​Who is Tom Morello?

By Noah Silpe
 
As a musician, I am always influenced by different people.  From singers, drummers, keyboard players, to guitarists and producers.  Lots of musicians write books, write songs, and celebrate their fame.  Few are on the picket lines everyday protesting with people who don't have as much.  Tom Morello is an influence for many.  His guitar playing is amazing and technical.  His views on politics are nothing to mess with and his guitars tell stories.  One of my favorite quotes by Tom is, “I didn't trust teachers.  I didn't trust politicians.  I didn’t trust people on the evening news.  I trusted music.”  Here is a little about my hero.  
 
Tom Morello is a guitarist, author, protester, and songwriter.  He is a founding member of the Rage Against the Machine, Prophets of Rage, Audioslave and is the Nightwatchmen.  He is a political activist and is insanely talented.  Born on May 30th, 1964, Tom grew up in Libertyville, Illinois.  He was the only black kid in an all-white town.  He recalls coming home from school one day and a noose was hung in his garage.  At that point in his life, he knew he wanted to make a change.  Tom was heavily inspired by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Toni Iomie of Black Sabbath.  Led Zeppelin started heavier songs and Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, which Tom is most known for, being the DJ of Rage Against the Machine.  Rage’s music is heavy with political rap melodies over heavy and driving music.  Also being heavily influenced by the Hip-Hop scene, Tom decided to use his guitar like a turntable, learning how to scratch.  This is heard heavily on Rage songs such as Bulls on parade, Killing in the name of, and People of the sun.  
 
Rage’s music is heavily political.  From comparing the modern-day police force to the KKK, to talking about how the US government, media, and corporations can convince Americans they have their "freedom" while secretly blinding them to any other reality.  Tom graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s in political science, heavily influencing Rage’s lyrics.  He was the only heavy metal musician at Harvard University.  He remembers sitting in his dorm room, looking at a poster of Randy Rhodes and practicing guitar for 8 hours a day.  This proved to be worth it because Rage has sold over 16 million albums worldwide and as of 2023, they are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In Rage fashion, Tom was seen at the event holding a sign that read “cease fire,” talking about the war in Gaza happening right now.
 
On July 25th, 2022, Rage played a show in Buffalo New York.  I was very fortunate to go to the show.  This was the band's first tour in 11 years and lots of things happened in the world.  The main message of the show was “Abort the Supreme Court.”  The whole night was filled with amazing music and heavy political messages.