Township Rebellion

Album: Rage Against The Machine (1992)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song relates human freedom to the situation in South Africa: "Freedom should be fundamental: In Johannesburg, or South Central." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Tim - Pittsburgh, PA

Comments: 6

  • Dog from SeattleBut there is a double meaning here. Those who persecuted Jesus were themselves too narrow minded to realize that he was their savior, so they killed him. They were focused on punishments, rules, their own righteousness, symbolized by the cross, a torture device, and therefore killed Jesus and all those purporting to be followers of Jesus for centuries.

    And then the final refrain changes the pronoun from "their" and now says "shackle YOUR mind when YOU'RE left on the cross" so now your own mental shackles, your unconscious biases, your deeply unconscious prejudices, your blindness results in your own self destruction.
  • Luke from Manchester, Uk"Shackle their minds when they're left on the cross"
    Religion makes people's minds close.
  • Marc from Rockanje, Netherlands@Eric, "shackle their minds" means something like trap their minds, I don't know what Zack means with "when they're are left on the cross".

    "when ignorance reigns, life is lost" means that when people get to ignorant some people will die.

    Great song, I'm listening it right now.
  • Eric from San Francisco, Cawhat does he mean "Shackle their minds when they're left on the cross. When ignorance reigns, life is lost"
  • Nick from , ScotlandI really like the fatness of the main riff
  • John Smith from Southington, CtI like Zack's big yell. That was pretty weird though.
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