One of the things that can be frustrating about being an artist is your inability to control the way your work is interpreted or enjoyed — as Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello is rediscovering this week, upon learning that Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan is a big fan of his band.
Morello expressed his consternation in a Rolling Stone editorial, pointing out that Rage’s outspoken support for progressive politics and left-wing ideals stands in direct opposition to Ryan’s stated policy goals — or, as he put it, “Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades.”

Mused Morello, “I wonder what Ryan’s favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of “F— the Police”? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!”

After suggesting that Ryan and Mitt Romney have been gripped with “unbridled rage against those who have the least,” Morello compared the would-be VP’s political efforts against others undertaken by fans of the band. “Many activists around the world, including organizers of the global occupy movement, were radicalized by Rage Against the Machine and work tirelessly for a more humane and just planet,” he pointed out. “Perhaps Paul Ryan was moshing when he should have been listening.”

-loudwire.com