The song begins with a sample of Mario Savio's speech address "put your bodies upon the gears", a key figure in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, which bear some traces of a commentary on the abuses of the powerful.
"Wretches and Kings" features Mario Savio's "Bodies upon the gears" or the "Operation of the Machine" speech. Mario Savio  speech/speaker/speaking part ("Operation of the Machines" speech) The song begins with a sample of the "put your bodies upon the gears" speech address given by Mario Savio, a key figure in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, at Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley on December 2, 1964. The lyrics bear some traces of a commentary on the abuses of the powerful. 
