Lyrics for Know as interpreted by soadude01

Know Lyrics
Cursed Earth,
Cursed Earth,
Cursed Earth,
Cursed Earth.

I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart all
Because we all live in the valley of the walls when we speak
We can peak from the windows of their mouths to see the land
The women chant as they fly up to the sun.

You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, Ever think you know why,
Know.

Books all say different things while people flap their yellow wings
Trying to soar by being a whore of life
And almost everything the sheep that ran off from the herd may be dead
But now's a bird able to fly able to die able to break your cursed earth
(fuck your mother's earth)

You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, Ever think you know why,
Know.

On the other side, on the other side, the other side,
Do you ever try to fly, Do you ever try to fly?
Have you ever wanted to die, you ever want to die?

Don't ever try to fly, don't ever try to fly,
Don't ever try to fly, unless you leave your body on the other side,
Never try to die, you ever try to die.

Know, You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, You never think you know why,
Know, Ever think you know why,
Know.
---
"Know" as written by Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian, Shavo Odadjian, John Dolmayan
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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mycatharsis
01-23-2002

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Perhaps its about people wanting to know what happens after death. Flying being a metaphor for either suicide or proposed after-death experience of flying towards to the light.

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Fishcakefish
03-27-2002

 Rated  0 
I think this song is about hallucinogenic drugs and getting stuck with flashbacks and tripping - leaving your body on the other side.
It also comments on the contradiction of different forms of history and calls upon Nietzschian iedas of the 'herd' and breaking free from that oppressive society.

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FreeThinker863
04-18-2002

 Rated  0 
My Interpretation of the song is what happens after death.

"Know, You never think you know why"
-You really dont know what happens after life until you get there despite your religous beliefs

"Books all say different things while people flap their yellow wings"
-Not to sure about this one possibly different religons trying to explain the after-life maybe people flapping their yellow wings is them going with the flock or deciding to join a group who believes in a certain persons preachings.

"sheep that ran off from the herd may be dead but now's a bird able to fly able to die able to break your cursed earth
(I believe thats wrong sounds more like fuck the mother's heart /shrug)"
-The sheep is dead and now realizes whats on the other side of the "city of the walls" which is the physical existence of life.

"Don't ever try to fly, unless you leave your body on the other side, Never try to die,"
-Dont trust what people tell you about what happens after death there's no real proof, if there isnt except life for what it is dont try to die just to figure out whats next

Thats how I interpret it at least.

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jamiethomas3333
04-18-2002

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I also think it's avout people wanting to know what happens after they die and i agree witht the fuck your mother's heart thing.

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InsanityX
04-19-2002

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Its actually Fuck your mother's earth (via the booklet that comes with the CD) But great interpretation FreeThinker.

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Im Iranian
04-26-2002

 Rated  0 
ya and i think the whole...

i will never feed off hte evergreen luster of ur heart - this means that he wont believe wat organized religions tell him, in thier fancy way of makin themselves look innocent and good, hence the words used like heart. he says this since they have no real proof or really know and are jus in it for thier own gain


all because we all live in the valley of the walls- this means we live in a world where we dont know wats gonna happen next, hence the valley of the walls. the walls symboloze that we cant see was on the other side, like wen we die. no one can see and no the truth.

wen they speak we can peak, through the windows of her mouth see hte land the women chant as they fly up to the sun - this means wen organized religions like christianity tell u thier belief about heaven and all that, wen they speek and seeing them fly up to the sun, sayin they are explaining to u that u will die and go to heaven if u follow us.

the whole books all say diffrent thing wile people flap thier yellow wings is like wat free thinker said - it means diffrent books say diffrent things about afterlife, no one knows. people flapping thier yellow wings, means all people jumping to conclusions and believin wat they read, hecne YELLOW WINGS, in other words fake wings. they are living thier lives thinkin that the religions are rite, so they are alredy flapping thier wings to get ready to go wen they really dont know.

