Guerrilla Radio

The lead single from The Battle of Los Angeles that became the band's only Hot 100 entry and a Grammy winner.

"Guerrilla Radio" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It was released as the lead single from their third studio album, The Battle of Los Angeles (1999). It became the band's only song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 69. The band won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for this song. The song is one of 31 music files in the Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum case, which resulted in finding the individual file-sharer liable for copyright infringement in July 2009, demanding an award of $22,500 a song.

Quick Facts

Artist: Rage Against the Machine
Album: The Battle of Los Angeles
Released: 1999
Recorded: 1998
Genre: Rap metal; funk metal
Length: 3:26
Label: Epic
Lyricist: Zack de la Rocha

Lore & Background

The music video for "Guerrilla Radio" was shot by production company Squeak Pictures and directed by Honey, i.e., the husband-and-wife directorial team of Laura Kelly and Nicholas Brooks. The video opens with people sitting and working at individual sewing stations on top of platforms in an all white room as the jazz song "Broken in Two" plays. After a moment, a scratching record interrupts the music and the phrase "everybody in denial" flashes on screen. Rage Against the Machine replaces the workers in the room, calmly playing their instruments. As the music video progresses, the band plays their music with more typical physicality and excited energy. During the bridge, the figure of a well-dressed man oversees the workers. The camera zooms in on the face of his wrist watch where the numbers crossfade into a top-down view of the workers at their stations and a little girl standing in the center. The camera tilts down to the girl where she is then grabbed and dragged away by the man. Interspersed in the music video is the story of a young couple spending the day together. In the first main scene, they visit a clothing store where the woman tries on various outfits. After deciding on a sporty outfit, the woman pays with a credit card and then she morphs into a plastic-y, mannequin-like figure. Later in another scene (now both having morphed), the couple plays racquetball. They have a difficult time controlling their movements, inadvertently bumping into each other. As their match progresses, the woman knocks the man's head off and then her body completely shatters as it collapses. The music video, which touches upon several political issues, including the exploitation of garment workers, parodies the popular late '90s Gap commercials directed by Pedro Romhanyi. These ads featured attractive young people wearing Gap clothing singing songs against a white backdrop. The phrase "everybody in denial" is a play on "everybody in khaki", which was a Gap TV ad campaign at the time.

Reader's Guide

The track listing for the US CD single includes "Guerrilla Radio" and "Without a Face (Live Version)". The UK limited edition maxi single, part one includes "Guerrilla Radio", "No Shelter", and "The Ghost of Tom Joad". The UK limited edition maxi single, part two includes "Guerrilla Radio" (Radio Edit), "Fuck tha Police" (Live) (N.W.A cover), and "Freedom" (Live).

Did You Know?

The music video parodies late '90s Gap commercials, with the phrase "everybody in denial" playing on Gap's "everybody in khaki" campaign.
The song was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, and the first season of Netflix's Devil May Cry.