BONUS CONTENT: Tom Morello’s Favorite Songs of Rebellion and Liberation

A playlist from the archives.

A few weeks back I shared a 2021 interview I conducted with Tom Morello for AARP. The column I wrote that piece for no longer exists, which is a shame—it was a great one. Every artist interviewed for the column came to the interview with a playlist of songs they’d put together on a topic of their choosing. Tom’s playlist was, unsurprisingly, “Songs of Rebellion and Liberation”—an apt playlist for our current political landscape.

Because the piece was taken down long ago, my editor kindly gave me permission to republish it, so I’m sharing the playlist with you now along with Tom’s thoughts on each song on the list.

I hope you’ll give it a read and then listen to the tracks. Enjoy!

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SANDRA EBEJER: The title of your playlist is “Songs of Rebellion and Liberation.” And starting your playlist you have “Imagine” by John Lennon.

TOM MORELLO: One of the things these songs have in common is that they are songs that are couched in such tremendous craftsmanship and gorgeous melody that their underlying meaning sometimes escapes the listener. John Lennon’s “Imagine” would be top of that list. In the pantheon of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and perhaps Rage Against Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” it’s a song that people sometimes enjoy with having no idea that is a radical anarchist manifesto. And if you go line by line and lyric by lyric on that one, please DM me if you agree with all of that because then we’re in the same political party.