Song Analysis #2 - "Calm Like a Bomb"

“Calm Like a Bomb” is a song by Rage Against the Machine, a rock band based out of Los Angeles. The lyrics can be synopsized as an extensive diatribe on the decrepit state of American society. He issues a number of vitriolic criticisms pertaining to the irreparable treatment of the poor and unfortunate classes. The song acts as a rallying cry for the dispossessed to get behind and demand immediate change. The major theme that permeates this tune is that outrage at the dark history of America is justified and should precipitate a revolution to overthrow the tyrannical rule that has corrupted the country for so long.

Zack de la Rocha employs a whole arsenal of figurative language to help convey the furious indignation fueling through his lyrics. He boastingly opens the song with the proclamation, “I be walkin’ God like a dog.” This metaphor represents his belief that God should not be elevated as justification or divine support for governmental policies, like it has been done countless times in the past. Immediately he sets the record straight by condemning the fire-and-brimstone hypocrites that populate the world. While introducing himself, Zack boasts, “Yes, I spit fire.” This is a metaphor used to describe his censorious speech that is figuratively scorching with its shocking and indelible truths. Zack also uses plenty of allusions in “Calm Like a Bomb.” During the song, he comments, “Word war returns to burn like Baldwin home from Paris.” He is alluding to the exploits of James Baldwin, a writer and civil rights advocate who returned to participate in the Civil Rights Movement in America after living in seclusion as an expatriate for years. Zack is likening his verbal attack to Baldwin’s during the mid-20th century.

The title serves as an adequate slogan that embodies all of the frenetic ideals that underlie this particular song. “Calm Like a Bomb” is a extreme oxymoron that is such a contradictory statement that it further persuades listeners to recognize the urgent conviction of the singer’s message and help empathize with the anger and frustration that is so interlaced with his stream of thought. It also has a very visceral impact with the comparison to a bomb, an explosive device capable of literally destroying everything in its path. But in this song, a positive connation is subtly lent to the bomb, which is less portrayed as a weapon of fear and more like a tool of the radicals who want to shake the foundations of the United States to its very core. Thus, being calm like a bomb is a natural side effect of the rebels who wield their agitprop like a sword of justice.

The tone of the song undergoes myriad changes as Zack de la Rocha vents his anger at the broken American system and searches for an answer amidst all the suffering. In the beginning, he makes inflammatory comments about the injustices committed to the poor and impoverished. He accuses the government of neglecting the people with insufficient care. Zack laments the “same bodies buried hungry, but with different last names,” referring to the ongoing inhumane treatment of American citizens who struggle to put food on the table every day. The incorrigible avarice of profiteers and capitalists are represented as “vultures robbin’ everything, leave nothing but chains.” These uncomfortable truths evoke feelings of indignation and sympathy towards the people who have been viewed with indifference for so long. Then the tone shifts from having resentful and furiously antagonistic undertones to containing an urgent demand for a better life and future. Zack foresees “America’s demise,” that is, the downfall of the current system of capitalism. He utters, “Hope lies in the smoldering rubbles of empires.” So with the occurrence of a massive revolution against a heartless government, a new, equal world order can be forged from the ashes, where all people are treated equally. Thus, the song ends on a more idealistic note, while at the same time reiterating the ongoing calamities.

In one encompassing song, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine takes a obstinately one-sided look at all of the corrupt and immoral dealings that have been going on in America for a long time. According to him, the lower class’s right to live is being threatened by supercilious Corporate America, and if things do not change, then a revolt against the status quo can be expected and embraced.

Lyrics

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I be walkin god like a dog My narrative fearless Word war returns to burn Like Baldwin home from Paris, Uh Like steel from a furnace I was born landless Yes its tha native son Born of Zapatas guns Stroll through the shanties And tha cities remains Same bodies buried hungry But with different last names The vultures robbin everything Leave nothing but chains Pick a point on the globe Yes tha pictures tha same

Theres a bank, theres a church, a myth and a hearse A mall and a loan, a child dead at birth Theres a widow pig parrot A rebel to tame A whitehooded judge A syringe and a vein And the riot be the rhyme of the unheard

What ya say? What ya say? What ya say? What? (x4)Calm like a bomb

This aint subliminal Feel the critical mass approach horizon Tha pulse of the condemned Sound off Americas demise Tha anti-myth rhythm rock shocker Yes I spit fire Hope lies in the smoldering rubble of empires Yes back through tha shanties and tha cities remains Same bodies buried hungry, uh-huh With different last names, uh-huh The vultures robbin everyone Leave nothing but chains Pick a point here at home Yes the pictures tha same

Theres a field full of slaves Some corn and some debt Theres a ditch full of bodies Tha check for the rent Theres a tap, tha phone, tha silence of stone The numb black screen That be feelin like home And the riot be the rhyme of the unheard

What ya say? What ya say? What ya say? What?(x4)Calm like a bomb

There's a mass without roofs There's a prison to fill There's a countrys soul that reads post no bills There's a strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill There's a right to obey And a right to kill x2