i really need to wake up and get on with my life today.

i know that i’ve been taking about Rage Against the Machine for days now. i’ve always had a collection of songs stashed in my zune because their enegry is insanely pumping, but last week as i came across them on shuffle, i was reminded of their initial purpose in creating music. i was first introduced to Rage about two years ago. last year, i had the opportunity to do a project on any topic for my media studies course. i was so tempted to report on the political fads of musicians/bands like green day, rage, tool, and a perfect cirlce who began to speak out on the wars on iraq and afghanistan and who were against the bush administration. truthfully, only one or two of these bands really had political opinion. most were part of the fad. anyway, i didn’t do that topic because my group voted for something else. as disappointed as i was in myself to let this opportunity pass by, i realized it’s no reason to stop me from doing my own research. so, i become increasingly fascinated with Rage Against the Machine, and the machine they are raging against. lol. anyway, i know it’s all words, but have a look at the article and their music. admittedly, i was one of those people who turned to rage because of the pump, but their intentions are so much more for freedom, human rights, and social justice.

somesongsconsidered:

“People of the Sun” – Rage Against the Machine

(Words: Zack de la Rocha, music: Rage Against the Machine, available on Evil Empire, Epic 1996)

Rage Against the Machine’s music will always find a place with those who connect with the primal energy in their sound and the anger in Zack de la Rocha’s voice.  Some might argue that these people miss the point, but that’s alright.  Yes, de la Rocha’s lyrics are more than just angry rants against those who piss him off, but that’s not the reason that most of his fans came to him.  If Rage’s draw was extremely far-left politics (much further left than this liberal at least), their audience might be a fraction of what they had.  Instead, their aggressive sound gave de la Rocha the audience to share his message and educate the masses about his interests.  It seems like he (and his bandmates) understand that they need the soapbox before they can start speaking.  Even if much of their crowd cared more for the “rage” rather than knowing who/what the “machine” was, many more people heard the band’s message than the people passing out the Communist newsletter on the corner of city streets.

Regardless, Tom Morello always interested me the most; specifically, I marveled at the wide range of sounds he coaxed out of his guitar, making it howl and wail in an entirely unique way.  “People of the Sun” seems like one of Morello’s tamer moments, but only because he locks into a groove early on.  The rhythm section lays down a solid beat and Morello makes his six strings sing like some sort of rare beast.  His tone articulated the same seething anger de la Rocha channeled in his lyrics, placing the Zapatista rebels in a variety of historical contexts (Wikipedia will provide a better history lesson than I can in this space).  Not to slight the rhythm section at all (who else could lay it down like that?), but de la Rocha’s verbal assault and Morello’s innovation set Rage Against the Machine apart from their contemporaries.  While bands that honed in on the angry part of their rap-rock hybrid ended up like Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine produced numerous tracks like “People of the Sun” that could satiate the gear heads, fist pumpers, and revolutionaries at the same time.  No wonder so many people still love them.

More on Rage Against the Machine: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

for the most part, i believe in myself. i believe i’m doing well in being a good person and achieving my substantial goals. i guess you can also say that i believe in the golden rule. treating others as you would like to be treated. i don’t have any enemies, and have never found myself in any serious or unfair drama.

i use to ignore that whole ‘girls are drama’ stereotype because my close girlfriends are great people and i’ve never had any problems with the many female acquaintances that i have. but i know it exists. i just never thought i would come across it as long as i was always polite. maybe i’m still a bit naive. so, when i heard these hurtful remarks behind my back from a person i gave a chance on, it makes me want to believe that these types of girls are all the same, and just hopeless. i don’t want to draw any single conclusion though. i could turn into a mean person too. but what sets apart the nice from the mean is that the nice person is still nice despite betrayal. i didn’t do anything offensive or wrong against her. i’ve always been polite. so i really believe i don’t deserve this. i trusted her to be fair. it hurts. but i’ll get over it. i just hope she realizes one day that being gorgeous isn’t enough to get through life.

being gorgeous wasn’t enough for him. so don’t be mad and say that he can do better than me. be mad that you chose the life of a drama queen.