Bulls on Parade

"Bulls on Parade" deals with the U.S. military and its aggressive tactics. It mentions how the arms industry encourages war to obtain military contracts with lines such as, "Weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes, not need, just feed the war cannibal-animal," and "What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and moving."^[6]

The song is widely known for its popular guitar solo containing a vinyl scratch effect used by Tom Morello, done by toggling between two pickups, one on full volume and the other off (so the pickup selector switch works like a killswitch), while rubbing his fretting hand on the strings over the pickups while flipping the pickup selector switch to create an effect akin to someone scratching a vinyl record. Morello has stated that the sound he was going for was a "sort of 'Geto Boys' sound, menacing"^[7] with E♭ tuning in both guitar and bass, and a wah-wah pedal fully in the treble position.

"Bulls on Parade" made its live debut on January 25, 1996, at the Big Day Out festival in Sydney, Australia.

The track made its international debut on Saturday Night Live on April 13, 1996. The band was going to play another song, but were not invited back after hanging American flags upside down from their amplifiers.^[8][9] Steve Forbes was guest hosting that night.^[10]

At shows in the Aughts, like the Reading Festival in 2008, Rage Against the Machine dedicated the song to George Bush and Tony Blair for their role in the war on terror.^[11]

The video for "Bulls on Parade", directed by Peter Christopherson and produced by Fiz Oliver at Squeak Pictures, premiered on MTV's 120 Minutes on April 14, 1996. On July 31, 1996, it was nominated for Best Hard Rock Video in the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

The video contains footage from the Sydney Big Day Out on January 25, 1996 and their side show at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney two days later. Throughout the video shots of young people protesting in the streets with political signs, military drills, flags, and other similar images are montaged together. An antique-style film is used which promotes scratches, dust and film grain. Several scenes show people wrapping Evil Empire banners on walls, telephone posts and posting up other propaganda posters designed by Barbara Kruger. There is a scene where a character wearing a black "Libertyville" jacket with a baseball cap is painted by the renowned Phantom Street Artist Joey Krebs who paints his iconoclastic figures on city walls. This is the actual portrait created by the street artist of Tom Morello. Various lyrics are flashed on top of these scenes in a scrawled sort of chicken-scratch throughout.

• "Bulls on Parade" features in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock where it is unlocked after defeating Tom Morello in a guitar battle. The song also appeared as a playable track in Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band in its Metal Track Pack.
• It is the theme song for the defense of the NFL's Houston Texans, and is played in the stadium at home games to invigorate the crowd and players before games. The song is also played every time the defense stops their opponent on third down, along with every fourth down stop resulting in a turnover on downs. The song has been officially endorsed by former Texans LB Connor Barwin.^[15]
• For Australian radio station Triple J's Like a Version, American rapper Denzel Curry covered "Bulls on Parade"^[16] with Harts on guitar.^[17]
• The Prodigy sampled the song in their 1997 single "Smack My Bitch Up."
• The New York Red Bulls use the song for the team's goal song.
• Professional wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin referenced "Bulls on Parade" as inspiration for his entrance theme which he had pitched to former WWE music producer Jim Johnston after changing his in-ring gimmick which would elevate his career.

1. Bulls on Parade
2. Hadda Be Playing on the Jukebox (Live)