BlackIllithid90 February 23rd, 2006 12:21AM  

I agree with the armenian-turk interpretation. But the one thing you all have off is what the "Holy Mountains" and the "River Aras" actually are. Looked them up on wikipedia and the River Aras is a border between the Turkish and the Armenians. This river is also possibly the Gihon river mentioned in the second chapter of the Bible. The Holy Mountain does refer to Mount Ararat though, which is the national symbol of Armenia

Cabose March 15th, 2006 01:10AM  

Ok, Armenian here, because none of you got it.
in 1915, The Armenians were mercilessly murdered by the Turks. They murdered everyone they could find. Holy mountain is Mt. Sinai, River Aras was the only boundary between the Turks and Armenians. They lied, killed, sodomized and we Armenians see Turks as horrible demons.

That does it

jacoyakian March 29th, 2006 05:56PM  

Sorry mate, but Serj said himself the song's about Mount Ararat which appears on the Armenian coat of arms. It's now in Turkish territory (since 1915) and is suppossed to be the place where Noah's Ark finally came to land.
Besides, Sinai is in Egypt!

anonymous May 3rd, 2006 11:52PM  

pulled this off of wikipedia ;)

All of the SoaD members are of Armenian descent, and some of their songs (e.g. "P.L.U.C.K." on their 1998 eponymous debut album) allude to Armenian issues such as the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government.

The lyrics of "Holy Mountains" refer to the Aras River, which is found on the border of Turkey. The lyrics of the song are about Mount Ararat, which is considered the national symbol of Armenia, but has been in Turkish territory since the early 1920s. The Book of Genesis identifies this mountain as the resting place of Noah's Ark. As bass guitarist Shavo Odadjian says, "that's one of our national landmarks, like the Armenian soccer team is called Ararat. Imagine if the Grand Canyon was taken over by Mexico ... wait, let me take that back, bad analogy."

and...

A live bootleg of this song, titled "Holy Mountain" (in the singular), leaked on the Internet before the album was published.

It is rumoured to follow Lonely Day late in 2006 as the third single from Hypnotize.

anonymous August 18th, 2006 02:15PM  

Okay, for the last time, the turks decided roundabout 1915 to completely wipe out the armenian race under the cover of world war i...Their aim was to anniliate all men first, leaving the rest of the population seemingly helpless, a process known as "genocide"...The women and children were told they were being deported, when in fact they were just sent marching until, in most cases, death...

So, yes, the genocide did in fact happen and it also was one of the main causes of hitler's plan to kill the jews...He even said, "who here remembers the death of the armenians?" because the world quickly forgot about the armenians

as for the song, I believe, like many others, it is through the eyes of the helpless armenians speaking to the turks, who initiated the mass murders

kellysantina October 16th, 2006 12:09AM  

Ok..People claiming that the genocide didn't happen made me cringe as I read this. Do a little research before you say something you don't know about. There are hundreds of books with pictures and evidence that the genocide did infact occur. I am not of armenian decent, however, I did make a speech on the genocide in one of my college classes. I chose this topic because soad inspired me. I read and reasearched this topic a lot. It did happen.

Back to the interpretation, I agree with everyone who said things about noah's ark and araks river and the mountain ararat

mafu_hungy November 22nd, 2006 03:55PM  

Here's the correct interpretation. with no doubt in my mind the song is about the mt amarat genocide in the early 18th century where turkish soldiers were forced to become "liar, killer, demon!" and kill the inhabitants of the area. The song is called holy mountains refering to mt amarat where noahs ark is supposed to have landed after the great flood. the river aras is a big river in turkey is there much more to say really pretty straight foward, apparently family of a member or 2 idn the story here buit anyway poart of their family died in that mind you I don't get it because isn't a genocide wiping out the whole lot???

anonymous February 8th, 2007 08:48AM  

I'm not entirely sure about this song. I don't know if it means the Armenians and Turks or not, but I think the line "Someone's mouth said paint them all red" is referring to someone telling his/her troops/men to kill others, painting them red meaning them covered in their blood because they have been killed.

anonymous February 8th, 2007 08:51AM  

The guy/chick who said about the river aras being the border between Turkey and Armenia has definitely got the best interpretation. Thanx

anonymous March 6th, 2007 01:58PM  

I'm most definitely going to get my ass kicked for this one, but if any of you know what system of a down is about they hate the american government as far as I can tell, so why do a song about our soldiers?

No I think this is about how people in during any genocide had to run away hence the part about freedom. The whole liar deceiver had to do with people like Saddam who said they would trust him to take care of them and then he kills his own people or the Bosnia genocide. pr it can be about how we trusted bush not to go to war with Iraq and he's a liar deceiver sodomiser etc. So that's what I think but hey what ever you think is ok with me.

anonymous May 31st, 2007 08:45PM  

First of all, the name of the song is Holy Mountains. Secondly, this song is about how the Turkish government (Talaat Pasha) commanded the Armenians dead in a genocide, known as the Armenian Genocide. This happened from 1915-1923. Still today, the government will not admit it. Also, the holy mountains are that of Aratat. And the river Aras is the one that separates the Turks from the Armenians. Hence why they yell, "Back to the River Aras!" System Of A Down are one of the only bands who try to make people recognize this. Genocide is evil, life is precious. If you can't respect that, then you deserve to die. This song was made to reach out to those who are ignorant of the issue. Serj Tankian's grandfather told him stories of this massacre; that is why he is affected by it so much. I hope the Turks realize and repent of the sins they committed. That is the message of System Of A Down - Holy Mountains.

anonymous June 2nd, 2007 02:58PM  

Whoever's saying this wasn't a genocide is an idiot. Just because all the Jews in the world aren't dead, does that mean Hitler's actions against them didn't count as a genocide?

anonymous August 31st, 2007 03:23PM  

I think the line "Back to the river Aras" refers to the Turks being pushed back to the border between Turkey and Armenia.

anonymous February 22nd, 2008 10:26AM  

Tha land over the river Aras (on the left side) was under the rule od Russia about 1915. Those Armenians who fled from Turks and managed to cross the river were saved and, let's say, free.

