Why I Reacted To This Song
There’s no truer words than what Zack de la Rocha lays down here. The anger is real and it’s pointed at something specific, not just noise for its own sake.
Original by Artist
About This Song
“Bulls on Parade” was released in 1996 on Rage Against the Machine’s second album, Evil Empire. Written by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello, the song takes aim at the military-industrial complex and the way arms manufacturing and war profiteering keep the machinery of conflict running. The guitar solo is one of the most recognizable in rock; Morello gets the vinyl-scratch sound by setting one pickup to full volume and killing the other, then rubbing his fretting hand across the strings over the dead pickup while flipping the selector switch like a killswitch. No turntable involved, just a guitar rewired to sound like one.
Lyrics
What we don’t know keeps the contracts alive and movin' They don’t gotta burn the books, they just remove ’em While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells Rally ‘round the family, pocket full of shells
First Impressions
The bassline and drums lock in immediately and that guitar effect grabs you the first time you hear it, you genuinely can’t tell at first that there’s no turntable in the room.
My Reaction
This is protest music that still lands decades later because the target hasn’t gone anywhere. De la Rocha’s delivery is relentless, and Morello turning his guitar into a scratching turntable is one of those tricks that sounds like a gimmick on paper but is genuinely one of the best solos in rock once you hear it land in context. Few bands fuse rage and precision this well.
Rating
86/100