soadfan12 August 6th, 2005 11:13PM  
This song is clearly anti-Operation Iraqi "Freedom". "Hangers sitting dripped in oil crying freedom" "Why dont the presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?" "Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine" all point to this song being anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Derrick Speshock September 16th, 2005 05:57AM  
I read this in the guitar world interview with Daron Malakian so I know this is right.

For starters, the song is about the way military ads appeal to you. In military ads, they say things like "Hey, get out there and start a career, make friends" they don't tell you that you are going to fight a war. (That should be a given though).

The rest is about how most hip-hop artists sing about the same self centered ideas. They say things like "everybody go out and party, it's all you." The song shows the correlation between the two. That is what the song is about! Right from Malakians lips.

anonymous October 10th, 2005 02:09PM  
Not gonna argue with the guy who read an interview. jake.harvey: I think people are referring to the fact that the president doesn't know what it's like fighting a war, and how a lot of soldiers are comparitively poor compared to the rich and famous.

Not forgetting it's a damn good song!

anonymous October 12th, 2005 04:37PM  
To jake harvey who just seems to be slating the song, I'd like to see you write a better one. No, that's right, you couldn't. The tempo changes? They're not easy to put effectively into a song, and they do it perfectly.

Stop taking it at face value, they dont want the president literally on the front line, like the other guy said, they're just challenging the president, saying "you go fight the war along with all the good people dying. What's that? You wouldn't? didn't think so" or something to that effect. The rest is rather self explanatory

anonymous November 29th, 2005 08:44PM  
"Why do they always send the poor?" is referring to the army advertisments in which they pay for college tuition. Hey kids, if you kill Iraqis and die, we'll pay for your college!

craiggoetz November 30th, 2005 01:34AM  
This has to be the best one of them all. Sure it's really popular and "mainstream," but it's got great stuff to it, if you really analyze it. Let's try.

"Why do we always send the poor?" let's face it: you never see rich, upscale white males in the military, right? But that's beside the point. America loves to publicize the wars its been in, propaganda, war bonds, etc., thus the "Barbarisms by Barbara" and the line thereafter. Barbara Walters is a well-known figure in news and shocking exploits, and she sure enough wears heels with great points on then, so that's obvious, right? all right, the military is a great thing to be in, because you get money to go to college, eh? That sure sounds like a "brand new spanking deal." We needed more people to join the Army to fight this war, so we publicize the spicy deal.

Moving on, soldiers are drilled and trained enough to where they become "hypnotic computers." in addition to this, Bush (as well as the rest of the government, but I'm using his name so much to represend them as a hole because I don't like very many things he's done) needs the protection of the US Army, but they still lie to the troops and say it's all about Saddam and WMD's (mentioned at the end of my "Attack" synopsis). So, the Army (and other branches of the military as well) go to the "party" in Iraq to "have a good time," as the ads for the US Army (and other branches, respectively) preach. "dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine" is pretty much a given. The "kneeling roses" are less than effortlessly derived to be the Muslim population doing their thrice-daily prayers, "disappearing" into the crowds of the over-populated (ever seen a Muslim mass-prayer ceremony?), overly-religious desert setting in which they live. (referring to "Moses' dry mouth," even though they don't do the whole Moses thing, it's still religiously related, if only through the word "religious." it could also mean it's the land where Moses led the whoever to the wherever, I can't remember, as I have long since removed myself from the contricting throves of Christianity.)

I'm only in the second verse, mind you. If you didn't know, Fort Knox is the location of the US gold reserves, a place the government would turn to so they may fund this forsaken war. The hangars spoken of are where planes and choppers from past wars reside, retaining that old American-favorite word "freedom." the rest of the song should be self-explanatory, so I expect you understand it as well as I did the this entire song.

anonymous December 17th, 2005 07:11AM  
Daron Malakian said in Kerrang! (Issue no. 1087):
"I was just watching ads for the army and it inspired the song. And you have a lot of people in this country who put flags on their cars and say they're supporting the troops. But my way of supporting the troops was saying, 'Why don't presidents fight in the war? Why do they always send the poor?'. I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot of troops out there that will agree with that statement, especially the ones that come home without their legs.
"Well I'm watching the army ad and it's saying, 'Come and make a career and meet new friends and go new places...'. Everybody's going to the party have a real good time! That's just naturally what came to the song. Actually I had a project I was doing called The Scars On Broadway, when I was hanging out with (Amen frontman) Casey Chaos. I wrote it for that project, but I started getting deeper into the System project and I took that song to System. I wrote it so I can take it where I want! But that's how it came about."

