Sleep Now in the Fire

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“Sleep Now in the Fire”
“Sleep Now in the Fire” cover
Single by Rage Against the Machine
from the album The Battle of Los Angeles
Released 2000
Format CD
Recorded 1998
Genre Alternative metal
Rap rock
Length 03:25
Label Epic Records
Producer Brendan O'Brien
Rage Against the Machine singles chronology
Guerrilla Radio
(1999)		 Sleep Now in the Fire
(2000)		 Testify
(2000)

"Sleep Now in the Fire" is the fifth track from the 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles by the band Rage Against the Machine. It was released as a single in 2000. The song contains lyrics about greed, such as the conquest of Native Americans and U.S. slavery in the 1800s as well as criticism of actions taken by the US government in wartime, including the bombing of Hiroshima and the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.

Tom's solo is also notable as he simply uses feedback from the amp, along with using his whammy bar to adjust the pitch of the feedback. By flicking his toggle switch on and off, he is able to create the high-pitched solo. At the end of the song, there is some sound from a Korean radio station that guitarist Tom Morello picked up on his amp.

Contents

[edit] Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Michael Moore and featured the band playing in front of the New York Stock Exchange, along with scenes from a mockery of the popular television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which is satirically named "Who Wants to Be Filthy F#&%ing Rich". During the filming of the video, Moore was detained by police for an hour, and the NYSE closed its doors during mid-day trading because of the crowds that gathered to watch the filming. Quoted at the end of the song is Republican politician Gary Bauer stating that, "a band called 'The Machine Rages On' - er - 'Rage Against the Machine', that band is anti-family and it's pro-terrorist," following an incident outside of fellow Republican Alan Keyes' 2000 primary campaign town hall event, where Keyes jumped into a mosh pit that was playing the music of Rage Against the Machine.[1] Actor Garrett Wang is briefly seen in the video enjoying the music.

On January 26, 2000, filming shut down the New York Stock Exchange, although this was not recorded as a closure.[2] The Stock Exchange locked its doors midday in response to fears of crowds gathering to watch the filming.[3] "We decided to shoot this video in the belly of the beast", said Moore, who was threatened with arrest during the shooting of the video, despite the band having a federal permit to perform.

The video was nominated at the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rock Video but lost to Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff", causing the infamous incident where bassist Tim Commerford climbed a large piece of the award show set in protest of losing to Limp Bizkit.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Sleep Now in the Fire (EP) (Import)

  1. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
  2. "Guerrilla Radio [Live Version]"
  3. "Sleep Now in the Fire [Live Version]"
  4. "Bulls on Parade [Live Version]"
  5. "Freedom [Live Version]"

[edit] Sleep Now in the Fire (Single) (Import)

  1. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
  2. "Bulls on Parade [Live Version]"
  3. "Freedom [Live Version]"
  4. "Sleep Now in the Fire [Live Version]"

[edit] Sleep Now in the Fire, Pt 1 (Single) (Import)

  1. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
  2. "Bulls on Parade [Live Version]"
  3. "Sleep Now in the Fire [Live Version]"

OR

  1. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
  2. "Guerrilla Radio [Live Version]"
  3. "Bulls on Parade [Live Version]"
  4. "Freedom [Live Version]"
  5. "Sleep Now in the Fire [Live Version]"

[edit] Sleep Now in the Fire, Pt 2 (Single) (Import)

  1. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
  2. "Guerrilla Radio [Live Version]"
  3. "Freedom [Live Version]"
  4. "Sleep Now in the Fire [Video]"

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fun_People Archive - 28 Jan - How They Got Alan Keyes to Dive Into Their Mosh Pit
  2. ^ "New York Stock Exchange Special Closings, 1885-date. NYSE Group. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
  3. ^ Basham, David (January 28, 2000). Rage Against The Machine Shoots New Video With Michael Moore. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
v • d • e
Rage Against the Machine
Tim Commerford · Zack de la Rocha · Tom Morello · Brad Wilk
Demo
Studio albums
Live releases
Singles
1993: "Killing in the Name" · "Bombtrack" · "Bullet in the Head"  · 1994: "Freedom" · "Year of tha Boomerang"  · 1996: "Bulls on Parade" · "People of the Sun" · "Down Rodeo" · "Tire Me"  · 1997: "Vietnow"  · 1998: "The Ghost of Tom Joad" · "No Shelter"  · 1999: "Guerrilla Radio"  · 2000: "Sleep Now in the Fire" · "Testify" · "Calm Like a Bomb"  · 2001: "Renegades of Funk" · "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
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