B.Y.O.B. (song)
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| “B.Y.O.B.” | |||||
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| Single by System of a Down from the album Mezmerize |
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| Released | 2005 | ||||
| Format | 12", CD, Airplay | ||||
| Recorded | The Mansion Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California Akademie Mathematique of Philisophical Sound Research Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre | Alternative metal Nu metal |
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| Length | 4:17 (album version) | ||||
| Label | American/Columbia | ||||
| Writer(s) | Daron Malakian, Casey Chaos, Serj Tankian | ||||
| Producer | Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian | ||||
| Certification | Platinum (RIAA) | ||||
| System of a Down singles chronology | |||||
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| UK CD-R cover | |||||
The UK CD-R cover of "B.Y.O.B.".
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| 7" Limited Edition Picture Disc cover | |||||
Cover of the 7" Limited Edition Picture Disc of "B.Y.O.B.".
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"B.Y.O.B." (Bring Your Own Bombs) is a Grammy Award-winning song and the first single released from System of a Down's fourth album Mezmerize. Its title is a play on the phrase "Bring Your Own Booze", "Bring Your Own Beer" or "Bring Your Own Bottle". It is a politically charged song and was written to protest the war in Iraq.
The line (written by Casey Chaos of Amen/Scum/Damned Damned Damned) "Why do they always send the poor?" echoes a similar line in Black Sabbath's 1970 anti-Vietnam War song "War Pigs" on the album Paranoid, as well as Public Enemy's 1988 song "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".
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[edit] Awards
- "B.Y.O.B." won the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category in the 2006 Grammy Awards.
- The track was the band's only Top 30 hit off Mezmerize peaking at #27.
- It was voted #76 in Total Guitar's 100 Greatest Riffs.
[edit] Music video
The video for "B.Y.O.B." was directed by Jake Nava.
The music video shows an army of drone soldiers marching through the streets, wearing masks that show words such as "DIE", "BUY", "TRUTH", "OBEY" and "GOD" like a television screen, with the members of System of a Down playing in the middle of the venue. The scenes of the soldiers marching is reminiscent of Nazis marching in formation. During the chorus, the band is shown playing inside a night club. Midway through the video, Daron is shown screaming the words "Blast off! It's party time! And we don't live in a fascist nation! Blast off! It's party time! And where the fuck are you?!", when the soldiers attack the night club and force everyone to put on the drone masks (paintball masks) that the soldiers have been wearing, except they depict various television shows and cartoons. At the end of the video, the members of System of a Down are wearing the drone masks, which seem to be playing static.
[edit] Live Performance
Live, Daron Malakian switches to a reggae-styled riff when singing during the chorus. This could be to simplify playing and singing simultaneously, or just a stylistic choice.
The song was performed on May 7, 2005 on Saturday Night Live, 10 days before the release of the album Mezmerize. During this performance, towards the end of the song (during the downward guitar slide, following the line "Why do they always send the poor?"), guitarist Daron Malakian screamed, "Fuck yeah!". This was missed by television censors, and it became a controversial matter for a few days thereafter. However, the rest of the song was able to be censored on time without any trouble.
When performed at the MTV Europe Music Awards, the line "And we don't live in a fascist nation" was changed to "This ain'ts no bullshit political punk rock". Also, where Daron Malakian was supposed to do the guitar slide, he instead screamed "Suck my dick Michael, Suck it!".
[edit] Track listing
- All lyrics written by Daron Malakian/Serj Tankian, all music written by Daron Malakian, except where noted.
[edit] B.Y.O.B. (promo single)
- "B.Y.O.B." (Clean)
- "B.Y.O.B."
[edit] B.Y.O.B. (enhanced single)
- "B.Y.O.B."
- "Forest" (Live) (Lyrics: S. Tankian, Music: D. Malakian)
- "Prison Song" (Live) (Lyrics: S. Tankian/D. Malakian, Music: D. Malakian)
- "Sugar" (Live) (Lyrics: S. Tankian, Music: S. Odadjian/D. Malakian)
- The live tracks were recorded at the Big Day Out 2005 festival.
[edit] B.Y.O.B. (Australian import)
- "B.Y.O.B."
- "Cigaro"
[edit] External links
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