Useless Spending

Useless Spending

Analysis of the Song "Boom!" by System of a Down

"The strangest thing about this impending war is that the people -- the REAL majority who make up the population of this country and the world -- do not truly want to go to war," said Michael Moore. (Goliath)

System of a Down released their album "Steal This Album" in the year 2002: a year after the 9/11 attacks. Many of their songs describe how the band feels about the current issues in the world. One of their songs, "Boom!" protested the war in Iraq. It protests about how the government spends countless amounts of the taxpayers' money on bombing when it should be put to better use. People all over the world are starving or are ill and instead of using the money to save those less fortunate third world countries, the government is using it to destroy them. The lyrics are mostly self-explanatory with the lead singer, Serj Tankian, asking, "Why must we kill our own kind?" near the end of the song.

Filmmaker Michael Moore joined System of a Down in creating the music video for "Boom!" They videotaped anti-war marches and the band interacting with the crowds (ChartAttack). The video also included an animation of President Bush, the British Prime Minister, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein on rockets. When the music video for the song released, it was banned from airing. TV channels, such as MTV and Fuse, were afraid that it would offend a major sponsor, the U.S. Army (Lappe, Anthony).

The song starts with what sounds like the bass and cymbals. The bass gives the type of suspense in a horror movie and the heart beats to the same rhythm as the song. It goes on for a little while and then suddenly stops. Then, a new beat comes in with Serj, the lead singer, speaking. There is a voice vocalizing in the background. Serj talks about "clueless neckties working, revolving fake lawn houses, housing all your fears desensitized by TV" which suggests that the everyday workers, living in the "perfect" society, have no idea what is really going on in the world because they are blinded by the media and advertising.

Then, the chorus comes: "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom." Serj sings, "Every time you drop the bomb, you kill the god your child has born." Part of the chorus is emphasized when guitarist, Daron Malakian, joins Serj in singing, "You kill the god your child has born." This implies that war destroys the faith children are taught so they lose their will to believe that there is a god.

The next verse has Serj almost shouting, "the bottom line is money." This line suggests that money is all that is in the minds of the government. There are more important issues than war and the government overlooks that. Serj's voice becomes more forceful as he says, "4000 hungry children leave us per hour from starvation, while billions are spent on bombs, creating death showers." He is saying how there are children dying all over the world from starvation and instead of helping them, the government spends