People of the Sun

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "People of the Sun" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"People of the Sun"
Single by Rage Against the Machine
from the album Evil Empire
Released	August 22, 1996
Genre	Rap metal
Length	2:30
Songwriter(s)	Tim Commerford, Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk
Producer(s)	Brendan O'Brien, Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine singles chronology
"Bulls on Parade" (1996) "People of the Sun" (1996) "Down Rodeo" (1996)

"People of the Sun" is the second single by American rock band Rage Against the Machine for their 1996 album Evil Empire. Written in 1992, the song is about the Zapatista revolution. Lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha wrote the song after a visit to Chiapas in southern Mexico. "People of the Sun" also has a music video. It was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy in 1998, but it lost to The Smashing Pumpkins' "The End Is the Beginning Is the End".

The song has a wide variety of references, most notably the destruction of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish (see the article Five suns) and the Zoot Suit Riots of Los Angeles in 1943. De La Rocha also refers to the last Aztecan Emperor Cuauhtémoc, who was tortured and eventually executed by the Spaniards.

The single artwork of the corn, sickle and ammunition belt is a 1927 photograph taken by Italian photographer Tina Modotti in Mexico.^[1]

The final version of the song made its live debut on May 9, 1996, in Paris, France.