Why was every Rage Against the Machine song banned after 9/11?
Nothing brings people together quite like tragedy. It is often said that the nation of the USA was never as united as it was on September 11th, 2001. The horrific attack on the Twin Towers in New York, as well as the Pentagon in Virginia, saw the United States and the Western world as a whole brought together through mourning and widespread grief. Unfortunately, though, that feeling of solidarity was incredibly short-lived, with the September 11th attacks quickly weaponised by those in power to justify everything from an invasion of Iraq to the renaming of French fries to ‘freedom fries’.
Censorship is a deceptively common thing within society, especially in times of political turmoil. Curiously, though, when it comes to controversial global events, music and art seem to be the first things that suffer censorship. For instance, in the wake of the Gulf War in 1991, the BBC blacklisted a plethora of tracks, including some seemingly innocent songs like John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. As you might expect, therefore, countless artists and tracks were banned in the post-9/11 world, including every track ever recorded by Rage Against the Machine.
In the aftermath of the attacks, media companies had to be very careful about what was broadcast so as not to appear insensitive to the period of mourning. Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio station corporation in the country, circulated a list of tracks not to play on air after the attacks, including the entirety of Rage Against the Machine’s discography, as well as some other seemingly innocent songs like Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Dancing in the Street’.
On a surface level, it is easy to see why those in power might want to suppress the music of Rage Against the Machine. After all, Zach de la Rocha-fronted outfit continuously rallied against authority as well as the dangers of right-wing governments and fascism. A cynic might suggest, therefore, that the powers that be used the horrors of the September attacks to censor a band whom they had viewed as a threat for some time. On the other hand, it is easy to see that airing a song like ‘Killing in the Name’ after 9/11 would be pretty questionable.
Reportedly, Clear Channel chose to ban any and every song that might evoke connections to the tragedy. This included vague references to air travel, crashes, conflict, war, and New York City. Quickly, this grew to include any track that references the sky or violence, which engulfs a surprising number of works. Expectedly, stations were also discouraged from playing any tracks which were overly celebratory or euphoric, which might explain the banning of ‘Dancing in the Street’, though it does not particularly explain the targeting of Rage Against the Machine.
Sure, Rage were a confrontational, uncompromising punk-influenced group, but then they were not the only ones. For example, no songs by the likes of Dead Kennedys, Crass, or any other controversial left-wing punk bands featured on the banned list. So, for a band’s entire discography to be blacklisted reeks of targeted censorship. Adding to the confusion, the band had split up the year prior to the attacks, meaning that they weren’t particularly relevant for radio stations to play them anyway.
The likelihood is that Rage Against the Machine, through their political messaging against capitalism and corporations, had garnered a reputation as being largely anti-American. Events like Woodstock 1999 had also proved their ability to rile people up and give people slogans to hold on to – with rioting crowds at the festival chanting the lyrics “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” from ‘Killing in the Name’. Hence, radio stations likely thought that playing such a controversial and seemingly anti-American group would be seen as being in opposition to the feelings of solidarity and mourning that mainstream radio was trying to instil in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