anonymous January 5th, 2006 11:12AM  
Well I've been listening to the song a lot lately and I think I got a good idea of what is going on. When they say "Why do they always send the poor?" It may be refering to Vietnam since it was somtimes refered to a war of the poor. The lines after that are an example of propaganda. When it says "you depend on our protection" It's talking about the normal people who go out to the army, because without them, there would be nothing to fight with. Then it brings in "yet you feed us lies from the tablecloth" which refers to the government lying to the army it depends on. The party part is talking about what the avarage person thinks of war because of the government. They don't see the death they just see it as a party. This type of propaganda was very common during WWI. The kneeling roses part is what has me so perplexed though. I don't know what a kneeling rose is and why they are dissapearing, or why moses is in this all of a sudden. But, I think this refers to the money lost since his mouth is dry and it brings up oil and fort knox. The crying freedom part gives an idea of what the other side may be thinking during all this. When it brings up that we all live in a fascist nation it's probably reffering to mussolini who ran a fascist govt. and lied to his people all the time. The where the fuck are you part is yet more propaganda trying to get you into the army.

So this song is basically about propaganda and lies from the government.

stale January 18th, 2006 11:26PM  
I am very dessipointed with a lot of people, on this issue. Many of you have never experienced poverty, I have. Yet, wether a super power should intervene and tell us what to do, to make things better, doesn't make it right. Harvey, and yes you, the guy with the friend who fought in the war...you have no right to say anything because you have been blind folded by the same propaganda that SOAD is talking about! This song is perfect on many levels. At least there are people who are taking a stand on something.
I would love to know who have experienced war, without something to defend yourself with. Living in a place where you hear bombs in the distant and near by. Waking every morning searching, outside your doorstep, through piles of bodies looking for loved ones. WAR IS NEVER GOOD ! WE ARE ALL PEOPLE, PEOPLE !!! Just like SOAD said on one of the award shows, "AS A CIVILIZATION WE ARE A FAILURE!!!." US can't even take care of New Orleans and won't rebuild quickly, even though the hurricane season is 5 months away. But yet they wish to reconstruct Iraq ! For all you who are blind, everything you watch from your warm couch, getting fat, most of what you see on the news in Iraq and everywhere else is staged ! I watched a documentary on it ! and no it wasn't the micheal moore movie. You think the US is soo great! so you think killing 2 year old girls is a great thing??? bringing villages to ashes??? This is what I have to say to people who believe in war and what I think in a different way SOAD was trying to say in this song. If you can kill your mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter and those you truly care then you can go to war, because that's what the US does everyday ! JUST LISTEN TO THE NEWS, AND HOW MANY TIMES THE US BOMBS INNOCENT AREAS AND KILLS HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ! IMAGINE IF THAT HAPPENED HEAR DAILY !!!! "CAN YOU SAY NUCLEAR WEAPONS??!!" Anyways although it is difficult to really say what you want on something like this. For those who believe that the US is doing something wrong, lets all support SOAD and lets breath a sigh of relief and realize that we are not the only ones who feel the say. And Finally be happy that someone is SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT ! THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS BRING AWARENESS OF THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS WHEREVER THE US GOES !

anonymous September 2nd, 2006 10:10PM  
Byob (which stands for ‘bring your own bombs’) are about the wars being waged in the middle east and how the people that are sent there are usually of lower class and make less money in society, it also talks of how presidents will never go and fight the war themselves whether it be resolving issues through peace agreements, but will always resort to sending people to go to war to resolve the problem. Thus that is why they have the lines ‘why don’t presidents fight the war, why do they always they always send the poor?’

it also speaks of how america or americans for that matter think they are liberating countries from fascism but don't understand that they actually are under fascist rule to some extent, this is said through the sarcastic lines ‘and we don’t live in a fascist nation’. System of a down is against the war, and the reasons for it and, is trying to get people to realize the amount of control the media and government have on the way we perceive things. They also mention ‘hypnotic computers’ which may suggest that through media people are being brainwashed into thinking that by going into the war-which in this case is the iraqi war- people are doing good and are helping and freeing others in need.

Byob also tells of how there are always great deals that the government come up with for people to take advantage of if you join the military in america, one example is your college fees will be paid for if you do join the military and fight in wars, and that is stated in the lines ‘brand new spanking deals’.

There may be many meanings to the lines ‘war? Why do they always send the poor?’ one of the reasons is that there are two sides; one side is the president and the other sides are the corporations, and the president makes deals with these corporations and makes a lot of money from them, and whilst they lead the rich life, the soldiers march out to war. Then the lyrics go on to say ‘you depend on our protection yet you feed us lies from the table cloth’, this is saying that the president does depend on the people of his nation to protect his country, yet he still lies about what is really happening out in the war and its purpose on the news (thus the lines ‘yet you feed us lies from the tablecloth’).

