
First part is the band playing in front of Federal Hall and additional information regarding their “show” in that venue. In general, “Sleep Now in the Fire” clip consist of four parts. Just like how Rolling Stone describes them, “Sleep Now in the Fire” video clip is filled with anti-capitalism messages that I will breakdown in this essay. “Sleep Now In The Fire” was filmed in front of Federal Hall in Downtown Manhattan on January 26th, 2000 (Basham, 2000). “Sleep Now In The Fire” is the fifth track from their 1999 album The Battle of Los Angles. Rolling Stone writes in 1999, “The mightiest band in rock and roll is ready to take on racism, economic injustice and political oppression” (Fricke, 1999). They are Zack de la Rocha (vocalist), Tom Morello (guitarist), Tim Commerford (bassist), and Brad Wilk (drummer). Rage Against the Machine (RATM) is an American band.

I am no way near my brother’s knowledge and comprehension about rock and RATM (or anyone else in that matter), yet when I was looking for an object to be analyzed for this essay, I listened to their song frequently. That was when I am rediscovering “Sleep Now In The Fire.” This time, I listen to the song not as a daughter of an Indonesian middle-class family that lives comfortably, but as a struggling working mother from a working-class family in the United States. The 22-year-old dishwasher listened mostly to System of Down. I often stop for a bit to sing along with him. My coworker, the dishwasher, usually plays rock song in the dish room while he is working. Among a lot of other rock music that my brother was listening to, I like this song the best.Īs I am entering my adult life, working as a minimum wage employee to a company that belongs to the richest man in the world, making me feel that I can relate more to the song. I overheard “Sleep Now In The Fire,” hundreds of time that I was becoming familiar with the song. Listening to RATM inside the comfort of my father’s car, I never really understand the meaning of their lyric. By that time, my brother usually played their song when he was picking me up from school. The first time I listened to Rage Against the Machine (RATM) was around early 2000.



