--- title: Here Are the Rage Against the Machine Memes Post-Fan's Shock description: After some fans were shocked to learn that Rage Against the Machine is political, Tom Morello reminded fans that they always have been. canonical: https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-06-11T16:06:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:28.987Z og:title: Tom Morello Weighing in on a Fan's Reaction Prompts Endless Rage Against the Machine Memes og:description: "Thought I knew you Cookie Monster" og:url: https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ae43e7c9ee5eccb/698a0f37656a3f5d91bda366/Rage-Against-The-Machine-Meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Rage Against the Machine memes erupt on Twitter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tom Morello Weighing in on a Fan's Reaction Prompts Endless Rage Against the Machine Memes twitter:description: "Thought I knew you Cookie Monster" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ae43e7c9ee5eccb/698a0f37656a3f5d91bda366/Rage-Against-The-Machine-Meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tom Morello Weighing in on a Fan's Reaction Prompts Endless Rage Against the Machine Memes > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 11, 2020 4:06 PM UTC  Guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine performs at the Jail Guitar Doors All-Star Fundraising Concert at Ford Theatre on September 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine performs at the Jail Guitar Doors All-Star Fundraising Concert at Ford Theatre on September 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Michael Tullberg —Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 11, 2020 4:06 PM UTC A [Rage Against the Machine](https://time.com/4340133/rage-against-the-machine-countdown-clock-prophets-of-rage/) fan said he was surprised to learn that the band that wrote songs like, “Wake Up”, “Killing in the Name of,” “Bulls on Parade,” and “Take the Power Back” was politically minded. After making his feelings known on [Twitter](https://techland.time.com/the-140-moments-that-made-twitter-matter/) about how he may have been accidentally listening to pointed songs for years, other Twitter users have been mercilessly roasting them for it, and the band’s guitarist [Tom Morello](https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/17/machine-vs-man-tom-morello-rages-at-paul-ryan/) joined in the fun. It started when a Twitter user named Scott Castaneda tweeted at Morello on Tuesday night. “I used to be a fan until your political opinions came out. Music is my sanctuary and the last thing I want to hear is political BS when I’m listening to music,” Castaneda wrote, seemingly unaware that he had been listening to one of the more popular political rock groups the whole time. Morello responded to his evidently former fan’s query. “Scott!! What music of mine were you a fan of that DIDN’T contain “political BS”? I need to know so I can delete it from the catalog,” he tweeted. > [](https://twitter.com/tmorello/status/1270419869524094976) The exchange prompted thousands of replies and jokes that skewered Castaneda for apparently missing the group’s political bent that is clear in its song and album titles, lyrics, and band name. > [](https://twitter.com/RzstProgramming/status/1270421280009998338) > [](https://twitter.com/seangentille/status/1270440026132951040) > [](https://twitter.com/notsoevilrick/status/1270621078902063104) > [](https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1270433829078130689) > [](https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/1270423924656844800) > [](https://twitter.com/CrimBradley777/status/1270420362803712002) > [](https://twitter.com/EdMasley/status/1270498688079548416) > [](https://twitter.com/%5Ftroyjohnson/status/1270521103014756353) > [](https://twitter.com/JordanETID/status/1270578940340404225) When reached for comment—and to confirm he was not a bot, but a real person—Castaneda [told the _Detroit Metro Times_](https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2020/06/10/michigan-man-goes-viral-after-telling-rage-against-the-machines-tom-morello-he-used-to-be-a-fan-until-he-realized-the-band-was-political), that while he knew the band was political, he was “tired” of hearing “political stuff” from musicians and feels that “it’s getting worse and worse and worse,” which lead him to tweet his dismay. While Castaneda told the outlet that he “rarely” went on Twitter, he now appears to have deleted his account entirely and may have missed some of the 10,500 replies his tweet garnered. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/"},"headline":"Tom Morello Weighing in on a Fan's Reaction Prompts Endless Rage Against the Machine Memes","datePublished":"2020-06-11T16:06:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:28.987Z","description":"The band's guitarist Tom Morello reminded fans that they have always been political and always will be","url":"https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Brief","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ae43e7c9ee5eccb/698a0f37656a3f5d91bda366/Rage-Against-The-Machine-Meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ae43e7c9ee5eccb/698a0f37656a3f5d91bda366/Rage-Against-The-Machine-Meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rage Against the Machine memes erupt on Twitter","caption":"Tom Morello plays in Rage Against the Machine","creditText":"Michael Tullberg —Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5851267/rage-against-the-machine-memes/","name":"Tom Morello Weighing in on a Fan's Reaction Prompts Endless Rage Against the Machine Memes"}}]}] ```