Know Your Enemy | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: F#m (Conspirian Octave riff) :|| 84 BPM
Huh! Yeah! We’re coming back then with another bombtrack.
Think ya know what it’s all about. Huh!
Hey yo, so check this out. Yeah!
||: (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C5 B5 A5 |
| (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C#5 B5 A5 E5 :|| x3 (114 BPM)
Know your enemy! Come on!
Verse 1
||: F# Conspirian riff :||
Born with insight and a raised fist.
A witness to the slit wrist, that’s with.
We move into ’92, still in a room without a view.
Ya got to know, ya got to know.
That when I say go, go, go.
Amp up and amplify, defy.
I’m a brother with a furious mind.
Action must be taken.
We don’t need the key, we’ll break in.
Something must be done.
About vengeance, a badge, and a gun.
‘Cause I’ll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system,
I was born to rage against ’em.
Fist in ya face, in the place.
And I’ll drop the style clearly.
Chorus 1
||: (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C5 B5 A5 |
| (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C#5 B5 A5 E5 :|| x4
Know your enemy, know your enemy!
Yeah! Hey yo, and dick with this. Uggh!
Verse 2
Word is born, fight the war, fuck the norm.
Now I got no patience, so sick of complacence.
With the D the E the F the I the A the N the C the E.
Mind of a revolutionary, so clear the lane.
The finger to the land of the chains.
What? The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy?
Now, something must be done.
About vengeance, a badge, and a gun.
‘Cause I’ll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system,
I was born to rage against ’em.
Now action must be taken.
| F#(b5) N.C |
We don’t need the key, we’ll break in.
M8
||: F#5 (E) | F#5 F# | F#5 (E) | F#5 C5 B5 F5 :||
I’ve got no patience now.
So sick of complacence now.
I’ve got no patience now.
So sick of complacence now.
Sick of sick of sick of sick of you.
Time has come to pay,
Solo
||: (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C5 B5 A5 |
| (E) F#5 A5 F#5 (E) F#5 | (E) F#5 C#5 B5 A5 E5 :||
know your enemy! (solo)
Chorus 2
||: F# Conspirian riff :||
Come on! Yes, I know my enemies, they’re the teachers who taught me to fight me.
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission. Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite.
||: All of which are American dreams :|| x4
Outro
||: N.C :||
||: All of which are American dreams :|| x4
Know Your Enemy Chords: Learn the progressions
Intro
Using a kill switch, the intro is based on the F# minor pentatonic scale, with the major 7th acting as a chromatic approach note once. You need to play this above fret 12 with a Digitech Whammy or engaged.
Chorus (+ Intro)
The chorus riff which first appears without vocals during the intro) can actually be described as power chords (5 chords), moving rapidly like this:
(E) F#5 – A5 – F#5 (E) F#5
These notes all come from the F# minor pentatonic scale but expanded into power chords.
Next, we move like this:
(E) – F#5 – C5 – B5 – A5
Here, the C functions as the b5, introducing a minor blues flavour rather than sticking strictly to the minor pentatonic.
The first riff is then repeated before shifting to:
(E) F#5 – C#5 – B5 – A5 – E5
Verse
The verse is based on the F# Conspirian scale, which is essentially a minor pentatonic with the b5 and major 7th added.
Middle 8 (M8)
Maximum tension is created by stepping outside the F# minor pentatonic.
- First, the 3rd and b7 are introduced as part of a chord fragment.
- Then, we shift to C5 – B5 – F5, again hinting at the Conspirian scale but using power chords.
Here’s a chord chart – I can’t believe I managed to pull this off!
Know Your Enemy Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Download my chord chart to help keep track of the structure—since the riffs need to be memorised and ingrained into your muscle memory to play this well with a band.
The Kill Switch Technique on a Gibson Les Paul: How Know Your Enemy Became a RATM Classic
Know Your Enemy is a standout track from Rage Against The Machine’s debut album. Though never released as a single, it remains one of the band’s most recognisable songs.
Lyrically, the song critiques the American government, using the phrase “American Dream” to highlight how its message has been distorted, turning the system into the real enemy.
The intro features the kill switch technique, achieved by setting one pickup’s volume to zero while the other remains on, then rapidly toggling between them to create a rhythmic stutter effect.
The video lesson above demonstrates the riffs from the original recording. Memorise them and follow the lyrics to navigate the arrangement.
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