ZDLR

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 the jungle mist Clenched to smash power so cancerous A black flag and a red star A rising sun loomin' over Los Angeles Yes for raza livin in la la Is like gaza on to the dawn of intifada Reach for the lessons the masked pass on And seize the metropolis It's you that it's built on

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

I just want to write confrontational music, you know. Music that uplifts consciousness, as well as confront, and inform. And help people to become more aware. It’s part of my own evolution as a human being. 

[...] It’s all about living a simple conscious life, man. Trying to help people to do the same. And recognize how, you know, still very volatile and injustice system we live under is.

Sleep Now in the Fire | RATM at Democratic Convention 2000

“ We're standing on-stage thirty seconds before we're to begin performing "Bulls On Parade." Steve Forbes is waiting to introduce us: 25 seconds, 20 seconds.... Our roadies unfurl the upside-down flags. There's a panic among the SNL stagehands who rush to the stage to get the flags down. They're yelling, "Take the flags down!" The countdown is 15, 14, 13.... A melee ensues on-stage where our crew is grappling with their crew over the duct tape on the flags. They're successful in removing the flags as the time ticks down to five, four, three, two seconds. Steve Forbes introduces us. We play "Bulls On Parade." 

As soon as we're offstage, the show's producer, Marcie Klein, Calvin Klein's daughter, informs our tour manager that we have to leave the building. There will be no second song, no cozy wave "goodnight" at the end, no hugging Steve Forbes. It's just, "Get out of the building right now." Tim Bob is so incensed that he takes one of the torn-down U.S. flags, shreds it up, charges into Steve Forbes' dressing room and hurls it at his entourage. The backstage area floods with Secret Service people because Steve Forbes, in addition to being a great comedic actor, is also a billionaire and ex-Presidential candidate. Some of us are escorted from the building and others manage to hide out long enough to meet up with our friends afterwards.”