What does Born of a Broken Man mean?

Rage Against the Machine: Born of a Broken Man Meaning

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Album cover for Born of a Broken Man album cover

Born of a Broken Man Lyrics

My fears hunt me down
Capturing my memories
The frontier of loss
They try to escape across the street where
Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
In the name of my
In the name of my

Born of a broken...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    Warren
    click a star to vote
    Nov 16th 2006 !⃝

    Zach de la Rocha's father was an artist, until he converted to Christianity amidst a Christian community. His art was his way of expressing himself, and it was taken away from him.. The community forbid him to create artwork because they were considered "idols."

    Stripped of his one passion in life, Zach's father had a mental breakdown. You can understand what that's like from Zach's perspective, if someone tried to take away his music - which is HIS form of expression. Christianity is also at odds with RATM's politics, which is completely secular and hard-left socialist - which is incompatible with religion.

    "They try to escape across the street where
    Jesus stripped bare
    And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
    In the name of my"

    The community destroyed Zach's father's life by taking away his artwork (in the name of God) when they should have been encouraging and accepting.

    "Like autumn leaves
    His sense fell from him
    An empty glass of himself
    Shattered somewhere within
    His thoughts like a hundred moths
    Trapped in a lampshade
    Somewhere within
    Their wings banging and burning
    On through endless nights
    Forever awake he lies shaking and starving
    Praying for someone to turn off the light"

    All about his father here, telling the story of his mental breakdown.

    "Born of a broken man
    Never a broken man
    Born of a broken man
    But not a broken man"

    Possibly speaking about himself, that Zach was born of a broken man (his father), but Zach himself hasn't been broken, and never will be.

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 9th 2022 !⃝

    I highly doubt it has anything to do with Israel and Palestine. It's obvious that the whole song is about his father and his resentment
    towards Jesus and Christianity; effectively throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 1st 2022 !⃝

    they try to escape the streets where jesus stripped bare,
    and raped the spirit he was suppose to nurture.

    Pretty sure this is about palestine and israel.


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