the rest basically means we try to soar, by believing but then in reality we go out and take advantage of things and the earth, being a whore of life, thinkin that believing is enough to get into heaven and we can be a whore in life. the sheep that run stuff mite support the idea of reincarnation stating that that could be a possibility as well, thats why he says MAYBE dead,,

then the whole u ever wanted to die stuff, thats basically sayin have u ever really wanted to know wat happens and think hard about, but then says, dont ever try to fly unless u leave ur body... saying that no matter how hard u think u wont know untill u actually die (leavin ur body on the other side), and again starts with the, u'll never thinlk u know, stating that all in all, u will never know until u die.

system of a down is not christian by the way or even muslim, they do not believe in organized religion, but follow armenian culture and believe that spirit moves through all things and there is a higher power above all living things, not neccessarily god in heaven, but an energy

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1 Reply  · 
ozzyrollerbauhn863
04-26-2002

 Rated  0 
Nice work, FreeThinker. Dead on.


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Ghettochild
04-27-2002

 Rated  0 
I think I got it!!!

I think this song is about people trying to experiment with different drugs, just to know what it feels like..

I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart all because we all live in the valley of the walls when we speak we can peak from the windows of their mouths to see the land the women chant as they fly up to the sun.

-The verses in know are all told like someone is tripping having wierd visions but they mean something also...This one means that a majority of us are scared to take drugs but a few of us do these are the women flying to the sun (they are tripping).

You never think you know why
-This means alot of people are cautious about trying drugs because they know the dangers but they want to know what it is like.

Books all say different things while people flap their yellow wings trying
to soar by being a whore of life and almost everything the sheep that ran
off from the herd may be dead but now's a bird able to fly able to die able
to break your cursed earth
-This means people read books and see on the news that drugs are dangerous, but many people regardless of the dangers still do drugs (being a whore of life). A sheep that ran from the herd means a person that broke away from all the warnings and dangers that he was told about drugs and now he is a bird that can fly (tripping belives he can fly) but he may be dead because the drugs killed him.

On the other side
-One side of people think drugs are dangerous and wrong while the other belive that drugs are good.

Do you every try to fly?
-Do you do drugs?

Have you ever wanted to die?
-Have you ever wanted to do drugs? (gettit?)

Don't ever try to fly
-Dont ever do drugs

Leaving you body on the other side
-Tripping,

I hope everyone knows what im going on about...some one help me out???



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Im Iranian
04-29-2002

 Rated  0 
dam thats a dam good interpertation too. i think it can go my way or urs ghetto, cause both make perfect sense

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MelonTribe
05-02-2002

 Rated  0 
this is probably my favourite soad song, and i been listing to them for three years now. got totally hooked.

althought this is my favourite song, its also one of the songs i can never remember all the lyrics to no matter how hard i try.

I've always thought of it as how people get carried away with religion and don't look at other points of view.

i havent really looked into the lyrics too well. but lyrics can normally mean anything you want it to. its really cool that you came up with your ideas, really opens up my mind even more.

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Paradoxical Martyr
05-22-2002

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Ye i think freethinker got it. That people just follow the crowd religeon and immediatly have opinions.
Is it just me but does this remind anyone else of Plato's Cave Simile?
"I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart all because we all live in the valley of the walls when we speak we can peak from the windows of their mouths to see the land the women chant as they fly up to the sun"
- can't be botherd explaining it...it's just what it reminded me of.

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Paradoxical Martyr
05-22-2002

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Ye i think freethinker got it. That people just follow the crowd religeon and immediatly have opinions.
Is it just me but does this remind anyone else of Plato's Cave Simile?
"I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart all because we all live in the valley of the walls when we speak we can peak from the windows of their mouths to see the land the women chant as they fly up to the sun"
- can't be botherd explaining it...it's just what it reminded me of.

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Moulingalette
06-02-2002

 Rated  0 
I think that one of the basic meanings of this song is that you should "never think you know why, know." Unless you have experience with something and have seen or done it for yourself, don't presume that you know about it, and even then, you should never think that you are for sure right. In reality, we can not be sure of anything, so we should never think we know why.

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Physiopath
06-09-2002

 Rated  0 
"Books all say different things, while people flap their yellow wings"

I thought that "flap" was a transitive verb. The yellow wings belong to the books. People are flapping them (reading them).
Yellow pages imply age. Cross-reference with the anti-religious themes you guys have spotted, and I'd guess the books that say different things are the different editions/versions of The Bible that seem to contradict each other.

