 This bonus video is brought to you by Audible. Go to audible.com slash polyphonic or text polyphonic to 500-500 to get started today. Rage Against the Machine made headlines in 2012 when it came out that US politician Paul Ryan was a fan of the band. Ryan was publicly lambasted for this, including by Rage's own guitarist Tom Morello. This is of course because Ryan's entire political career has seen him support the very machines that Morello and company are raging against. But despite the fact that Rage's far left politics are written clearly all over their music, Ryan isn't the only case of someone with disparate views supporting the band. Nigel Farage, another right-wing politician, used Rage Against the Machine's name as inspiration for his podcast, and I'm sure there's countless more people who listen to Rage daily without fully appreciating their politics. So why does this happen? It's a phenomenon that can be explained by one of the most pervasive thoughts in all of communications theory. Let's take a closer look. In 1964, Canadian theorist Marshall McLuhan released his seminal work, Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man. That book put forth one of his most radical ideas, the medium is the message, which is to say the way a message is delivered is more important than the message itself. When McLuhan talked about the medium, he was talking about the technologies through which culture was dispersed, newspapers, television, radio, and nowadays things like YouTube. But I think if we broaden our definition of medium, we can start to appreciate why this applies to Rage Against the Machine. The medium through which Rage dispersed their message isn't just music, it's a very particular brand of music. That sound comes from Rage Against the Machine's diverse influences. Before Rage, Tom Morello was playing in lock-up, a funk metal band, while Zack De La Rocha was fronting a hardcore band called Inside Out. The pair had different opinions when it came to music. De La Rocha preferred punk, hip-hop, and even jazz to metal, and Morello wasn't well versed in rap at all. But what they did share was their radical political ideologies. Both of them sat far on the left wing, and both were very politically active. So they decided to form a band together and brought in the last two pieces of the puzzle. On the suggestion of a former bandmate, Morello brought in Tim Comerford to play bass. As a bassist, Comerford was influenced by both the radical energy of Sid Vicious and the cerebral music of Getty Lee. Meanwhile drummer Brad Wilk was influenced by the thunderous rock gods of old like Keith Moon or John Bonham. All these different influences came together to create one iconic incendiary sound. Musically rage was built from the rhythm section out. Loud powerful drums jammed with a funk groove that stuck in the audience's heads and got them moving. On top, Morello's screeching guitar paired with the dissonant sounds of the rebellion that De La Rocha rapped. This rap metal sound is the personification of angry resistance. Just listen to bomb track, the opening to rage against the machine's debut. A dramatic build-up explodes into a punchy lick, perfect at getting the audience angry. And in this sense, the medium of rage's music does match part of the message. Rage's lyrics tell a message of getting up, being loud, and being defiant. Listen to the chorus of Township Rebellion where De La Rocha condemns silence. And this is part of the beauty of Rage Against the Machine's approach. There's a universality to their lyrics. Everyone has some machine they want to rage against, whether it's their job, their government, or the broader systems around them. Who among us hasn't wanted to stand up and shout, fuck you, I won't do what you tell me? But that universality is also where Rage's medium fails their message. A lot of protest music is protesting generic power structures, or protesting for the sake of protesting. The audience can apply their own specific struggles to the broader messaging in the music. But that's not what Rage are. Rage have a very specific political agenda reflected in many of their songs. Take the Powerback sings about how Eurocentrism in the American school system has marginalized people of color in modern America. Freedom isn't just about the concept of freedom widely. It's about Leonard Peltier, an activist jailed for his actions as part of the American Indian Movement. Their sophomore album, Evil Empire, features a number of songs sympathizing with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a radical militant group in Mexico. But all of these nuanced messages take a backseat to the medium through which they're delivered. The message that people take from Rage Against the Machine is, you should be angry. And why shouldn't they take that message? De La Rocha even says anger is a gift on freedom. The issue is that people choose what to direct their anger at. Everyone has their own personal causes and Rage Against the Machine's music can be the soundtrack to everyone's own struggle. Rage aid this with the use of vague, anthemic phrases. When De La Rocha sings to testify, people will testify to whatever they want, even though the bridge of that song is a powerful depiction of Western imperialism. Tomerello's unique guitar style is part of Rage Against the Machine's package of delivery too. Whenever people think of Rage, they think of his guitar techniques, playing with feedback and distortion, and thinking of new ways to create unique sounds out of the guitar. In the case of Bulls on Parade, people often lose the messages of cutting military spending to fund social services in favor of a cool guitar solo. But all this begs the question, is this necessarily a bad thing? Tomerello doesn't think so. Morello has stated that his music is part of the goal of Rage Against the Machine. He told MTV that part of what Rage did was seduce people with the music and then expose them to a different political message. Now, McLuhan would say that the message is completely irrelevant in this regard, but Morello's approach does seem to have some reason behind it. However, its true efficacy remains to be seen. After all, Rage Against the Machine have sold millions of copies worldwide, but we don't see millions of people rising up in a socialist revolution. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that anyone not rising up is listening to Rage Against the Machine wrong. Part of Rage's message is encoded deep in their music, and everyone understands that much. The very tone of the music encourages you to be active, to get angry, to Rage. But next time you crank up your speakers and pull out the Rage, it might be worth taking a minute to look at the systems around you and ask yourself, what machine am I raging against? Rage Against the Machine were an incredibly well-read band. In case their lyrics aren't enough to convince you of that, they actually released a recommended reading list on their website in 1999. It's a broad list encompassing children's literature, political philosophy, literary fiction, and everything in between. If you want to check out some of these books, you can get to start at Audible. One book that Rage recommends is Miles, The Autobiography. Written by the legendary jazz visionary himself, that book looks at Davis' life and how he shaped music. Or if you want to get more political, why not check out Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, which explores the realities of Black existence in America. And there's plenty more where that came from. Audible is the best place online to find audiobooks, so you can get caught up on your listening as you do your chores, commute, or work out. So go to audible.com slash polyphonic or text polyphonic to 500-500, and you can start a free 30-day trial that comes with one audiobook and two Audible originals, so why not give it a shot? Again, go to audible.com slash polyphonic or text polyphonic to 500-500 to try it out today. Following that link will get you a great deal and show support for my channel.