Tom Morello: People Angry at RATM’s Politics “Weren’t Intelligent Enough to Know What the Music Was About”

Today on Shit we can’t believe Tom Morello still has to explain in 2022, Rage Against The Machine make music that rages against systems of control and oppression, IE the government, fascists, police — you know, that kind of stuff. But lately, it seems like people have been outspoken about how they love the band’s music but don’t care for their politics, so Tom has decided to spell it out for them — and in no uncertain terms.

While answering Twitter questions for Metal Hammer, Morello was asked what he thinks about fans telling him to stay away from politics when he rages on social media. He had the following to say, and it probably won’t surprise you:

“I have a number of thoughts. One is that you don’t trigger a free speech exemption when you pick up a guitar, that right remains intact. Secondly, people who are offended by my politics on Twitter or Instagram, please know it’s because you weren’t intelligent enough to know what the music that you were listening to all these years was about. For the music, you’re welcome, but if you’re a white supremacist or a proto-fascist, that music isn’t written for you – it’s written against you.”

So yes, although most of us with more than three active brain cells were able to figure that out the first time we listened to Rage Against The Machine, there are still plenty of bootlickers out there who are incapable of applying any sort of critical thinking or analytic skills to the music they listen to. There aren’t a ton of bands more on the nose than RATM, but as we know, the kind of people who haven’t been able to process this make the bottom of the barrel look higher up than the Tower of Babylon. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned lack of basic comprehension skills white supremacists are known for, Morello will likely be saying this until the day he dies.

You hear that, bootlickers? No more Rage Against The Machine for you. You hear that, Paul Ryan? No more Rage Against The Machine for you too. Q-Anon, Blue Lives Matter and Trumpers, any of you idiots still out there? No more Rage Against The Machine for you either. Or, hey, listen to it if you want, just know it’s music about you finding somewhere to go fuck yourself!