| | Hey, so I thought i'd make a list of my thoughtson the lyrics of my favorite band, System of a down. In this post, I will start with their first CD, then I will work me way up to Hypnotize, their a newest album.
System of a Down- System of a Down
1. Suite-Pee
I think the song carries a distinctly different message, which I will now explain… The song starts by mentioning, in a critical light – I think, the devotion which people have for Jesus ‘’for her, everyone cried…’’ and ‘’You’ll die for her philosophy’’, the whole concept of dying for Jesus is repeatedly emphasised throughout the song, which undeniably means this song is not a tribute to Jesus at all. Then it uses the lines ‘’Crossed and terrored ravages of architecture, lend me thy blades, we’re crossed and terrored ravages of architecture, hoist around thy spade’’ – I interpret this as religion’s leadership manipulating people to labour and build huge works of architecture (despite their own poverty) in the name of religion and ‘’Lend me thy blades’’ is another case of religion being used to justify conquest in the name of itself (many references are made to this in War?… i.e. ‘’We will fight the heathens’’). Then another line ‘’lie naked on the floor, let the messiah go through our souls’’ this is a reference to the extremity to which religion demands you submit to its judgement. Lie (prone, defenceless) naked (humiliation) on the floor (uncomfortable) and let the messiah go all though your soul – allow him to go completely throughout you as you unreservedly accept whatever he (or his earthly priests and Kings...) may wish to do. ‘’Die like a mother fucker’’ shows the vengefulness and brutality regularly inflicted in the name of all religions, (Middle Eastern conflict, The strict Islamic law enforced in northern Nigeria, the crusades – the list goes on and on,) One of the more striking lines of the song is ‘’I wana fuck my way to the Garden, Cause everyone needs a mother... FUCKER’’ this, to me, implies the absurdity of the story of the creation of humanity. God made Adam out of clay, and Eve out of a rib, (or something like that) according to the Old Testament hence, no mothers involved – just a ‘Father’- a God. Fucking his way there – creating offspring in a much more believable way. The last lines ‘‘the following of Christ... the falling of Christ’’ is much less clear, but I feel it underlines the decline in interest in Jesus and Christianity in the western world these days.
2.Know
This song, to me, is about the oppresion of society (or other groups, for that matter) on individuals. The people live in the valley of the walls - they are enlcosed, unable to see what's outside (unable to see different beliefs or ways of life.) The whole world is this way - we live on a cursed earth. There is a metaphor throughout this song that relates flying and truly having a free mind and spirit. "I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart." - This is a declaration that he will never rely on the cursed earth, no matter how appealing it may be.
"When we speak, we can peak, from the windows of their mouths." This means that when people express themselves, they get a breif glimpse of what is outside of the place they are in: someone else's head (the people are stuck with this other person's ideas and way of life, not having a choice for themselves.) I think that the women chanting and being able to fly is about women gaining more rights within the last century, so it may be used as an example of people speaking their minds, therefore being able to fly off of our cursed earth. I'm not too sure on that though.
"Books all say different things." Religions (the books refering to the Bible, Koran, etc.) are seen as a source of enlightenment to some, but are all contradictory to each other. People are only TRYING to fly by performing actions that are seen as proofs of faith, such as communion or fasting (flapping their yellow wings.) These wings are physical and not mental; true wings can only be obtained through the mind.
"Sheep that ran off from the herd, may be dead, but now's a bird." People who don't follow the majority, and think for themselves, will become "dead" to this society. "Able to fly, able to die, able to break your cursed earth." By leaving the norm, these people will be able to truly be free, and break ties with the cursed earth.
The next part of the song is a transition which changes the point of view of the song - "On the other side" - from a person free of the world to the mind of society, or whatever group or individual is in control of the cursed earth. Society warns people to never try to free their minds, and threatens that if they don't conform, they will be dead to this world.
