The generation before us knew where they were when JFK was shot... I literally remember the day I bought this album took it home and heard this guy say: "a yellow ribbon instead of a swastika; I warm my hands up on the flames of the flag; What? The "land of the free"? Whoever told you that is your enemy; some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses; you know they went after king when he spoke out on vietnam... he turn the power to the have nots and then came the shot." I was like what in the hell are these guys reading which led to a whole new enlightening Chomsky Zinn Parenti Kinzer and so much more.

This album was transformative In my early college days, And unfortunately the sound was copied, and Nu metal was born and focused all of gen x's testoterone on limp biscuit mosh pits

I disagree I grew up on rage and lyrics are way more important to me than sound.

I read through EVERY word on the albums booklets.. I mostly have them memorized still. Yes you are 100% right!

I listened but I was from Europe so it didn't really concern me.

The clip in Primetime - all the networks aired Operation Desert Shield on tv in Primetime, so we could see the bombs/rockets. Made my dad support the war 100%. The propaganda worked.

Yes, people were wearing and displaying the yellow ribbons en masse during the first Gulf War. This is definitely what de La Rocha meant.

Exactly this. I would also like to add that the first Gulf War was the first war to be live broadcast and televised globally as it happened, which is the connection between it and the media critique in the lyrics.

Yep, and here the "set" meant the TV set, not your gang of peers like seemed to be the interpretation in the video.

He’s talking about the general public who display yellow ribbons to show their support for the troops, just like a “Good” German citizen would have displayed the swastika out of a sense of patriotism to “support their troops” mindlessly, like they have a bullet in their head.

I get that, but it would be dumb to blindly trust in the actions of "pawns", specially when those pawns would murder you just with an order like they do in foreign countries. Here in Colombia, US military only means girls being r4ped, filmed and killed to then sell the videos as ch1ld pornogr4phy. The "pawns" are not much more trustworthy than the police, and the war crimes don't exist only because of the high ranking officers. The US soldiers who gladly took selfies next to the bodies of the tortured people from Iraq back in the 2000's were not high ranking officers who just give orders. People in USA just have this indoctrinated idea that the military is a sacred, all-good entity as if a lot of them wouldn't enjoy the killing they were ordered to do.

A lot of them did, shame the US isn’t a democracy

@@dejuren1367 no it doesn’t because the US did not invade Ukraine and kill Ukrainian civilians