“Shut up and play your guitar.” It’s a common online response to musicians who dabble in social and political issues. Tom Morello lets out a loud, good-natured laugh at the very idea of keeping quiet.
“I'd say we're about three decades late for that,” he says, though in his case, he points out that the phrase is actually half right.
“I can promise you I'm going to do both. I'm going to play my guitar and not shut up.”
Morello, who is still riding high from the recent Black Sabbath Back to the Beginning farewell concert (for which he served as musical director) is in Canada, where last week he kicked off a brief tour with his Freedom Fighters Orchestra. Cool dad that he is, he’s even bringing his guitar-toting son Roman along for the ride. The younger Morello gets to spend part of his summer vacation shredding on stage with his father on half a dozen songs.
It’s a busy time for Morello. The day before he spoke with Guitar Player, he released a powerful new anti-ICE protest song, “Pretend You Remember Me.” The accompanying video, which the guitarist directed, features the faces of some of those impacted by the recent ICE raids in Los Angeles, and it includes an intro by the freed Leonard Peltier political prisoner Leonard Peltier.
Weaving politics and music is nothing new for Morello, who has been speaking truth to power since he first entered the mainstream arena with Rage Against the Machine in 1991. As a solo artist, he’s continued that tradition, calling himself “but one link in a long chain of messengers that goes all the way back to Joe Hill and Woody Guthrie through System of a Down and Rage against the Machine, Public Enemy and the Clash.”
He cites the Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap as an example of younger musicians who wear their political beliefs on their sleeves.
“These are people who are unafraid to express their opinions in their art,” he says. “I think that's a worthy goal for people to do in whatever their job is.”
“Pretend You Remember Me” carries a direct political message, but you frame it in a humanistic way that anybody can understand.
“These are people who are unafraid to express their opinions in their art. I think that's a worthy goal for people to do in whatever their job is.”
— Tom Morello
Absolutely. One thing I think everybody can relate to is family. Everybody's got parents, and a lot people have kids, so the idea that your family would be torn apart by mass goons when the only crime you've committed in your entire life is to try to make a better life for yourself and your family… That someone steals your child out of preschool and you don't see them again, or somebody throws you in a concentration camp by armed massed agents of the state — that is some straight-up fascist bullshit. “Pretend You Remember Me” was written from that point of view.
This is not new to this Trump administration. Biden did it, Trump One did it, Obama's administration did it. This from the point of view of a mother who is now years and countries separated from her child. Her wish, her prayer before she goes to sleep every night, is just that maybe her child might at least pretend to remember her. I was trying to sort of tap into the reality of the horror and the sadness from a family's point of view. That doesn't have anything to do with politics other than loving someone and being torn asunder from them by the state.
As you said, songs that deal with social issues go back to Woody Guthrie. What do you think the current music community can and should be doing?
I would not ghettoize the music community and say, “Well, the music community has these responsibilities.” I would say that anyone in their vocation has the responsibility to not leave behind their convictions.
Now, whether you're a music journalist or a carpenter or a teacher or a guitar player — to stop being who you are and stop saying what you believe in, I think you're doing yourself and the rest of us a great disservice.
That said, the connection between music and politics doesn't feel as strong as it once was, say, back in the ’60s. Do you think some musicians who would like to speak out don’t because they don't want to face a Dixie Chicks–type backlash?
Of course there always are, because there's a price to be paid. And it's real — it’s not imaginary. I made the decision long ago — decades ago — that I was going to say what I want to say and play what I want to play, and the chips can fall where they may.
But there are harsh sanctions. I remember there were certain radio stations that wouldn't play Audioslave songs because of a Rage Against the Machine holdover. People who speak out on the issue of Palestine and the mass slaughter of children face pretty significant repercussions.
I think artists have only one responsibility in what they do, and that is to tell the truth.”
— Tom Morello
You have to decide who are you and what is your soul worth. To be silent and acquiesce to injustice is one way you could live your life, or you can speak your truth in what you do and then sort of live as a full person and as a full artist. I think artists have only one responsibility in what they do, and that is to tell the truth.