The lines ‘everybody’s going to the party have a real good time’ are saying that everyone is going to the war-which in this case is referred to as a ‘party’ and ‘have a real good time’ is the reference to killing opposing soldiers, in this case iraqi soldiers- and the lines ‘dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine’ creates a sense of imagery, in which the soldiers of america are creating a darkness or blinded evil towards the area they fight in because they are fighting and killing for all the wrong reasons thus we have the lines ‘blowing up the sunshine’.

This is my english essay, I thought it would be fun to just wack it up on this site for people who have nothing else to do but read other peoples' interpretations, and also for the kids who have to do an essay on this song.

anonymous October 27th, 2006 05:14AM  
By bigdaddy:
i find it disappointing that so many people have used this great song's lyrics to promote their single-minded political propaganda - as is also the case with many inerpretations of system songs.

B.Y.O.B is strictly anti-war, and, yes, that is what this song is about about ("war" but also many current issues). System is presenting the american war in iraq as the epitomy of how global society has been unable to live peacefully and advance humanitarian goals. ...Not just bashing president bush.

Soad, like most of you should be, is grateful that they don't live in a "facist nation". However, the band is smarter than just blaming the bush administration for their idiocracy in iraq...Their lyrics here, like many of their songs, are about the corruption of the system (hence the name: system of a down...The degrading global political system!).

The song's title, "bring your own bomb" is singularily refering to nuclear weapons as necessary for partying at the international level of power. Only nuclear powers (the big 5) are able to do whatever they want and party.

Soad sees the system as corroupt and therefore recognizes that in today's world, the only way to fight international evil and "promote" humanitarianism is with more evil (war, death, domestic corruption and large class divisions.

It is hard to place the blame for the current advent of american unipolarity and its global policiing as the only fix to legitimate problems. However, this song clearly shows that fixing the shit that has gone seriously wrong on this planet goes deeper than badmouthing bush or complaining about the severity of war and the obvious economic and social mishaps it entails.

anonymous November 14th, 2006 06:44PM  
To the guy that thinks byob stands for be your own boss... Wow. Byob normally stands for bring your own beer which is put on things like party invitations to tell the guests to bring there own alcohol. Therefore, bring your own bombs makes sense because it ties in with war being shown as a "party".

I don't know why I took the time to explain that... I need to find something to do.

anonymous December 22nd, 2006 01:19PM  
One central problem for me as I am not a native speaker is the following:

Does the line "Why don't presidents fight the war?" mean

a) Why don't presidents fight IN the war?
or
b) Why don't presidents fight against war?

