Tom Morello Joins Fight to Save Farm in South Central L.A.

As reported in Random Notes in the new issue of Rolling Stone, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson and others have spoken out against a developer's plan to bulldoze South Central Farm in Los Angeles. Add Audioslave axeman Tom Morello (pictured above with fellow activists Ralph Nader and Julia "Butterfly" Hill) to the list.

Morello described the farm to us as "a beautiful oasis in one of the grubbiest corners of Los Angeles." It's also the largest urban farm in the United States, he says: "Three hundred and fifty low-income families work individual sections of the site to help feed themselves." The situation is reaching a critical juncture; after months of legal wrangling, on early Tuesday morning, local sheriffs came to arrest forty peaceful protesters at the site. "Greed knows no bounds," says Morello. "We're not giving up the fight." For more information, check out Morello's organization Axis of Justice. And count one other big-name sympathizer: "I saw Bruce Springsteen in L.A. recently," said Morello, "and he had words of support."

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Song Stories

“Satisfied”

Tom Waits | 2011

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.

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