Tom Morello has never been quiet and with the US government ramping up its ICE raids, he’s turning the volume up. The Rage Against The Machine guitarist has unleashed a new protest anthem, ‘Pretend You Remember Me’. Created in collaboration with CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles). It’s as gutting as it is defiant!
Pulling from the acoustic fury of his Nightwatchman days, Morello handles both vocals and guitar on the track. Dropping a searing solo that cuts as hard as the lyrics, the song gives voice to those silenced and disappeared in LA’s recent immigration crackdowns. With Morello describing it as a direct response to “state terror” and the trauma of watching families get torn apart in real time.
The track arrives with a confronting video featuring Leonard Peltier, the long imprisoned Native American activist who had his sentence commuted by President Biden just before leaving office. Peltier opens the clip with a stark reminder: “No human being is illegal.” Faces of those directly impacted by ICE raids flash across the screen, its as powerful as it is humanising. Shining a spotlight on a crisis that often gets buried under bureaucracy and political soundbites.
Watch The Clip For ‘Pretend You Remember Me’ Below:
In an interview with Billboard Morello stated “This song is written for all the families torn apart by the recent immigrant purges and kidnappings,”. “People coming home to find their loved ones abducted by the state… ‘Pretend You Remember Me’ is for them.”
The track follows last year’s ‘Soldier in the Army of Love’, which featured his son Roman, and will appear on Morello’s upcoming solo album. The new album is due in 2026 via Mom+Pop. One things for sure, it’s a gut punch of a protest anthem. We’re talking Raw, timely and unmistakably Morello. Turn it up, let it burn and don’t look away!
MORE IN Music
