Rock Song My Name Is Essay

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One of the most powerful songs produced by Rage Against the Machine is "Know Your Enemy." The enemy is within, is the message of the song. The enemy is sometimes the United States itself: as in the case with the Rodney King beatings. Police brutality had been an ongoing political issue long before Rodney King's story made the mainstream media. Moreover police brutality disproportionately impacted persons who were politically disenfranchised. The African-American community mistrusted the police because the police represented an illegitimate authority. Rather than invest money to repair impoverished African-American communities, the American government invested money into a militant police force that would oppress, subjugate, and humiliate its own citizens.

The American Dream never existed; it was all a lie. This was especially true for the African-American community. The vocals of "Know Your Enemy" are sung rap-style as if a tribute to the black community in America. Furthermore, the lyrics of "Know Your Enemy" also "brutality," which suggests a possible connection with the Rodney King trial going on at the time the song was produced.

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The chunky guitar and use of compression in the production studio enhances the heavy, angry feeling that the song conveys.

The song is also filled with high energy guitar and bass riffs that compel repeat listens. Besides being a solid musical composition, "Know Your Enemy" encompasses the political and social landscape in America during the early 1990s. The American people were becoming increasingly disenchanted with the American Dream, which is why the band rages against the myth. The song finishes with a repetition of the phrase, "All of which are American Dreams." Said over and over, the line drives home the reality that most Americans are living under an oppressive government that promotes "Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission / Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality." The time has….....

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