"The valley of the wasp"

I figure this was to conjure that "walked through the valley of the shadows of death" imagery. and WASP is an acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. George W Bush is one of them.

I think I can pick up a strong environmental theme with "I will never feed off the evergreen lustre" almost an elegy for the beautiful environment people are destrying. If we assume the "Mother" is Mother Earth, this is almost a hippy's song! And who likes to destroy (or "feed off") the environment for profit? George W Bush the WASP.

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Moulingalette
06-09-2002

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Ok, first he says "walls" not wasp, and second George W Bush was not president when this song was written.

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Soad1Album
07-07-2002

 Rated  0 
Hey, Im Kinda New Here....This Has always been my favorite song...

I think this song is about how people always have to be right and things always contradict eachother...

"Books all say different things" for every book (or belief) that says one thing there is another book or belief that says the opposite...

"While people flap theyre yellow wings" basically while people run there mouths about their belief always thinking they are right...CLOSED minded people

"Know, You Never Think You Know, Why" People always think their beliefs are correct...they think they KNOW WHY.....also like when u ask a really racist person why they hate a certain race and they just babble and u can tell they are just some ignorant fool ranting on about nothing....im not saying that there is no good reasons for racism but some people are just stupid like that......BUT THATS JUST ME.....

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StoopidJoe
07-26-2002

 Rated  0 
um.. i believe this song is about Beautifull Mother Earth. And how Serj loves Earth and its beauty, He will never feed off the evergreen luster, meaning he will not pillage the earth as Post Inusdtrial Revolution USA has done. the line "Cursed Earth" shouted repeatedly at the beginning is an example of "Poetic Irony" meaning that Earth IS the people in it, and THEY are cursed, he continues to praise the planet and express his love for his home.

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2 Replies  · 
rob6923
08-05-2002

 Rated  0 
hes talkin about earth being cursed by having people living on it destroyin it


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Punk4TheMasses
08-24-2002

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He is talking about not believeing whut organized religions tell you b/c they really have no idea whut happens after death. So dont try and fly(kill yourself) to get to something that may not be there....thats whut I think.

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JabbaHutt444
09-06-2002

 Rated  0 
I think it's about trying to break free of a strict organised religion e.g Islam. SOAD are all agnostic (or at least don't believe in organised religion, like me). "Have you ever tried to fly" etc is possibly asking the listener "have you ever considered NOT being a sheep of religion and society? Ever though for yourself?". The first verse has many pastoral references, maybe indicating we all follow religion blindly with no inkling of another way of living.

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TheHappiestColour
05-12-2003

 Rated  0 
i'm with religion

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DavidSpoon
05-28-2004

 Rated  0 
Alright. I have a deviant version of the meaning, if you will.
Pretty much, this song is about progression of the human race without the restraints of ignorance or zeal. Religion was really well covered, so I will ignore that.
"I will never feed off the evergreen luster of your heart...the women chant as they fly up to the sun."
That brings out the current events with progression. We've pretty much been cleaning up our problems with society. People are actually aware of problems with the enviroment and are "breaking past the walls." The women chanting part shows we are not ignorant to women's rights. Once again with progress from when we thought we "knew"
"You never think you know why." Well, the minute you think you know everything, you stop progressing. Ignorance at it's best.
"Books all say different things...sheep that stray from the herd.. etc." That shows that people are trying to influence others constantly with what they know. It's only the individuals who progress society (fly) or are persicuted for their beliefs.
Finally "don't try to fly." Don't do anything stupid just because you don't know better. That's just as bad as routine because of your beliefs.
I'm offering this pile because of the whole, "Society is downgrading" theme of the self title album. Look at the back of your cd case and it explains, "system of a down."

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life_as_lucid
02-25-2005

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Woah...listen to this at 1/2 speed...it's like a whole new song. It sounds awesome.

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Uhanimar
09-16-2005

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The whole song is obviosly about death. I think it's about how people are trying to know what happends after death.

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syko_brat
06-09-2006

 Rated  0 
I was wondering. "able
to break your cursed earth"

On my version it sound more like fuck your ____ earth. It doesnt sound like cursed or break...

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