| System of a Down – Fuck The System Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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There are three lines i would like to point you to before I begin my discusion of what this song means to me. "I need to fuck the sys-" "Im, but a little bit bit bit, show!" Say the previous line real fast and see what it says "War! Fuck the system!" But later... "Whore! Fuck the system!" The song seems to be about censorship. "Im but a little bit bit bitch ooo..." "I need to fuck the sys- (tem)." Both lines have been "censored" by SOAD to make their point about censorship. The biggest point is the last one though, War -> Whore. Its one thing to remove words like bitch, but when thoughts, ideas pertaining to war (especially in close context to the words fuck the system) are censored, we have a real problem, and as he says: We all need to fuck the system!!! I would leave you to draw your own conclusions on what he is saying about censorship, and where that may or may not apply, but it seems that through demonstraition, he has shown that his saying "fuck the system" has been censored. Another point about censorship however. The Little bit bit bit... It ends with "Bit Bit Bit" which sounds very reminsant of the "bleep" you used to hear on tv when someone cussed before they just muted it out. Further, "im just a little Bleep Bleep Bleep" kinda says something in itself. He is expressing something, and we don't know what... could his ideas be that harmful to our fragile emotional psyche that we should not handel it and need protection from our government? (Assuming this is SOAD's comment on censorship). It seems an interesting and subtle medium to comment on censorship. Censorship is a hard topic to broach. SOAD being opposed to it would be shot down instantly for the langauge they use, but thats not the real point or what is really scary about censorship (i.e. the war -> whore idea). As always, this could be reading too far between the lines, but it makes a valid point, regardless of whether SOAD had even intended it. |
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| System of a Down – Sad Statue Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First off, allow to say to those of you not used to my posts, this is gonna be very long, just a heads up. This song says what it says in very round about ways. Allow me to analyze each line for the allusions and inferences they make before attempting to understand what the entire line is saying. Conquest to the lover, And your love to the fire, Permanence unfolding in the absolute. Conquest (victory over another) [goes] to the lover (of conquest? Of victory?) And your love [of the] fire (destruction) Permanence (of events) unfolding in the absolute(ness of reality). Paraphrased: Victory will go to those who wish to take it – those who wish dominance, and the permanence of their actions is absolute (we cannot rewrite history). What I believe he is saying is that people can conquer others if they so desire such dominance, and that conquest of other people (once it has happened) is permanent not in that the people will always be conquered, but they always will have been conquered. The point of saying that people will conquer others is that he says these people still make a choice to conquer others, regardless if they say it is a means to an end, or the ends, the physical reality of someone conquering and someone being conquered still exists. Forgiveness is The ultimate sacrifice. The previous three lines were much vaguer. This line says exactly what it means. To forgive is a sacrifice you make. This seems slightly out of place in the rest of the song, so allow me to return later as more of the purpose of the song is unfolded. Eloquence belongs, To the conqueror. This seems very much like the saying “to the victor goes the history.” Remember the War between the US and Mexico? The US conquered Texas, New Mexico, and California, and took them from Mexico. Yet, it is very rarely mentioned anywhere but an in-depth US history class (here in the US anyway). In fact, when it is mentioned, mostly it is told as a story of the citizens of Texas (and California and New Mex. Etc) wanting horribly to be freed from Mexico. The fact of the matter is that the only residents of Texas who wanted to join the US were US citizens who had migrated to Texas (some with the sole purpose of establishing a population in Texas which wanted to join the US). Yet, we won the war, and we write the text books. There are many, many examples from history where a war is remembered not as it happened, but as the victors of the war told the story (see WWI). Also, imagine the text books the Nazis would have written about the holocaust if they had won the war. The pictures of time and space are rearranged, In this little piece of typical tragedy. The [picture] of “time and space” (history) are (is) rearranged, In this little piece of typical tragedy. This seems to further this point. “the picture of time and space are rearranged. Not that anything between time and space is intermixed, but history and the events therein are “rearranged.” This little piece of typical tragedy – humans have suffered throughout history, thus the word “typical” seems to fit well after the word tragedy. He still seems to be referring to any war (any typical tragedy) or any conflict amongst humans. It doesn’t seem to refer to any particular war or conflict, but the statement seems to attempt to more generally describe any conflict or war (any typical tragedy). To summarize: History is rewritten in any typical event of human suffering, due namely to the fact that the victors of such a suffering rewrite