"Testify" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

. It is the opening track from their third album ''

The Battle of Los Angeles The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which ...

'' (1999), and was released as the third single from the album. The cover of the single was taken from the

1968 Olympics Black Power Salute During their medal ceremony in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each Raised fist, raised a black-gloved fist during the playing ...

. The song's lyrics notably make reference to

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's novel now turned movie ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

'' through use of "The Party" slogan "Who controls the past (now), controls the future. Who controls the present (now), controls the past."

Live performances

A song titled "Testify" was performed at the

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

Almost Acoustic X-Mas, 12.12.1993. The song is completely unrelated to the ''Battle of Los Angeles'' track except for the title. Although the song was played only this once and disappeared, some of the lyrics were used for "Down Rodeo" and the final version of "People of the Sun". "Testify" made its live debut under the working title "Hendrix" on January 23, 1999, at a surprise club show at the Troubador in West Hollywood, CA. While the instrumental part was identical to the final version, the lyrics were completely different. Rage Against the Machine opened most of the concerts in its reunion tour with "Testify".

Guitar and bass

The song, like many Rage Against the Machine songs, is notable for Tom Morello's unorthodox use of his guitar to create unusual sounds, as well as his use of drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E) tuning. Morello plays the sweeping sound in the song's intro and verse using a mixture of effects and techniques. First, he sets a

DigiTech Whammy The DigiTech Whammy is a pitch shifter pedal manufactured by DigiTech. It raises or lowers the pitch of an audio signal by up to two octaves, controlled with a treadle. The first model, released in 1989, was the first mass-market digital pitc ...

pedal to harmonize a minor 7th above the note being played, and the delay pedal is set to a short, slap-back setting that almost sounds like

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

. Morello creates the sound by simply picking the open low D string and using his

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The peda ...

to slowly shift back & forth between the bass and treble frequencies. For the song's solo, Morello removes the lead from the jack of his guitar and taps it against the bridge, while manipulating his Whammy and wah pedals, creating a squealing noise; Morello sometimes uses this technique to improvise on songs live. During more recent live performances of the song, Morello sometimes claps the lead in his hands while manipulating his pedals for the solo. The bass in the song is also tuned to drop D, and Commerford plays the verse by simply sliding on the lower D string from the 12th fret to open string then back to the 12th fret.

Music video

The music video, directed by

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

, features a group of aliens, with the title card "Aliens plot to conquer Earth!" followed by "Launch the mutant now!", after which a number of clips showing the two presidential candidates at the time (

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

for the 2000 US Presidential Election) stating the same policies and views on important issues, and the movie aims to highlight the lack of choice in the US electoral system. This is spoofed in the video as the images of Bush and Gore are morphed together, thereby creating a "mutant" that "appears as two but speaks as one." Other key themes in the video focus on America's reliance on

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, with several clips of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, and lines at gas pumps accompanied by the lines "Mass graves for the pump and the price is set." Other clips display modern

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

and the military industrial complex, juxtaposed against images of

third world The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

nations. Other organizations, topics, and individuals displayed in the video include:

Exxon Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...

, George W. Bush's reaction to same sex relationships,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who as Special prosecutor, independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an i ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, General Norman Schwarzkopf, the Christian Coalition, monster truck rallies, the

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party's (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House o ...

, and the corporate donations that each candidate has received. The similarities between the two candidates are displayed through sound bites of their speeches. Among the topics that George W. Bush and Al Gore agree on, as shown in the video: support of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, prosperity through

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, investing in the future, support of

clean air Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

, and a ban on soft money. Each candidate concludes by stating "

God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run-up to World War II in 1938. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song. "Go ...

." The video ends with a quote from

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

: "If you're not turned on to politics, politics will turn on you." 3:23 of 3:43

Track listing

#"Testify" (Album Version) - 3:31 #"Testify" (Testifly Mix) - 3:50 #"Testify" (Rowena Projects Mix) - 4:23 #" Guerrilla Radio" (Live) - 3:35 #"

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

" (Live) - 8:39

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Testify (Rage Against the Machine Song) 1998 songs 2000 singles Rage Against the Machine songs Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Music videos directed by Michael Moore Songs written by Tom Morello Songs written by Brad Wilk Songs written by Tim Commerford Songs written by Zack de la Rocha