This song is about the reaction to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. The band criticizes the government for a slow reaction and avoiding the problem (hence the line, "Pull the sheet over my eyes, so I can sleep tonight"). In the bonus DVD that came with the Revelations CD, guitarist Tom Morello describes this as "A song of fingerpointing," while bassist Tim Commerford overtly says, "It's a song about President Bush, and what an a--hole he is."
This was the first politically themed Audioslave song. When the supergroup first formed, Chris Cornell said he did not want it to be a political band like the rest of the band's old group, Rage Against the Machine.
This song was featured in the 2007 film remake of Miami Vice. Cornell often introduces this song at his solo concerts with: "I don't know how, but this song somehow ended up in Miami Vice, a movie that nobody saw. But if you watch the movie, it plays at the scene where the guy is f--king the girl."
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