Bombtrack

{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}

{{use mdy dates|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Bombtrack

| cover = Bombtrack2.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Rage Against the Machine

| album = Rage Against the Machine

| released = {{start date|1993|8|23}}{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=31|date=21 August 1993}}

| recorded = 1992

| studio = Sound City (Van Nuys, California)

| genre =

| length = 4:02

| label = Epic

| writer =

| producer =

| prev_title = Bullet in the Head

| prev_year = 1993

| next_title = Freedom

| next_year = 1994

}}

"Bombtrack" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It is the band’s third single and the opening track on their self-titled debut album.

Like most of Rage Against the Machine's songs, the song's lyrics discuss social inequality, proclaiming that "landlords and power whores" were going to "burn".

The riffs were composed by Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford. The song is one of three on the album in the key of F{{music|#}} along with "Know Your Enemy" and "Fistful of Steel".

Cover

The single artwork features Cuban photographer Alberto Korda's famous image of Che Guevara, Guerrillero Heroico. A mirrored version of the iconic two-tone portrait by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick (T-shirt version).

Music video

A music video was released, depicting support for the Peruvian Maoist organization Sendero Luminoso and its leader Abimael Guzman.{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2006 |title=Lista de Personas y Grupos Terroristas |url=http://www.guardiacivil.org/terrorismo/grupos/lista.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060213122701/http://www.guardiacivil.org/terrorismo/grupos/lista.jsp |archive-date=February 13, 2006 |accessdate=April 22, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Antonio |first=Zoila |date=2022-01-07 |title=Disputed reality: 'Bombtrack' and Peru's internal armed conflict |url=https://globalvoices.org/2022/01/07/disputed-reality-bombtrack-and-perus-internal-armed-conflict/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=Global Voices |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=April 20, 2023 |title="Bombtrack" de Rage Against The Machine: La distorsión de la realidad de Sendero Luminoso y sus consecuencias en el Perú |url=https://cuarteldelmetal.com/noticias/2023/04/bombtrack-de-rage-against-the-machine-la-distorsion-de-la-realidad-de-sendero-luminoso-y-sus-consecuencias-en-el-peru/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=El Cuartel del Metal}}{{Cite book |last=Stenning |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSa3DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22rage+against+the+machine%22+bombtrack+peru&pg=PA102 |title=Rage Against The Machine - Stage Fighters |date=2008-09-04 |publisher=Bonnier Zaffre |isbn=978-1-78418-967-9 |pages=102–103 |language=en}}

In the video, the group played inside a cage, mimicking Guzman being shown to journalists inside a cage after his capture by the Peruvian military. The initial sequence of the video feature the sentence "For 13 years the people of Peru have waged revolutionary war against their oppressive U.S.-backed government. Their movement is known as the Sendero luminoso or Shining Path."{{Cite web |last=Walch |first=Louis |date=2013-02-26 |title=Jesús Cossio's "Barbarism": The Graphic Novel as Testimony |url=https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2013-02/jesus-cossios-barbarism-the-graphic-novel-as-testimony/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=Words Without Borders |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rage-against-the-machine-rage-against-the-machine/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}

The group mentioned Shining Path again in the lyrics of "Without a Face."{{Cite book |last=McIver |first=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIz4AgAAQBAJ&dq=%22rage+against+the+machine%22+bombtrack+peru&pg=PT126 |title=Know Your Enemy: The Story of Rage Against the Machine |date=2014-03-17 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78323-034-1 |language=en}}

The video clip did not appear on the group's first home video, citing Rage's first altered political opinion.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} In 2003, the video finally appeared as bonus material on their Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD.

Track listing

CD

  1. "Bombtrack"
  2. "Bombtrack [Evening Session version]"
  3. "Bombtrack [live version]"

7"

  1. "Bombtrack" – 4:03
  2. "Bombtrack" (live) – 6:00

=Special Pinkpop edition=

On May 23, 1994, a special edition of the "Bombtrack" CD single was released in the Netherlands for the Pinkpop Music Festival's 25th birthday. This version contains an alternative track listing.

  1. "Bombtrack"
  2. "Freedom" (live)
  3. "Settle for Nothing" (live)
  4. "Bombtrack" [Evening Session version]
  5. "Bullet in the Head" [remix]
  6. "Take the Power Back" (live)
  7. "Darkness of Greed"
  8. "Bullet in the Head" (live)
  9. "Bombtrack" (live)

Tracks three and eight recorded live at Melkweg in Amsterdam, February 7, 1993. Track six recorded live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, April 11, 1993. Track nine recorded live in Minneapolis, United States, April 5, 1993. Track five remix by Sir Jinx.

The Evening Session version of "Bombtrack" is a completely reworked, slower "swing" version of the song with altered lyrics, which later appeared on Evil Empire{{'}}s "Without a Face".

References

{{Reflist}}