the history of it. Justified Candy! Brandy for the nerves, Justified [things which bring me happiness]! Brandy [to numb] the nerves (the mind). Realigned: Justified: Candy Brandy for the nerves These two lines say pretty much the same thing. We justify things that make us happy or numb our minds. Which is interesting, because it could be argued that things that make us happy do just that – numb our minds. When we are blissful, we are ignorant of our current reality (hence the phrase, “ignorant bliss” – notably NOT worded “blissfully ignorant”). It would be safe to say the two are added just for emphasis, and say pretty much the same thing. However, what does this have to do with the rest of the song? Lets reconsider now what all has been said. The actions of people who conquer others remain permanent through history; to forgive is the ultimate sacrifice; history is rewritten favorably to by the conquerors; and we justify that which numbs our mind. Ah ha! It would be fair to say that from the perspective of the conquerors, remembering history differently (where you were the nice guy, not that bad guy) helps to deal with any guilt of the actions of conquering someone. However, it also may be fair to say that if you watched someone be conquered and did nothing, it may help absolve you of any guilt as well to remember the events of history as the conquers being somehow “justified” in their actions of conquest. Eloquence belongs, To the conqueror. Well shit, this line has a ton to do with the previous one, it makes very much sense now right next to the one before it. Now we delve further down the rabbit hole: You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. The generation that didn’t agree means more than just one thing. It seems to refer to the almost schizophrenic character of the American public at the moment (two minds – one body), but also the larger fissure between humanity – at this moment of the greatest contact between humans ever, it is also the moment where our differences are in our faces the most. Its one thing for someone to worship a different god when the are a 2 months boat ride away from me, but it is an entirely different thing when they are two clicks of a mouse away. To the entire stanza now: The first time I listened to this, it sounded like most other interpretations have claimed. We will go down in the text books with the statue of liberty frowning upon us due to the differences of our generation. As a started to listen to this song more and more however, a new meaning that fit much better with the rest of the meaning began to materialize. Two separate, but meaningful interpretations arise: 1) Let us remove from our minds the meaning of go down in history for a moment. What if this served more as a warning – we will go down. Due to our sad statue of liberty and the disagreement of our generation. (History serves more as a poetic tool to rhyme with agree). 2) I like this meaning better, as it seems to make more sense with the words SOAD has given us to make sense of. The meaning of the first line remains constant with what the common conception is – that we will go down in the history books. The sad statue of liberty (the title line of this song) might have a much more profound meaning. In this line, I believe, the rational and reasoning for the rest of the song lies. First lets consider the statue of liberty. What is it? What is it supposed to be? It is THE symbol of American freedom. Liberty (which means freedom) has been the corner stone of America (I have not experienced this for myself, but at least in the words of my predecessors) for the past 200 years. Now, however, we are losing those liberties. The government is the strongest in comparison with its subjects than it arguably ever has been. Many Americans are complaining that the government has taken away more and more rights of American citizens and some feel it may be nearing a critical point – a point where once certain rights are removed, the government would retain freewill, to do and say as they please in regards to its citizens, and not be fearful of any legal repercussions (this is what most proponents of democracy say is the problem with dictatorships). (If you would like to read more about this, I have an essay on the web about this. Please check it out at http://www.without-sight.pixelfaction.com/MCA/. If you disagree with this point, please at least read that essay before commenting on this point.) This is why the statue of liberty is sad. This is BECAUSE our generation cannot agree. We spend all our time arguing with each other, and have mostly ignored the fact that our government is doing this. The other point is that we have justified this governmental removal of citizens’ rights because we need to protect ourselves from foreign threats (another disagreement of our generation). So we repeat the song again You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. I forgot to I forgot to let you know that... Justified Candy! Brandy for the nerves, Eloquence belongs, To the conqueror. Conquest to the lover, And your love to the fire, Permanence unfolding in the absolute. Forgivness is The ultimate sacrifice. Eloquence belongs, To the conqueror. You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. Generation.............. Finally a new lyric: What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! This doesn’t need analyzied. It needs said again, and again, and again, until someone can answer this with a valid reason. To analyize this in context of the song though, The actions of people who conquer others remain permanent through history; to forgive is the ultimate sacrifice; history is rewritten favorably to