3.Sugar
I have listened to sugar, like most system fans, about a thousand times or so. I mean, its a great song. Even after listening to the song this many times, I still never recognized its meaning. After recently seeing the uncut video, the meaning came to me: This song is a bunch of problems strung together to make one big stand against the problems in our world. I mean think about it "the kombucha mushroom people, sitting around all day" is talking about a bunch of lazy waste of space people, and in the video there is an image when the line "I got a gun the other day from sako its cute small fits right in my pocket" of an old lady with a guy which is talking about how bad society is that old ladies should carry guns. The meaning of this song was so clear to me, there are also many other references in the song such as "My girlfriend ya know she lashes out at me sometimes and I just fucking kick her", "What do i do, what do i say, fuck you it all goes away"
OR, It could represent a insane man that finally loses control, and murdurs someone. OR, it could represent the stages and side effects of cocaine."Sugar" is a slang term for Cocaine. "I play Russian Roulette everyday" is a metaphor of the suicidal thoughts that a cocaine-addict will have. "The Kombucha Mushroom People" are Hallucinations caused by the drug. "i gotta gun the other day from Sako" is the paranoia that is caused by Cocaine. "My girl lashes out at me and I kick her and shes ok" is the abuse that Cocaine-addicts will show. System really shines in the lyrics, they could mean so amny things.
4.Suggestions
'Watching from a post up high' indicates that the one who is assessing the situation is in control - they preside over those that are being watched. It could be referring to the government, or else could highlight the idea of surveillance - the 'well - trained eye' could be that of a Big Brother figure, which looks upon the 'ships' (the lesser mortals)to check that they are performing their duties. The 'lightpost' is the upper realms of society, the privileged, which are separated from the masses. The word 'sir' could suggest a deferential tone,as it is applied to the 'multiplying' of the ships - the massess grow and grow, and in turn are indistinguishable from each other - there is no sense of individuality - just a merging of a community into one vast abyss. The sleevenotes refer to the 'remote viewing and monitoring' that society is subject to - the 'weapon' of control. This can also be linked to the question of free will vs the constraints placed upon us as a society, and whether these limitations are a good or a bad thing. Indeed, to be liberated may seem like a blessing in disguise but the subsequent loss of control could result in something far worse.
5.Spiders
I’m not sure about this one but this is my own interpretation of the song, however I’m sure my interpretation was in many ways influenced by the video, the song itself is very vague and could be applied to many things. I think the song is basically talking about our media saturated and in many ways ‘false’ society and environment. The video seems to make an intertextual reference to the matrix through out. As many of you may know, the matrix is a metaphorical criticism of our society from a mainly Marxist point of view. I feel both the song and the video are trying to get similar points across as the matrix did. The matrix metaphorically explaining to audience about how we are living in a dream world and how what we do day to day doesn’t really matter, it’s, merely nonsensical crap pulled over our eyes so that those with power can profit from us. The same point is being made in the song “Dreams are made winding through my head.” I think this is talking about how the media and our socialisation makes us believe conforming to this society is extremely important, but in reality it’s all a dream world. Serj explains how he gradually begins to see this. “Approaching guiding light, Our shallow years in fright.” He is referring to heading towards ‘enlighten’ or seeing through it all, our shallow years in fright is referring to how many are scared to look beyond the shallow constraints of our society.
The song often makes reference to the “v-chip”, I think this likely to be a metaphorical symbol of what ever it is in our minds that makes conform to this nonsensical false society that doesn’t provide what us best for humanity and earth but does what is driven by greed and profit. “The V-chip gives them sight” this is referring to the fact that we find some comfort in the way things are, dreams are created in our mind and reinforced by the media how we could one day ‘become a pop star’, ‘get a high paid job and live the high life’ or what ever peoples dreams may be. It means that our false society gives us some sense of sight.
I’m still not sure exactly what the name of the song represents itself. Perhaps it is a metaphorical reference to fear of leaving the ideology pumped into our brains by our environment. The spiders may represent our unwillingness to leave this society of falsehood, the blocks in our brain constraining us, if you will.
