Let's do a Rage Against the Machine inspired song (and a collab with Doctor Frog).
Been way too quiet for a few months now, let’s get LOUD.
Picture is of a decrepit fence that was at the edge of my yard - finally replaced it last year. I was hoping I had taken a picture of it, because it's the perfect metaphor - white paint barely covering rotten things.
Ended up with this track coming from a few directions - I've been wanting to do some angry music recently (because...look around you...), but wasn't sure what it should be about (because it's a target rich environment). And then I read this article, about how House Republicans are attacking the National Museum of American History for "extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.” Because they're....showing American history. And this isn't the only thing this administration has done. Changing signage at national parks. Removing references to slavery at George Washington's home. The history of the United States is inextricably linked with slavery, and the responses to it. Ignoring it is just whitewashing history. Emphasis on the white.
It's hard to understate how much this pisses me off. History is something to be learned from, to better ourselves from. It's frequently VERY ugly. It should make you uncomfortable. This is a good thing, it means you have empathy and a conscience. Directly learning and addressing the failures of the past makes us stronger and keeps us from repeating them. History that only makes you feel good is not patriotic - it's PROPAGANDA.
It particularly angers me because I first learned about this sort of thing my Freshman year in college thirty years ago. There was a push in the 1920s after WWI to make history more "patriotic". Sitting in the library reading old newspaper articles on microfilm, I found myself thinking, "man, I'm glad we're past things like this."
Fuuuuuuck.
It made me think back to week 6 - I was trying for Beastie Boys, but ended up with a lot of Rage Against the Machine....and thought it might be fun to directly try to do RAtM. I also thought about a comment that electronic_tiger made, about how he wanted to hear me really unleash on a vocal. OK, we have some goals.
(Apparently the Doctor and I enjoy making Angry History Rap Metal.)
So, song subject and style decided, but I wasn't exactly sure how to approach it. I wrote a few lines but was having trouble coming up with rhymes, not repeating myself and making the song bite. I know what to do - I asked Doctor Frog if she wanted to work on some lyrics (she was out of town this week). Told her I only had a few scraps and ideas, but the theme is about panting over history...and the song title is Whitewash. I sent them...and she sends back three verses, pre chorus and chorus. Oh hell yes. That got me primed, and I wrote another verse and the bridge.
Amusingly enough, she didn't care for the last line of the bridge...mostly because it didn't rhyme well.
Dr Frog: "We need to find a new line there...it doesn't rhyme, it's jarring."
Me: "I mean...that's sorta the point."
Dr Frog: "Fair."
So I kept it :)
› Production Notes‹ Production Notes
Dug a bit into RAtM to figure out what makes their style, and came away with a few major points.
1) Melodic riffing with guitar and bass in unison, not a lot of chunky chords
2) Funk-inspired drums
3) Unique song structure
4) Rapped vocals
5) Tom Morello's approach to guitar is....unconventional
I listened to a bunch of albums this week to get a feel for the sort of things they'd do, but I wanted to make sure I didn't feel beholden to their style - when I do a style cover, I can sometimes get a little locked in by that and wanted to make sure I felt free to go my own way on things.
I had the verse riff done first, but it wasn't quite clicking. Things started to feel right when I put the swing on it. Then it became the question of how to mix things up and not feel repetitive. That's when this song became an exercise in really mixing things up between sections - coming out of the swung 16 feel of the verse into a straight 4 feel on the chorus.
I typically don't do "intros" - but this was another fun thing to try. Once again, decided to try and mix things up and used 5/4 for the beginning at a faster tempo - then dropping down into that dirty verse riff.
Needed to figure out something for the chorus, and somehow get bigger (but not really wanting to go into power chords). One thing about Rage's style is that the melodic riffing gives a lot of space for the vocal, and I wanted to keep that feeling of openness without falling back on my usual wall of guitar. So what does Rage do? To my ears, they'll often keep a similar feeling riff, but change it up to incorporate more octave up notes - lift the energy via tone rather than fuller chords.
I mostly jumped around to build this song, figuring out different sections and where things could go next (or what needed to come before). I did the pre chorus on guitar first...and decided that it just didn't need bass under it :)
This was a fun experiment - I mostly consider myself a bass player, not much of a lead player, and it was fun to try and stretch out with melodic playing I don't normally do. Come to think of it, the lead playing on this is a bit more like bass riffing than guitar. Which is perhaps why I enjoyed it so much.
› Lyrics‹ Lyrics
Nations built on principles and equal rights
Gotta know the lows to also know the heights
History’s uncomfortable, but it’s not slander
If you’re only feeling pride, you’re reading propaganda
Truth ain’t divisive, only spittin facts
It should make you angry that they’re standing on our backs
History don’t repeat but it sure can rhyme
Unlearned lessons are lost from passing time
Break it open share the truth don’t let them paint it white
Prove that all the people in this country know what’s right
Can’t shove them in the closet
Folks we tried to squash
Only share the shining heroes
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the history
It’s a WHITEWASH
Can’t let the children see
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the brown and black
It’s a WHITEWASH
Gotta get our country back
Love it or leave it? Shut your fucking mouth
Sherman didn’t burn enough when he was in the South
Slavers lost the battle but maybe won the war
Proud boys at the capitol fascists at the door
Rich will keep their power any way they can
Easy for the mask to slip when you push against the man
Justice in the land, just not for all colors
Demonizing immigrants, painting them as Others
Can’t shove them in the closet
Folks we tried to squash
Only share the shining heroes
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the history
It’s a WHITEWASH
Can’t let the children see
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the brown and black
It’s a WHITEWASH
Gotta get our country back
History is built on blood
And rattling the saber
Cause slavers split the union
Stead of givin’ up free labor
Jefferson and Washington
Both were owning people
Don’t say they’re a product of their time
And slavery was legal
Cause how you write the bill of rights
And all men created equal
With slaves out in tobacco fields
And rapes at Monticello
And rapes at Monticello
And rapes at Monticello
And rapes at Monticello
And rapes at Monticello
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the history
It’s a WHITEWASH
Can’t let the children see
It’s a WHITEWASH
Cover up the brown and black
It’s a WHITEWASH
Gotta get our country back
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