This voice shatters the calm of the day like an alarm,
So wake up bright anew and take up arms,
'Cause more is necessary than vocabulary war,
'Cause the toxic rock (crack) import's hitting on your door.
CIA, I'll see you later 'cause your time is coming soon.
I flip this shit like Pacino and it's your dog day afternoon.
Attica, Attica, drug agents you bring your static-a.
My alphabet will slash and then can flip you automatic-a,
Dramatic like Ali-Shaheed Mohammed* brought the vibes.
I bring the sun at red dawn upon the thoughts of Franz Fanon.
So stand at attention devil ???,
You'll never survive choosing sides against the Wretched of the Earth (Fanon's book).
The infiltrator,
??? intoxicator,
People incarcerator,
Liberation movement annihilator.
We got you clocked pushing rocks and it fell.
We got brothers trooping subways like the Ho Chi Minh trail.
We got the truth addict, Last Emperor, KRS and history manifested.
Tomorrow tha next lesson.

You claim I'm selling' crack but you be doing' that.
You know the cops, they got a network for the toxic rock.
You claim I'm selling' crack but you be doing' that .
So get that flashlight outta my face.
You claim I'm selling' crack but you be doing' that.
The Last Emperor, KRS-One & Big Zack.

As free-market capitalism and technology expands,
The third world's fertile soil becomes a desert wasteland.
So it takes ??? to demand the government provide answers,
When Lady Liberty has me bewitched like Samantha,
And poverty is one of the most malignant forms of cancer.
To all my black magik romancers and acid rain dancers,
Develop close ties like Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza.
We fear no man and throw jams that attack counter-intelligence programs.
Exciting like the epic adventures of Conan,
I colonize minds like Zaire by the Belgians.
Now what hell is the problem with this system and what it sells us?
I bring ancient relics like Wyclef did to zealots.
I saw an iron curtain called hip-hop and got it open like Boris Yeltsen.
Whirlwind tornadoes in the rain forest if you say so.
KRS and the Last Emperor war like the Green Hornet and Kato.
Zack de la Rocha brings the enraged flow.
But all three drop science and become the most powerful alliance since NATO.

Need I say the CIA be criminals in action,
Cocaine crack-unpacking, high surveillance-tracking.
Prominent blacks and whites giving orders for mass slaughters.
I want all my daughters to be like Maxine Waters.
When they flooded the streets with crack cocaine I was like Noah,
Now they ???? 'cause the whole Cold War is over.
Communism fell to the dollars you were grabbing.
All the assault and battering in the name of intelligence-gathering
Now it's karma you're battling--a losing fight.
I choose the mic to recite, ignite light in the night, aight.
We should beat em, President Clinton should delete 'em.
It's not hard, the CIA simply has no more job.
Oh my goddess, mother, you can fix this.
We rock over mixes, not 666s.
Yo, this is the message to all that can hear it.
If you got secret information now's the time to share it.
Call your congresswoman, your senator, your Mayor.
It's time for all the scholars to unite with all the playas.
Rearrange and see, times is definitely changing, G.
They used to tap the phone now they tapping while you paging me
It's crazy B. yet it's plain to see who's the enemy. Who's left?
The NRA, the ATF, the AMA? OK, OK, it's all irrelevant
'Cause in the new millennium there'll be no central intelligence.


Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death

C.I.A. (Criminals In Action) song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

7 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    this isn't ratm. this is zach de la rocha's solo stuff. this was a collaboration with krs-1 and the last emperor

    Lusyphuron June 04, 2002   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms. “Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.