6.Ddevil
The song Ddevil is about how the writers of modern times will plagiarize some olden works (i.e. those of Shakespeare) in order to make themselves known. “Strong refrigerators” means that these artists store this information and keep it cool and “edible” for the world. Yet, it IS the same information. “Stupid people do stupid things” is in reference to the plagiarists. And “smart people outsmart each other” would symbolize the fight among society about always being right or winning whatever award would make them even more popular. This is mankind’s focus-- being important and the focus of attention. “People feeding frenzy” signifies how the info offered by the “strong refrigerators” is still being eaten and sinking into society’s existence. “Photographic relapse” shows how the stuff advertised and offered to the pubic is the same smudge regurgitated by mortality years and years before. It doesn’t change, the message is still the same – and the message is that the devil, the same monotonous info, will never stop revealing it self to the new generations.
Of course, it could have a easier answer. Ddevil could be one of the songs that they made just for fun. if you look in the back of their song booklets, it says: "all sings: (copywrite symbol) 2001 sony/atv tunes llc and Ddevil music". So, as you can see, this song could have been written as some kind of silent joke towards Ddevil Music.
7.Soil
Now,I know the story of the Band "Soil" and people take this for the bible but I think not,neither I think it has something to do with the Armenian Genocide.
"The phoenix he helped create" is someone helped us out to create
"Out of control boy without a dad
Shot the gun that startled my life"
Is some guy is acting like a kid without a dad and he shot me,"startling my life"
"While I drove him with a forty-five"
And I counter-attacked.
"Friends for years images in red"
Is my life flashing in front of my eyes and they're stained with blood
"Blew off his own motherfuckin head"
Is the killer committed suicide
"Confidence,death,insecurity"
I feel confidence,I'm dying and I feel insecure
"Men fall unrealised"
People are without a clue how these things go.
"Making a decision of death while everyone around you pled"
You will kill or die while everyone escapes the situation
"Now you fly in peace I hope,my friend"
Now you can go as you wish,without chains I hope my friend.
"A man can't avoid to do what he's meant to do if he's meant to do it"
You have a destiny,and if it's your destiny,you can't escape it.
"Even if he doesn't really want to"is obvious.
"My memories are of fun and friendship of the weakness whithin the strength of youth"
I have fun and friendship memories but those are weaknesses,when you're young and strong.
"For reasons undefined"
I can't give you no reasons.
"Don't you realise that evil lives in the motherfuckin skin"
Don't you know you can be evil too?
And at the end where Serj screams "Why the fuck did you take him away from us you motherfuckers?"is the crowd talks to the killer,asking why did he do that shit?
8.War?
When you first look at the name of the song you might get the wrong idea what System Of A Down is meaning. War with a question mark can be so vaguely interpreted in many different ways. For me, after reading the lyrics to War?, doing some research ; I think I came to my own understanding of what this song is trying to let me know. First what I did is look at any words I did not understand. The first word that caught my eye easily was Seljuks. I looked it up in the dictionary and I got a Turkish Empire. With further research in a book I attained (while discussing this song among friends) I came to understand that the Seljuks lived in the time period from the tenth century to the thirteenth century (vaguely). And this Turkish Empire, Muslim, took over the Holy Land of Jerusalem. And this is what brought on many Christians to start a holy war against the Seljuks. This is the time of the Four Crusades and the Children’s Crusade. This is what the song is trying to get out. The consistent battle for the Holy Land. This song is in the time of the Crusades. In the second verse the song says, “That lead the noble, to the East, To fight the heathens,” meaning the Christians from the West (mainly Germany and France) went on a Crusade to fight the Seljuks or heathens. The reason the Seljuks are considered heathens is because in the eyes of the Christians anybody who takes the Holy Land away from them, are evil. In the third verse the song says, “The reason he must attain, must be approved by his God, his child, partisan brother of war.” Those lines are saying the reason they have to go to war over the Holy Land is because the Seljuk’s God and the Christian’s God is telling them to. And “His child, partisan brother of war,” means the child of the “he” in the line “he must attain” is a supporter of the holy war because the child is brought up that way (propaganda). Also in the third verse it says, “history teaches us so,” which is leading to the thought that there is still a war over that same Holy Land (Jerusalem) today. The Jewish people and the Muslim people are fighting over that land for the same reason. Their God tells them that it is okay. Their God wants them to fight until they win. And finally in the bridge, “Of war, we don’t speak any more,” is talking about how thousands of people die in the holy war and nobody fighting in the war stops the ask if this is really what their God is asking them. Hence, they don’t speak to their God any more. Because every child is brought to hate the other side, not knowing why. They fight because they are taught to do that. This brings me back to the song title war with a question mark. To me I think is has spilt meanings. One, should there really be a war? And two, should it be considered a war? Because Jerusalem has been a never-ending battle for thousands of years. War? you decide.