anonymous January 7th, 2007 06:49PM  
The day-to-day used acronym B.Y.O.B. usually stands for “Bring Your Own Beer/Beef” . In this case it should be Bring Your Own Bombs.
After the intro the song starts with the rhetorical shrieked question “Why do they always send the poor?” and at the end it is changed into the exclamation “They always send the poor!” which criticises the exorbitant high number of poor people mostly with a low level of education in the US army. As “B.Y.O.B.” is naturally used in the context of garden parties is this song directly addressed to George W. Bush who should fight this war on his own and not by soldiers. This impression is emphasised by “Why don’t presidents fight the war?” (which can also be seen as presidents should fight to stop war) and “Where the ---- are you?” so he should bring his own bombs to the “party” in the “desert”.
The Bush-administration and a bigger part of the American population believe that other parts of the world (which includes the Iraq) are underdeveloped and a kind of “barbarian” but by behaving like this the Bush-administration is barbarian (“Barbarism by barbaras”). This line also refers to Barbara Walters, a famous news presenter, dressed “with pointed heels” who shows the bright side of war, an act of propaganda.
The war itself has been won by the allies because they have the better and more modern equipment (“Victorious, victorious steel”) and the industry of arms is happy because they sell their weapons (“For brand new spankin’ deals” – can also interpreted that the young, poor soldiers make “good” deals by joining the army because now the state pays for their college fees, many poor people do that to have the chance to get an education, of course it’s a good working method of the army to get new recruits).
“Marching forward hypocritic and hypnotic computers” hints again at the modern technology and its abuse (“hypnotic computers”), misuse as a concealment of facts and that people are manipulated by the media and the soldiers are “marching forward hypercritic” and shoot everything they see before thinking about it (friendly fire) or “marching forward hypocritic” (as the band writes it) which would implicate that this war is lead by hypocritical reasons.
“You depend on our protection” is the first ironical sentence which criticises that the official reason for this war was to protect the Iraqi population and the world against Saddam Hussein but the real cause was oil. Along with this goes “Yet you feed us lies from the tablecloth” alluding to the faked satellite pictures and other “proves” that justified the war and the uneducated part of the population, who has to fight the war, believes this because they don’t know better.
The chorus again is very ironical, exploding bombs look like a sunset which explains the phrase “blowing up the sunshine”. Again we can find the analogy of war and party “Everybody is going to the party have a real good time”. Furthermore this criticises the military ads to gain young soldiers in which war is presented more like having a good time and making a lot of friends. “Dancing in the dessert” is an anti-thesis. The way the chorus is sung with the happy “la la la” beforehand criticises the glorification of wars and that the American population does not get the cruel reports about soldiers in Iraq.
“Kneeling roses disappearing” refers to the destruction of nature by wars. Furthermore is “roses” a synonym for soldier because they look like roses when their jackets are constricted by the belts. It also can be seen as Muslims kneeling on the ground and praying to God – as an effect of war they disappear because they get killed.
They chose Moses because he led Israel out of Egypt – an alliteration to Bush who sees himself as God-like and the USA always supports Israel. His mouth is dry (“Moses’ dry mouth”) because in the dessert water and food is narrow. This can also hint at the American industry which is always thirsty and addicted to oil.
Fort Knox is a symbol for money and the American economy, “breaking into Fort Knox” then stands for 9/11 which was an assault against America and the global economics and stole “their intentions” – mainly money.
“Hangers sitting dripped in oil crying freedom” can be the Iraqi population screaming for help and to attract this they are “dripped in oil” which makes them pretty attractive for industrial nations because they desperately need oil for their economy. The impression arises that the Iraqi population did not want this kind of freedom the US wants to give them (being the supplier for oil and having a puppet government) as “freedom” is sung very ironical.
“Handed to obsoletion” stands for the reason of this war because oil is an antiquated technology and thus criticises this war of economical reasons and to save the old technology based on oil.
The bridge describes the beginning of the war, imagine Bush saying “Let’s got start this war” – “Blast off, it’s party time”. Then comes irony again, (“We’re not living in a fascist nation”) on one hand the US army is going to free the Iraq of a dictatorship and a fascist ideology but on the other they do not realize that the US itself is fascistic to a certain extend, racisms still exists in many minds - who can think of a black president?

anonymous February 1st, 2007 09:37AM  
um, I know its sort of late, and this might be a really dumb question but what is Barbarisms by Barbaras? I tried looking it up and such... and I didn't really find anything that clarified it. I guess my google-ing skills arent very good. So could someone help me out?

anonymous February 21st, 2007 09:03PM  
Just wanted to make a comment for the guy who said that the War on Iraq is good because we are LIBERATING the Iraqis... Dude, if Bush is soooo concerned about liberating people, then why the hell is he not liberating the Sudanese in Darfur from GENOCIDE??? It's just incredible how naive some people are...

anonymous February 22nd, 2007 11:55PM  
First of all I would like to System often points out injustice. This song is about how presidents send our troops to war with no fucking idea how we are going to finish the job and get home. My cousin was in Iraq, and he told us point blank that we will never get out of there. We will have a base there forever. System Of A Down is right. Bush keeps on saying that we will pull out soon but he keeps sending more troops. Lies from the tablecloth.

anonymous May 18th, 2007 05:50PM  
The poor do fight the war but there are middle class figures there too as my dad was one of them - he joined because he wanted too. Then my sister joined the armed forces because she had no money in New York - she did enjoy the work, but hated Iraq. So point being, she agrees with the song its pretty well on the money...it also does a decent job to avoid pointing fingers and making concentrated point rather it does hint at possibilities of what the lyrics could mean.

If you have a lot of money are you going to join the military? probably not, if your poor and its a business that pays but you also sign your life away - are you going to take that risk - believe it or not - its worth it to some of us. We all know this, all of us...and system of a down is stating this in their song - using the military ads a reference to pulling in people like MY SISTER in. Whom by the way loves SOAD...

Ubercool June 3rd, 2007 06:00PM  
Its an antiwar song no doubt. The line that I found the most interesting is why do they always send the poor. Everyone knows why, and SOAD is opening close-minded upper class republicans eyes. We know that The Army is one way to pay for collage. All the poor people are are brilliant but can't afford to learn don't have any other options but the army to pay for collage. But most of them die because in our Economy, it's survival of the richest.

anonymous July 31st, 2007 11:36PM  
Jake.harvey I really have to disagree with you about the sending the poor part. I mean aren't you required to sign up for draft at the age of 18? I'm still younger than 18 so I don't know much but usually people enlist for draft to get an education because they can't afford one. So the people sent in to fight the war are the poor most of the time.

Remember I'm still less than 18 so I'm sure about this.