Poverty is not an accident of, sort of, an economic spreadsheet. Poverty is a crime. There are criminals involved. And those criminals walk the streets as free men. What my music is about, and what - this from the riots in the streets of Greece and Spain to the people's uprisings in Egypt and Libya and Madison is about is holding those people accountable, those who are responsible for subverting the entire global economy and causing so much misery and then laughing about it with their, you know, clinking their champagne glasses on their yachts.
Tom MorelloThere are literally billions of people on the planet who live in an unimaginable poverty that's not in any way different from the plight of the people in Orchid. And you can't have the splendor of Rodeo Drive without the sweatshops of Indonesia; those two things go hand in hand.
Tom MorelloCharles Manson loved the Beatles but didnโt understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesnโt understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.
Tom MorelloWhat draws people to the instrument is the love for guitar players that play a certain way. I mean, even though it wasn't intentional, it was hard to avoid copying Eddie Van Halen. He was basically the *bleep* back then.
Tom MorelloIf you want to change the world right now, itโs not so much a secret how you do it. You put the secrets of a criminal government on the Internet.
Tom Morello