09. Voice Of The Voiceless

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
UGH!, UGH!
C'mon, check it

Through steel walls
Your voice blastin' on
True rebel my brother Mumia
I reflect upon
You be tha spark
That set tha prairie fires on
Make tha masses a mastodon path
To trample tha fascists on
At fifteen exposed Philly's finest killing machine
With boots and mad guns
They tried to pacify you young
Cause and effect
Smell tha smoke and tha breeze
My panther my brother
We are at war until you're free

You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless
You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless

You see tha powerful got nervous
Cause he refused to be their servant
'Cause he spit truth
And burned like black churches
Prose and verses
A million poor in hearses
Watch tha decision of Dred Scott
As it reserves
So long as tha rope
Is tight around Mumia's neck
Let there be no rich white life
We bound to respect
Cause and effect
Can't ya smell tha smoke in tha breeze
My panther my brother we are at war until you're free

You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless
You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless
You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless
You'll never silence tha voice of tha voiceless

And Orwell's hell a terror era coming through
But this little brother's watching you too
And Orwell's hell a terror era coming through
But this little brother's watching you too

10. New Millenium Homes

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Hungry people don't stay hungry for long
They get hope from fire and smoke as they reach for tha dawn
Hungry people don't stay hungry for long
They get hope from fire and smoke as they reach for tha dawn

Tha spirit of Jackson
Now screams through tha ruins
Through factory chains
And tha ghost of tha union
Tha forgotten remains
Disappear to their new homes
Tha knife tha thrust
Tha life burns to tha raw bone
Tha blood on tha floor of tha tear is still dryin'
Cover tha spread sheets
Tha Dow Jones skyin'
Tha cell block live stock
Tha bodies they buyin'
Old south order
New northern horizon

Violence in all hands
Embrace it if need be
(Violence in all hands, Embrace it if need be)
Livin' been warfare
I press it to CD
(Livin' been warfare, I press it to CD)
Violence in all hands
Embrace it if need be
(Violence in all hands, Embrace it if need be)
Livin' been warfare
I press it to CD
(Livin' been warfare, I press it to CD)

A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set

Hungry people don't stay hungry for long
They get hope from fire and smoke as the wheat grows strong
Hungry people don't stay hungry for long
They get hope from fire and smoke as they reach for tha dawn

Yo, yo, check tha high tech terror
Of tha new order athletes
Peering into tha eyes of tha child already on trial
These armies rippin' families apart
Get 'em on file
Convictions fit tha stock profile
All tha while films of dogs
Ripping through homes
Ripping skin from bones
Yes tha new millennium homes
Privatizing through private eyes
An era rising
Of tha old south order
New northern horizon

Violence in all hands
Embrace it if need be
(Violence in all hands, Embrace it if need be)
Livin' been warfare
I press it to CD
(Livin' been warfare, I press it to CD)
Violence in all hands
Embrace it if need be
(Violence in all hands, Embrace it if need be)
Livin' been warfare
I press it to CD
(Livin' been warfare, I press it to CD)

A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set
A fire in tha master's house is set

11. Ashes In The Fall

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
A mass of hands press on the market window
Ghosts of progress
Dressed in slow death
Feeding on hunger
And glaring through the promise
Upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle
A mass of nameless at the oasis
That hides the graves beneath the master's hill
Are buried for drinking
The rivers water while
Shackled to the the line at the empty well

This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over the new ground
This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over new ground

Listen to the facist sing
"Take hope here
War is elsewhere
You were chosen
This is Gods land
Soon we'll be free
Of blot and mixture
Seeds planted by our Forefathers hand"
A mass of promises
Begin to rupture
Like the pockets Of the new world kings
Like swollen stomachs In Appalachia
Like the priest that fucked you As he whispered holy things
A mass of tears have transform the stones now
Sharpened on suffering
And woven into the slings
Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress
Taking today what tomorrow never brings

This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over new ground
This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over the new ground
This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over the new ground
Ain't the new sound, just like the old sound
Look at the noose now, over the, over the, over the burning ground

Ain't it funny how the factory doors close
Round the time that the school doors close
Round the time that the doors of the jail cells
Open up to greet you like the reaper
Ain't its funny how the factory doors close
Round the time that the school doors close
Round the time that a hundred thousand jail cells
Open up to greet you like the reaper

Oh, oh
Oasis
This is no oasis

This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over the new ground
This is the new sound, just like the old sound
Just like the noose wound, over the new ground

Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)
Like ashes in the fall (ho, ho)
Like ashes in the fall (ha, ha)

12. War Within A Breath

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
Every official that comes in
Cripples us leaves us maimed
Silent and tamed
And with our flesh and bones
He builds his homes
Southern fist
Rise through tha jungle mist
Clenched to smash power so cancerous
A black flag and a red star
A rising sun loomin' over Los Angeles
Cause for Raza livin in La La
Is like Gaza on to tha dawn of Intifada
Reach for tha lessons tha masked pass on
And seize tha metropolis
It's you that it's built on
Everything can change on a new years day
Everything can change on a new years day
Everything can change on a new years day
And everything changed on a new years day, c'mon

War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land!

Their existence is a crime
Their seat their robe their tie
Their land deeds
Their hired guns
They're tha crime
Shots heard underground round tha rapture
Tha world's eye captured
At last in a Mexican pasture
Tha masked screaming land or death
Within a breath
A war from tha depth of time
Who shot four puppet governors in a line
Who shook all tha world bankers
Who think they can rhyme
Shot tha landlords who knew it was mine
Yes, it's a war from tha depth of time

Everything can change on a new years day
Everything can change on a new years day
Everything can change on a new years day
And everything can change on a new years day, c'mon

Oh, Hear the masked scream
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death

It's land or death

YEAAAH!
oh, c'mon, c'mon, yes, yes, yes

It's war within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death
War within a breath
It's land or death

13. No Shelter

Music by Rage Against The Machine
Lyrics by Zack de la Rocha
The main attraction, distraction
Got ya number than number than numb
Empty ya pockets son, they got you thinkin that
What ya need is what they sellin
Make you think that buyin is rebellin'
From the theaters to malls on every shore
The thin line between entertainment and war
The frontline is everywhere, there be no shelter here
Spielberg the nightmare works so push it far
Amistad was a whip, the truth feather to tar
Memories erased and burned to scar
Trade in ya history for a VCR

Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
Fourth reich culture, Americana
Chained to the dream they got ya searchin for
The thin line between entertainment and war

There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere

Hospitals not profit full
The market bull's got pockets full
To advertise some hip disguise
View the world from American eyes
Tha poor adore keep feeding for more
Tha thin line between entertainment and war
Fix the need, develop the taste
Buy the products or get laid to waste
Coca-Cola was back in the veins in Saigon
In Rambo 2, he got a dope pair of Nikes on
Godzilla pure motherfuckin' filler
Get your eyes off the real killer

Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
Fourth reich culture, Americana
Chained to the dream they got you searchin for
Tha thin line between entertainment and war

There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere
There'll be no shelter here!
The frontline is everywhere

American eyes, American eyes
View the world from American eyes
Bury the past, rob us blind
And leave nothin behind

American eyes, American eyes
View the world from American eyes
Bury the past, rob us blind
And leave nothin behind

Just stare!
Just stare!
Just stare!
Just stare!

And live the nightmare!