Besides, there was an episode in WWI when a group of few thousands Armenians fortified themselves on Musa Dagh mountain near Mediterranean coast of Turkey and kept defending against consequent attacks of Turkish army for almost two months. They were picked up by allies ships and survived.

anonymous July 3rd, 2008 11:05PM  

I think, Some people are just plain dumb. I also think, that some people only have a small idea on what this song is really about.

Can you feel their haunting presence?

I think this is about when the Turks began the Genocide on the Armenians.

Liar, Killer, Demon
Back to the river Aras

This is about how the Turks Lied about their status in the goverment, Killer, Because of all the Armenians they killed, And Demon, Because what Angel would do something like that?

Can you hear the holy mountains?

I Think this is about how The Ararat Mountains, the holy mountains, used to belong to the Armenians, And now it belongs to the Turks.

Someone's mouth said paint them all red

I think this is talking about the Turk leader who decided that the Armenians needed to go.

They have returned
Resting on the mountainside

I think this talks about the Armenians when the genocide was over.

We have learned that you have no
Honor, Murderer, Sodomizer
Back to the river Aras

I think this talks about the Turks, And the after interpretation that they had left on people. Everyone thought that they were good until they realized what they were actually doing.

So We LEARNED That the Turks are assholes and shouldn't be trusted.

This is only what I think, But maybe it can help you put the pieces together.

anonymous October 27th, 2008 02:54PM  

Beautiful Song, especially with the part, where they sing about freedom.

Well I am myself Turkish, but my grand grandfather saved Armenians and Assyrians from ongoing genocide. Later the government found out about it and killed him for "betrayal". God thing, the Ottoman government don't exist anymore. But as long as Turkey is ruled by right-wingers, we gonna call San Marino our home. Eventually forever. And Armenians don't like us too, since we are only Turks. Fairly they don't know about the sacrifice, my grand grandfather made in the name of humanity.
And as long, as hatred is living up, there will be no peace out there. Don't let stupefying Nationalism and Religious fanaticism get the better of you. It's like a epidemic plague, killing everything.

anonymous December 23rd, 2008 02:58PM  

i am turk but actually it doesn't matter because a lot of people were killed in the anatolia not only armenians but also turks.do you know why that is happened?ottoman empire must had to said because armenians were killing turks and turks are also killing the armenians.but that is the only way to rescue armeniens.some people are think this is the genocide but no one never think why this happened during ww1,why ottoman didn't do before the war.i think that is explaining everything.if ottoman empire wants to kill armeniens,it was possible and ottoman was the one of the most strongest country,but it happened.i believe even though a lot of people were killed, that was not genocide because ottoman empire was trying to stop to fight each other.i am sorry not only for us but also for you;but we did the same mistake...i understand you ,and invite you to fight fascism and nationalism .that is the only way to save the world

anonymous December 27th, 2008 04:27PM  

just understand that when you are in war you have to take actions against the family you are making accusations and some of even don t know the geographical places the incident happened. did you now that armenians attacked from behind during the independence war of turks and armenians were armed with the help of russians. are you that naive to believe that armenians hided in a stupid mountain during a war why do you think that turks decided to move armenians away becauses they were slaughtering the turkish villages but this act of armenians can not be classified as a genocide because in a war there are no good and bad everybody fights for thier own rights so the act of turks is not a genocide either it is something to have an opinian on a subject but don t you try to distort the history and reveal your level. !

anonymous August 23rd, 2009 10:00AM  

Oh, of course it wasn't a genocide...it was just by "accident" that 1,5 million Armenians were brutally killed and tortured by the turks...it was an "accident" that women and children were raped and left to die of thirst and hunger in the Syrian desert...of course...this happens everyday, right?

I can imagine why the Turkish government doesn't admit the genocide, but it's absolutely ignorant that the Turkish CIVILIANS don't admit the genocide. This is so sad.

The Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria. Massacres were indiscriminate of age or gender, with rape and other sexual abuse commonplace.
The premeditated destruction of objects of Armenian cultural, religious, historical and communal heritage was yet another key purpose of both the genocide itself and the post-genocidal campaign of denial. Armenian churches and monasteries were destroyed, Armenian cemeteries flattened, and, in several cities, Armenian quarters were demolished.

And by the way, as a response to the continuing denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish State, many activists among Armenian Diaspora communities have pushed for formal recognition of the Armenian genocide from various governments around the world. 21 countries and 42 U.S. States have adopted resolutions acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as a bona fide historical event.

All I can do is ask for you, the turks, to study and read about your History before saying bullshit you don't know about on the internet.
If you don't know about something, stay quiet.

anonymous August 23rd, 2009 10:04AM  

For the Turkish that said Armenians don't like him simply because he's turkish: it's because of people who wrote bullshit after your comment that I don't like ignorant people. Thus all you can do is to stop your friends saying things they don't know about, so it won't be representative of your country. The guy is talking about being agains fascism and he is a representative of nazi of the worst kind.