Now, if you don't have political convictions, by all means don't pretend to have them because Tom Morello tells you to. If your principal interests are cocaine and strip clubs, then write about that honestly — your music will be authentic.
But if you do think that shit's not right and you very consciously censor yourself, then you've got to live with that.
You’ve been involved with like-minded artists over the years — the MC5, Joe Strummer — and also played with Bruce Springsteen, who has sometimes taken on social and political issues, like in the song “American Skin.”
Absolutely. There’s also the song we do together, “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” which is an immigrant's anthem. It's a homeless person's anthem. Bruce Springsteen was recently in the crosshairs of the current administration, as well, for speaking his truth.
I'm in the middle of making what will be, I think, my 22nd album right now, and it's no time to turn back. I'm playing as well as I've ever played, and I'm so inspired. I'm rocking every day onstage with my son Roman, who's just a shredding monster. I've never had more fun on tour than I am now.
I’m carrying the torch for those Rage Against the Machine riffs, I’m carrying the torch for the memory of Chris Cornell, and I’m carrying the torch for the idea that music that's impassioned and speaks out against injustice really matters. I feel that in every show in a way that’s been just earth shattering on this run. I'm psyched, and I think my best work is ahead of me.
Some of my favorite singers have been people who sing with conviction, whether that's Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan or Joe Strummer or Chuck D.”
— Tom Morello
The way you treat guitars on the new song — the mix of electric and acoustic — is almost symphonic, but let’s talk about your singing. Your voice seems to get stronger with age.
Oh, well, thank you very much. I appreciate it. It's funny — every once in a while someone will say, “You should sing more often.” I'm like, “Well, actually, this will be my fifth album, so there’s a pretty deep catalog of folk and Americana records where I'm singing.”
But I appreciate it, and that's something I’ve worked on. Some of my favorite singers have been people who sing with conviction, whether that's Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan or Joe Strummer or Chuck D. I'm not trying to win America's Got Talent; I'm trying to convey something in an honest and authentic way.
However, your son might have a chance at winning America’s Got Talent. He’s quite a guitar player.
[laughs] He's got a shot!
Is “Pretend You Remember Me”any indication sonically of where you’re headed your upcoming album?
In one way. I put out a song a while back called “Soldier in the Army of Love,” which is much more of a brutal riff. Together with this song, they’re almost like goalposts.
On the one hand, as my first solo rock album, I really am feeling the riffage, so there's going to be that Morellian Rage-slash-Audioslave-slash–Prophets of Rage huge-riff component. I’m also poaching some riffs from my kid, who's got some hot jams himself.
On the other hand, there’s a kind of Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town aspect that, from the songwriting perspective, has been very, very important to me.
“Morellian.” Did you just come up with the name of a band?
[laughs] Or maybe a new scale!
We were talking about artists who are fearful of a backlash. Do you wish some of them would summon the courage to speak out? Do you feel kind of alone out there?
Never. First of all, I think that fear of a backlash pales in comparison to fear of a fascist America. But I don't feel like I'm on an island. Every single show I play, you should see the people who have been waiting for someone to finally fucking say what's in their hearts.
I don't feel that I'm alone. If you're talking about an artistic community, there are plenty of those too. They may not be at the top of the charts, but there are people who are brave enough to sort of speak out on issues.
Every single show I play, you should see the people who have been waiting for someone to finally fucking say what's in their hearts.”
— Tom Morello
I've never looked at it that way though. I've never looked at it from the point of view as like, “Well, what's the music community doing?” I'm like, “What are we all doing? The community that I'm part of is not a music community. It's a human community. It’s like, “How are we as people standing up?”
“Pretend You Remember Me” was inspired by the time I spent in the tear gas clouds while protesting ICE on the streets of Los Angeles, which were in part militant protest but also in part a real party, like a celebration of what this country can be and should be: celebrating justice, standing up against injustice, all of us embracing each other and our strengths and our diversity, which is the best parts of what the United States of America can be.
On a completely unrelated topic, are you still recovering from the Black Sabbath farewell concert?
Oh, dude. That was a very, very special, special day. It was a tremendous amount of work, and I'm just glad that we paid honor to Ozzy and to Black Sabbath in a way that they deserve.
