<Tr> <Th> Producer (s) </Th> <Td> Garth' GGGarth' Richardson, Rage Against the Machine </Td> </Tr> <P> "Wake Up" is a song by American rap metal band Rage Against the Machine . It is the seventh track from their self - titled debut album . While never released as a single, it remains a staple of their live shows and is usually played as the last song before the encore . It appeared in the feature film The Matrix, which increased the song's exposure . </P> <P> The lyrics discuss racism within the American government and the counter-intelligence programs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); a spoken portion of the song is taken from an actual FBI memo in which its director J. Edgar Hoover suggests targets for the suppression of the black nationalist movement . The song also makes references to prominent African - American figures targeted by the government such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and goes as far as saying that the government arranged their assassinations . </P> <P> The closing lines to the song are: </P>

Rage against the machine wake up lyrics meaning