by the conquerors; and we justify that which numbs our mind to these travesties; we as humans are sinking fast due to the removal of human rights; and now why do we ignore the suffering of humans? That seems to paint an adequate picture of what SOAD seems to be trying to say. The context of human suffering does not need to be the people of Darfur or the bystanders in Iraq, but HUMAN suffering – all of us are suffering (obviously some much more than others). Allow me to allow someone more eloquent than me to explain what I mean by this: “No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee. -- John Donne” WOAH!!!!!!! Suffering, suffering now! You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. You and me will all go down in history, With a sad Statue of Liberty, And a Generation that didn't agree. Generation.......... Like I was saying a few lines above: What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?!!! remember - it tolls for thee |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Sleep Now In The Fire Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The world is my expense The cost of my desire Jesus blessed me with its future And I protect it with fire So raise your fists and march around Dont dare take what you need I'll jail and bury those committed And smother the rest in greed Crawl with me into tomorrow Or i'll drag you to your grave I'm deep inside your children They'll betray you in my name Lets start by defining a narrator for whose expense the world is. For this analysis, I will assume it is anyone who would value greed over humanity, and we will further define this as we go by looking at what this person is saying. “The World is my expense, the cost of my desire. Jesus blessed me with its future and I protect it with fire.” This person is saying they don’t care if it costs the world to achieve their desire. They say that they know Jesus has promised them the fruit of this desire, and they will “protect it with fire” or protect it with force, or more bluntly, take what they want with force. “So raise your fists and march around – Don’t dare take what you need” Go ahead, yell, scream, I don’t care, just as long as you “don’t… take what you need” or take anything from me… since my desire is to have things, by you taking it from me, you are getting in my way. “I’ll jail and buy those committed and smother the rest in greed.” If you are so committed to taking what you need, Ill kill you or throw you in jail. The more simple minded ones however, I can just dangle a dollar bill in their face and they will be happy. Or better put, I will turn their eyes from me by turning their eyes towards all the things they think they want. “Crawl with me into tomorrow or ill drag you to your grave” Similar to the last sentence, if you do not come along, I will kill you. “I’m deep inside your children, they’ll betray you in my name” Even if you survive me, and are not blinded with greed, you will die, and before they have a chance to object, I will have your children following me. “Hey! Hey! Sleep now in the fire” I will get to this further in my discussion. The lie is my expense The scope with my desire The party blessed me with its future And i protect it with fire I am the nina, the pinta, the santa maria The noose-man, the rapist, the fields overseer The agents of orange The priests of hiroshima The cost of my desire Sleep now in the fire “The lie is my expense, the scope of my desire.” An expense can best be described by putting it into context. A new printing press is an expense for a publishing company. A new stadium is an expense for a football team. Your bills are an expense for you. The lie is my expense – I will pay a lie (I will lie to you) in order to get what I want (the scope of my desire). “The party blessed me with its future, and I protect it with fire” The party (whatever organization I am involved with) has blessed me with the ability to do this to you, and I will not sit idly as you ruin my ambition – I will kill you if you try and stop me (protect it with fire). “I am the nina, the pinta, the santa maria (the ships Columbus found America with)” I found this, therefore, it is mine. (What did I find? I found this think which I am driving for, this thing which I desire). “[I am] The noose-man, the rapist, the fields overseer. [I am] the agents of orange, the priests of Hiroshima.” Lets start with the priests of Hiroshima. The priest could be a spiritual guide. That would not fit at all with the tone of this song though. Suddenly I am the one who cares about the people in Hiroshima? What if priest was more like the spiritual judge? I judged the people of Hiroshima, I then condemned them to their death. I kill those people to accomplish my goals. The noose-man, rapist and fields overseer then, make more sense if the rapist is not a sexual rapist, but a rapist of humanity. It could be said that a country has raped another if they take their resources and use their people. It could be said that I am the rapist if I use you for my means and disregard the consequences. I am the fields overseer. I direct the work to be done. I force YOU to do the work as I see fit. “-the cost of my desire – sleep now in the fire” These are the consequences of my desire, and now you sleep in the fire because of them(you are probably dead if you are sleeping in fire). “Hey! Hey! Sleep now in the fire” Yeah, sleep in the fire now (you are dead, once I have taken what I need from you, in fact, probably because I have taken what I need from you). For it's the end of history It's caged and frozen still There is no other pill to take So swallow the one That makes you ill The nina, the pinta, the santa maria