Year of tha Boomerang

Infobox Single | Name = Year Of The Boomerang


Artist = Rage Against the Machine
from Album = Higher Learning Soundtrack & Evil Empire
Released = 1994
Format = CD
Genre = Rapcore
Length = 4 min 1 second
Producer = Brendan O'Brien, Rage Against the Machine
Last single = "Freedom"
(1994)
This single = "Year Of The Boomerang"
(1994)
Next single = "Bulls on Parade"
(1996) |

"Year of tha Boomerang" is a song by the American political rapcore musical group Rage Against the Machine. It originally appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack of Higher Learning in 1994. On the back of the soundtrack, the song is called "Year of "the" Boomerang". Although the track was released as a promotional radio CD single, it was never given a domestic release.

"Tha" or "The"?

The track was re-recorded and included on their second album, "Evil Empire" in 1996. The spelling of the track was then altered to "Year of "tha" Boomerang". The spelling of "tha" in the title is a representation of the common hip-hop pronunciation of the definite article "the". The same spelling is used in the Evil Empire liner notes for nearly every instance of the word.

The "Higher Learning" and album versions are slightly different. While the original version has a more prominent bass and hip hop feel, the Evil Empire version's guitars are mixed significantly heavier.

Lyrical Themes and References

The lyrics appear to be about minority representation and equality, as they contain several references to struggles against racism, sexism, and colonialism. These include the lines;

"Tha sistas are in so check tha front line/It seems I spent the 80s in a Haiti state of mind"

As well as;

"It's dark now in Dachau and I'm screamin' from within/'Cause I'm still locked in tha doctrines of tha right/Enslaved by Dogma, ya talk about my birthright/Yet at every turn I'm runnin' into Hells gates/So I grip the cannon like Fanon and pass tha shells to my classmates"

The song also contains the anthemic reprise; "I got no property but yo I'm a piece of it/So let the guilty hang" - in reference to the persecution by those in power of the masses, or the repressed.

Credits

Written in the liner notes as "Guilty Parties":

*Vocals - Zach de la Rocha
*Bass - Tim Commerford
*Drums - Brad Wilk
*Guitars - Tom Morello

External links

* [http://www.ratm.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.axisofjustice.org/ Axis of Justice] Tom Morello and Serj Tankian's Activist Website "Axis Of Justice"
* [http://www.vietnow.org/ Vietnow.org] Rage Against The Machine news resource and forum
*