9.Mind
Mind I think is about the religions these days. The first verse says "mutually, mentally, molested children of a mother" the mother being Eve...and " molested children of sin" saying how Eve 'sinned'. It's saying how the religions are all thinking theyre in the right, and that "free thinkers are dangerous". When it says "lives rearranged" I think it means that the religions these days have been rearranged more to suit the modern lifestyle, and in turn how this has also rearranged peoples lives. "Blame, Hate, For fate's seed" means the people blaming and hating people for their religion...and that they think that fate will ultimately control our lives. At the end when it has "gonna let you Mother F'ers die" it means that the religious people of the world are saying to the opposing religions that in the end you will all die and we will benefit from it. "Look at eachother" means that we don't look at ourselves to blame, but we "look at eachother".
10.Peephole(one of my personal favorites on this album)
The song is a tribute to pot, as Serj explained in an interview once. AND if you read the booklet, which many of you may not have done (let's get this straight, you don't download soad, you buy it. I don't care about any other bands, but respect the bands that keep the quality of music a step further these days), you'll read about how a publication about pot being less toxic than smoking wasn't allowed to be published. Or, they might be talking about humanity and how "God" and catholicism has destracted us (trapped us in the sky).Catholicism took away from the real purpose of religion which was to have representations and ways of looking at things in order to keep the Earth alive.Religion is for the good of the earth while god was a distraction laid out from the ones in power. We need to take back the earth from the ruiners, although it's probably too late. Whether the song is about drugs or not, I would like to inform/remind people that it was said by Karl Marx "religion is the opiates of the masses".
11.Cubert
I believe that CUBErt is about the average man who is stuck in his everyday 9-5 job (CUBE = Cubicle) or everybody that sticks to a daily routine with no excitement and i think this song is a dare to all the people like this just to breakout! "Humans everywhere, canned" as if all humans are manufactured just to do one thing and serve one purpose only.
"I want to be, / A fallen ruby, / Guest vibrations, / Don't leave your seats now" means theres all this great stuff in the world and you just sit there and let opportunities pass you bye.
12.darts
Ninti and ishkur are Sumarian gods. Ishkur specifically holds the key to the silver gates of “heaven”. I think it is about a return to traditional eastern civilization. Throughout the CD, the lyrics emphasize the pointlessness and irrationality of a single god. Here, a solution is provided. We find that there is a wait for these gods who will come out of the sky and judge. They also suggest that any extreme lifestyle with either too much violence, one sided love, and or connection is borderline dangerous. Also, they say to leave behind the weak which is directly characterizing middle eastern religion in that they cut off the weak non-believers. Lastly, I believe the name of the song originates through the story of two ancient anglo-saxon gods. One of these gods, and I can’t remember the name, but he was indestructible except for one weakness (mistletoe). The other gods picked ion him and tried to hurt him even though he woulod never get hurt. Finally one god made a dart out of mistletoe and killed him. For this, that god was thrown into hell.
13.P.L.U.C.K
This song has only one subject and that's the genocide that took place back in 1915-1919 in Turkey. Approx. one-and-a-half million (!!!) Armenians were killed by the Turks. It's the first genocide of the twentieth century.
Even now, when there's lots of evidence about these cruelties, the Turkish government denies that there has been a genocide. The Armenian Problem does not exist they say. SOAD tries to get it recognized throughout the world. The U.S. still haven't recognized it for example. Remember, wasn't it Hitler himself who said: "Who still remembers the Armenians?", the rest we all know...
Awareness is thus necessary to avoid things like this happen throughout the world. But still, if you watch the news nowadays....? I mean, think about former Yugolavia, Ruanda, Sudan.
I guess we have all got to work together to avoid that we're all in a system, down!!!
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Well, that was exhausting, and I doubt no one will see it but Hodge, but it was fun. Need....Sleeeeeeppp....(snore)
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