The noose and the rapist, the fields' overseer The agents of orange The priests of hiroshima The cost of my desire Sleep now in the fire “For it’s the end of history. It’s caged and frozen still.” He seems to leave the narrator’s voice for a second here. The end of history, and not just the end of history, but this end is caged and frozen (unchangeable). “There is no other pill to take, so swallow the one that makes you ill.” I, and my way are the only options you have (sucka!), so looks like you are stuck with what I am doing. “the Nina, the pinta, etc…” Already described So what is Zach saying?? That our world is being raped (some people are taking so much advantage of others), that our people are being forced to follow along this path, by threat of death or jail. Lets put this into some context, and see what he is saying more closely. (Warning, this may be offensive) He has obviously made several references to America (the nina, pinta, Hiroshima, etc). He seems to be saying that America is pretty much abusing the rest of the world. I won’t go into the policies of it, but it could be argued that we force countries to open up their markets to us so that we can sell them our goods (which are mass produced) cheaper than they can sell their own goods to their own people, thus putting their own people out of business, and raising our corporate salaries by 2%. Further, we abuse the labor laws of other countries to produce our goods for a fraction of the cost which our laws state they should be produced at. Thus, people in foreign countries earn very little for the amount of money they make for the corporations they work for. That is not entirely just because they make a $50 shoe for 10 cents an hour. They make $50 shoes in mass quantities so they can be sold at a very high volume, so that many markets don’t have a choice but to buy $50 shoes (how many shoes can you find for $10?). The worst of it is if we here, in the country where this is occurring in any way try to stop this, (first we are called anti American) if we do anything that would actually stop it (picket the companies, for example) we are thrown in jail. Zach seems to comment that the only way to even try and stop this is to do something that would land you in jail or dead. It does seem that no one cares how unequally our country treats other countries, at least no one cares enough to vote for politicians who would enact laws against it, or to find other constructive ways of stopping this abuse of other countries (I mean, @#%$, I need shoes too). Zach seems to conclude violent action (which he even says would be pointless) is the only recourse to this problem. He concludes, eventually, because of this, we will all end up sleeping in the fire, as a consequence of these ambitions. Please remember, I do not know Zach's mind, this is just a guess at what he is trying to say. Regardless of the particulars, this song still says a very important thing. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Ashes in the Fall Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A mass of hands press on the market window Ghosts of progress Dressed in slow death Feeding on hunger And glaring through the promise Upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle A mass of nameless at the oasis That hides the graves beneath the master's hill Are buried for drinking The rivers water while Shackled to the the line at the empty well A mass of hands press on the market window, ghosts of progress dressed in slow death feeding on hunger Those who have been abused by “progress” are starving (slow death), and looking in through the window at the riches that exist. And glaring through the promise upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle Through the window they see so much food (anything useful for life – medicine, clothes, food, etc) that is wasted (rotting), and there is no “promise” to them, they are starving. They don’t care about the promises of tomorrow if they cannot eat today. A mass of nameless at the oasis that hides the graves beneath the master’s hill are buried for drinking the river’s water while shackled to the line at the empty well The oasis is where things are plentiful (USA, West Europe, etc), so these people seem to refer to the people in these countries. The are buried for drinking the rivers water… they are jailed for taking what life has given them, yet have not waited at the well for their turn to drink (like stealing food from an abandoned field when you are starving). “shackled to the line at the empty well” refers to the order with which these starving people must follow in order to drink (you must have $ to buy the food – you must have a job to have $ - you must be a productive person in terms of your ability to function in our economy, not as a person; you cannot go and find a field and plant a farm, that’s illegal because someone somewhere owns it). Listen to the facist sing "Take hope here War is elsewhere You were chosen This is Gods land Soon we'll be free Of blot and mixture Seeds planted by our Forefathers hand" Well this first and formost calls the leaders of America fascists. And what they are “singing” is that our country is fine (war is else where) and that this is the place of destiny on this earth (this is gods land), so by that logic, since god chose us, and our land, he chose our actions too, so we can do whatever we damn please to maintain this land. “soon we’ll be free of blot and mixture – seeds planted by our forefathers hand” (blot – a blemish or smudge). It says the fascists sing that soon our country will be free of the blemishes and imperfections, and if god chosing this doesn’t do it for you, then it was also