Heavy Song of the Week: Tom Morello and Serj Tankian Bring Political Fire With "Adjourn It"

Politics and art are presented as interdependent expressions of life, with politics emerging fluidly from everyday actions and governance. Art is framed as similarly inseparable, like biological components within a single organism. The single “Adjourn It” by Tom Morello featuring Roman Morello and Serj Tankian continues a tradition of explicit political engagement. The song’s themes connect immigrant persecution, resistance to fascism, Mexican-American miner strikes, and Hollywood blacklisting in the 1950s. The video reinforces these historical links and broader struggles. The music carries a classic Rage Against the Machine energy, with Tankian’s vocal delivery evoking Zack de la Rocha, a thrash metal bridge, and a closing guitar solo.

"You cannot separate politics from art. Part of this is from just the definition of what politics is: It's the interrelation of things to each other and to themselves and what we do about it, everything from how you split household tasks to how you prioritize your free time to how you govern a nation. Politics is not life itself, but it emerges so fluidly and perpetually from it that its better thought of as an organ to the organism rather than something entirely separate. Art is exactly the same. If life is a body, then politics is the liver and art is the flora and fauna of the intestines. They are interlinked and inextricable, eradicatible only at the cost of the life of the organism."

"Anyone familiar with the often quite explicit politics of either of the two will not be shocked by what is tackled here nor the ferocity with which its tackled, nor will they be particularly shocked at how the video ties in Mexican-American miner strikes and the Hollywood blacklisting in the the 1950s. It is not just the punk spirit but the rock spirit, touching all the way back to rock acts getting banned from white clubs for expectations of uniting people of all races under class consciousness. As Morello notes, the song is "inspired by the persecution of immigrants across the land and the heroic resistance to the rising tide of fascism.""

"But it's the music that makes us talk about these two, not just the politics. The vibe is classic Rage Against the Machine with Tankian giving off some Zack de la Rocha vibes on the chorus. There's a thrash metal bridge and the song closes with an absolutely monumental guitar solo fr"

Read at Consequence