Wake Up by Rage Against the Machine

Album: Rage Against The Machine (1992)

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Songfacts®:

This song describes the operations of the FBI's "counterintelligence" program - which according to Rage Against The Machine, was used to suppress any dissident movements in the '60s. Anyone from Malcolm X to Martin Luther King Jr. was silenced for speaking out against the government's injustices and illogic.
"Wake Up" plays at the very end of the 1999 movie The Matrix, which looks at a world where machines and algorithms control the visible world, but a group of humans resist, trading blissful ignorance for free thought and revolt. Most people are content to assimilate into the controlled universe, but the main character, Neo (played by Keanu Reeves), chooses the red pill and thus becomes the enemy because he can see what's really going on.

The song hits on this same theme, making it a great way to send theater-goers home.

Another RATM song, "Calm Like A Bomb," plays at the end of the 2003 sequel, The Matrix Reloaded.

For the fourth installment, The Matrix Resurrections in 2021, "Wake Up" was used in the trailer, and in the film a cover version by Brass Against, which records horn-driven covers of songs by Rage and other artists, was used. Their version has a female vocal by Sophia Urista.
The ending lyrics, "How long? Not long, cause what you reap, is what you sow" are taken from Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 "How Long, Not Long" speech in which King said, "How long? Not long, because you shall reap what you sow."
"Wake Up," which lead singer Zack de la Rocha screams over and over at the end of the song, is a great two-word summary of Rage Against The Machine's message. They always wanted their fans to question authority and dig deeper to find the truth. This means not believing everything you're taught in school, and staying leery of institutions that have an interest in suppressing dissent for power or money.

The band didn't get along all that well with each other but were united in this message and stayed true to their beliefs even after they became multi-Platinum rock stars. "Wake Up" is part of their self-titled debut album, released in 1992. They released two more albums before breaking up in 2000 near the peak of their powers. The three instrumentalists in the band formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell, shifting away from their steady diet of protest songs but keeping much of their sound intact. Rage reunited a few times but didn't release more music (a covers album called Renegades came out soon after they disbanded in 2000).

Comments: 25

Gregthe opening riff was 100000% inspired by Kashmire. The idea is essentially the same. The odd part is Zeppelin being referenced, rather than the band they stole it from in the 70s haha. I dont know who it was, but they were notorious for doing that.
Matt from HoustonFarrakhan played footsies with the CIA against X and they both got what they wanted, and all we got 2020 visions and murals with metaphors.
Shawn from Green Bay WiGreat song immortalized by one of the most epic movie endings of all time, where it fits perfectly.
"they murdered X and then blamed it on Islam"... Wrong. The Islamic Brotherhood DID murder X. Ironically, he said himself that the Brotherhood was going to murder him in his biography. I'm sure RATM was aware of this, but you know, never let the TRUTH get in the way of a good rage.
Lilyibanez from Los Angeles, Cathis is a very powerful song and i think it conveys the meaning very well, the beginning and ending riffs especially help that. one of rage's most genious songs.
Jack from Cleveland, OhThe quotation near the end of the song is taken from an internal Cointelpro memorandum. The line preceding the first quote is:
"Malcolm X might have been such a 'messiah;' he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammed is less of a threat because of his age."

The full line for the second quote is:
"it should also be a goal of the counterintelligence Program to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them before they
exercise their potential for violence." The memorandum is dated March 4, 1968.
Joey from North Barrington, IlRegardless of where the riff came from, the overall song message is to Wake Up and realize what the government is doing instead of being complacent and assuming the government is always right.
Mike from Selden, Nydozens of songs have used the same sequence of chords, the fact that these two songs share a chord progression does not in any way suggest that one riff was taken from the other
Jason from Chatham, NjThe guitar in Kashmir actually doesn't climb, that's the string arrangement. The opening guitar riffs' rhythms are very similar, and the basic 2 & 4 drum beat, tempo, and key are all the same. That being said I like both songs. I don't understand how you can be so hard-headed about saying there's not even a similarity.
Chris from Las Vegas, United StatesI saw them perform this song live at Coachella in April of this year. During the guitar break, Zach went into a 7 minute tirade against The current government administration and compared those in office now to Nazi war criminals. And just as those Nazi war criminals were executed for their crimes, so should those in office like Bush, Cheney, etc. The crowd lost it's mind as he spoke those words.....Best concert ever!!
Spog Zallagi from Blue Hill, MeLOL. "Wake up" for alarm.
John Smith from Southington, CtI use the last part of the song where Zack screems "WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUPPP!!!!" a lot for my alarm clock.
Ian from San Diego, CaThere are no similarities between Kashmir and Wake Up.
The only distinctive one is the Key of D. But if that's taking a riff from Led Zeppelin then you'd have to call every metal band out for using similar riffs that Black Sabbath invented.
The riff to Wake Up is pure Morello chug. No Page influence what-so-ever.
Anon. from Twin Cities, MnActually Tom, just about everything about the riff from Wake Up is different from Kashmir except for the pitch (both start on a D power chord, though the sepearte tremolo from Wake Up changes it a bit). I've never seen a source that documents morello himself talking about the influence from kashmir.
Mike from Kitchener, CanadaNot the same as Kashmir but inspired by it. Very good political song one of my favs from RATM
Will from Ballarat, Australiaits similiar, but not exactly teh same. certainly inspired by kashmir.
Tom from Northport, Nythe riff is exactltly the same as kashmir just played with a little higher notes
Jorge from Codoba, South AmericaThe Riff is not like kashmir from led zepplin
Kieran from Essex, EnglandEvan, the riff is exactly like Kashmir
Evan from Birmingham, Althe riff is nothing like kashmir
Kieran from Essex, Englanddefinatly rage's best song, really makes you question the power of the government
Rudi from Newtown, PaThe guitar riff wasn't taken from Kashmir. The first two chords are the same but don't even have the same rhythm. The Wake Up Riff goes back and forth between those two chords, whereas the Kashmir riff continues to climb the scale and then repeats.
Jarred from Narre Warren, Victoria, AustraliaGreat song, is also played on Godzilla and is sometimes featured in the background of Sports Tonight on channel 10 in Australia... Very famous and powerful...
Amitai from Staten Island, NyThe guitar riif was taken from Led Zeppelin's Kashmir
Brendan from Waitara, New Zealandthis song's at the end of the Matrix
John from Glasgow, Scotlandmy favourite song from rage, very powerful too.

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