decided by our forefathers (founding fathers). Zach is mocking how leaders claim a) god chose this land so we must… or b) the founding fathers wanted us to… Do as our leaders say in order to accomplish the freedom of smudges and imperfections in our land. This alone doesn’t say anything profound, but if you consider what he is really mocking in real life – the horrible decisions our leaders have made in the name of the founding fathers and god, like unnecessary war (Vietnam, and after he wrote this – Iraq), disproportionate defense spending (500 Billion Dollars a year), not spending 10% of that value to feed the hungry in our country, not spending 1% of that to feed the hungry in the rest of the world (hey, this is Gods land, so only here matters, not there, right?). A mass of promises Begin to rupture Like the pockets Of the new world kings Like swollen stomachs In Appalachia Like the priest that @#%$ you As he whispered holy things A mass of tears have transform the stones now Sharpened on suffering And woven into the slings Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress Taking today what tomorrow never brings A mass of promises begin to rupture like the pockets of the new world kings, like the swollen stomachs in Appalachia, like the priest that @#%$ you as he whispered holy things. Jesus that is deep. The mass of promises is just the promise of how amazing this country is and could be (the lines just prior to this). The pockets of the new world kings are too full (take a look at the big Oil companies, take a look at almost any large American corporation. The only problems they face is a collapse of stock price, thus the everyday share holder loses money – the executive already have million dollar + salaries and could quite today and live their life just fine), while the people who live in Appalachia (Eastern Ohio, Western Pensylvania, West Virgina, Parts of Tennesee, and other states, mainly on the West side of the Appalachian Mountains) have horrible living conditions. There are no longer many jobs there aside from working in river casinos, the Military, small time employment (mom+pop shops), and public service (police, etc). That means not a lot of income, and thus horrible living conditions. “Like the priest…” there goes any inkling of this being god’s land. This line points to how much bullshit there is in saying anything in gods name, none the less calling our country god’s land and justifying our actions with his name. A mass of tears have transformed the stones now, sharpened on suffering, and woven into the slings, hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress, taking today what tomorrow never brings. He says that so many people have been mistreated and are living poor lives, that sooner or later, something is going to break, snap, give, whatever you want to call it. “[Take] today what tomorrow never brings.” He says to stop listening to promises you hear everyday that “tomorrow will be better” when it never is… he says take what you need. That could be interpreted in a few ways: 1) steal to eat if you are starving 2) take back this country, stop listening to the promises that our leaders will get around to fixing it tomorrow I would bet money that he meant the latter. “hope lies in the ruble of this rich fortress” he says there is hope that we may yet take our country back. Ain't it funny how the factory doors close Round the time that the school doors close Round the time that the doors of the jail cells Open up to greet you like the reaper Its not the time of day he mentions. It’s the time in your life. The second you leave school you run into your job, and live the rest of your life there almost like it were jail, fearing your boss because in his hands is your ability to feed yourself. The reaper? After that I think that’s pretty obvious Ain't its funny how the factory doors close Round the time that the school doors close Round the time that a hundred thousand jail cells Open up to greet you like the reaper I will interpret this a little differently this time, as more than one interpretation obviously exists. Factories close at 5pm. School lets out 3-5pm. What do we do when we get out of school, and get out of a job? What do we do when we are not in school, and have no job? The only place to go is eventually jail (via crime of some sort), and its so easy to do this, that they just open up and great you. The chorus This is the new sound, just like the old sound Just like the noose wound, over the new ground Every time they tell us something different… its always the same. We are still noosed in to our lives (the new ground being America). “just like the old sound” Like ashes in the fall… A few different ways of looking at this: 1) Fall -> November -> elections… Ashes -> fires -> revolution Calling for revolution in November? Probably not 2) Fall -> November -> elections Ashes -> as in ashes after cremation Saying each time we vote is like another nail in the coffin? Probably not 3) Fall -> the end of times Ashes -> after cremation Ashes in the fall… this is the end. This makes the most sense when you tie it into the rest of the song. So what is Like these ashes in the fall? Everything he has described. The people starving while looking into the window of a store, the people jailed for taking what the need out of “turn,” the people in Appalachia starving (swollen stomachs is a symptom of starvation), the people welcomed into jail, the things wrought by the world we live… that is what is like ashes in the fall. If you don’t like this, remember I didn’t write the song, and can only guess at Zach’s mind. I hope it helps though. |
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