anonymous 2006-04-28 12:56:39    

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...Daron said live and I quote "Once again this song is about nothing!"

XXXshenanigans04 2006-04-29 15:15:55    

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Of course daron said the song has no meaning! The artists always say that when the song really does have a meaning. Look in the past, at songs such as "hey jude" by the beatles. It wasnt until 20 years later that they said it was about John lennons son, Jules. Just because Daron says the song has no meaning it does not prove anything!
Personally I think the song is about losing your true identity to what society thinks you should be like.
Oh, and just because the music video has a wierd lookin kid in it, it doesn't mean the song is about aliens, music videos arent always about the song. In fact, many times the artist doesn't even decide what the music video will have in it, there are producers and writers that make visuals that they think will go well with the song.
Just my personal thoughts on the song.

anonymous 2006-06-09 10:00:12    

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the picture behind this song is how a disabled child can see a trapeizist and be amazed, while other people will just walk by and not notice; it is about how being in different circumstances can change the way we view the world.

anonymous 2006-06-11 18:32:19    

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Well I think that The song is about kids not being kids and spending so much time being important that they can't be kids. (The music video showing an unhappy kid being surrounded by paparatzi). The music video also shows the band playing in a circle which I think represents a target and in the end of the video the kid lies down in the target. I think this means that he is a target for society and publicity
This is just my opoinion

slipknot_fiend666 2006-06-21 12:49:50    

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daron says this song has no meaning at the BDO concert..so there.

anonymous 2006-07-17 08:32:08    

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the band almost always says their songs are meaningless or about some random thing that doesn't seem to have great purpose, but if you also take a look at one of their goals, which is to help people to think for themselves, then you have to look past even their own words to find any meaning that they would have tried to plant there for us.
a lot of their songs seemed to be based off of how they feel about things.
when they say

Life is a waterfall
We're one in the river
and one again after the fall

The lyrics rush you with several meanings at once.
Life is a waterfall, what do we notice about waterfalls?
They fall downwards, so life brings us down. Isn't it true? The actual reality of the things that go on in the world, murders, rapes, death, it can really bring you down if you acknowledge them. Another thing about a waterfall is that it never exists on its own, it always has a source, like a river or a stream. So if a waterfall is the acknowledgement of the terrible things in the world and letting it bring you down, what could the river be? The time before you realize what goes on in the world, often times this is your childhood. So when we're one in the river, and we're one again after the fall, it shows we are ourselves before and after the reality if life hits us and brings us down. Is that true for everyone? No, but think about it. When we were living as children with not a worry in the world, we were ourselves. Then once we began figuring out how the world worked and what happens in the world, we probably had a time of inner conflict where we had to figure things out, and after we figured/figure it out can adjust to it and find ourselves again.

Swimming through the void
we hear the words
we lose ourselves
but we find it all?

I'm going to skip to the second line to help you understand the first later.
We hear the words, we lose ourselves but we find it all. Well when we hear the words, we are being told or educated something. Following up on the previous meaning, we are probably finding out about the reality of life. After we find out about life, we lose ourselves but we find it all, which means we are given the full picture of what's going on, so we find out about everything (or do we? that's why there's a question mark there). So this part is describing the actual fall of life.
So what is the void?
Since we are still swimming through the river of life, the void is the place right "before" the fall. It is the image of life and what we believe to be true that we are living out before we actually know, and then we "hear the words" (are educated about what really goes on in the world) and then the "fall" takes place while we deal with what we have found out.

Cause we are the ones that want to play
always want to go
But you never want to stay

and we are the ones that want to choose
always want to play
but you never want to lose.

this describes our nature during our time in the Void or before the actual fall takes place. These descriptions of who we are is what makes the fall so devastating to us.
Cause we are the ones that want to play:
we don't want to have to take things seriously, we want to just have fun and be kids, without responsibility, and living in happy ignorance.
When reality hits us, we can no longer "play" we have to "work" and "survive".
Always want to go, but you never want to stay.
Humans in general are never really satisfied, we always strive for more and we always want.
we always want to go out and try to gain what we want, but we never stay satisified with it.
When reality hits us, we can't always get what we want and sometimes we do have to try and stay with what we have.
and we are the ones that want to choose
Humans want to be in control generally, and we want to choose for ourselves and sometimes others. When reality hits us, we don't always have this kind of control and we don't always get to choose what we get or what happens to us.
we always want to play but we never want to lose
this is a given, who wants to lose at anything? but when reality hits us, what happens? we find out that sometimes we have to lose, we can't win everything.

So those lines described us in the void.

Aerials in the sky
When you lose small mind
You free your life.

Aerials are just things in the sky. Basically this part is saying, think big, don't think with a "small mind", think about the big picture, and it will free your life.

Life is a waterfall
we drink from the river
then we turn around and put up our walls

life is a waterfall just shows us that we are speaking of the river AFTER the fall at this point. We drink from the river, then we turn around and put up our walls. So we experience life now knowing what it is like since we are after the falls and we have experienced life, so instead of accepting it, we turn around and put up our walls. For those of you that don't know, walls in psychological terms is rejecting or blocking something out to protect yourself. In this case we are protecting ourselves against life, after tasting what it's like after gaining an understanding of it, so this stanza or whatever its called just shows us what we think of life knowing what it is now. This is probably before we are ourselves again, what we are like before we adapt to life's reality and become ourselves again.

Aerials, in the sky,
When you lose small mind,
You free your life.
Aerials, so up high,
When you free your eyes,
Eternal prize.
Aerials, in the sky,
When you lose small mind,
You free your life.
Aerials, so up high,
When you free your eyes,
Eternal prize.

This is just saying the same thing as before, think big rather than thinking with a small mind. Think of the big picture. Think as big and tall as the aerials in the sky. Adapt to life knowing what it is, now that you have gained the new understanding

thanks for reading
-ryan (look past the obvious to the truth)

anonymous 2006-07-19 11:55:51    

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Well daron did say "once again this song is about nothing" its at www.Youtube.Com. Search for system of a down aerials and you'll find it in there. But I think it has a meaning..But I'm too dumb to really think of one. But it sounds random though too...So I don't know

tainted_youth 2006-08-02 03:49:15    

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The ppl who r saying that a member of the band "said it themselves" r a little misinformed. Soad is not going to tell you what the songs r about beause they want you to come up w/ your own damn ideas. If they tell you then you lose piece of mind and have a set explanation. So technically no matter what you say as long as its what you truly believe, then no one is wrong

anonymous 2006-08-04 15:01:27    

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This song clearly has a deep meaning and was written with the upmost thought and consideration. I believe that the song talks about the eagerness of the human race. We take what we want from the environment but fail to return the favor. About the sometimes hypocritic nature of us humans and the mental barriers that want to put that make us feel comfortable and sometimes superior. Like to try to block out the existance aliens hence the term aerials, but when we learn to accept these things and be open minded then we will " free our life" as the song clearly says.
The song also says "we're one in the river one again after the fall." so no matter how rich how intelligent how superior a person may be in the end mankind is born and dies.

anonymous 2006-08-18 10:50:09    

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My interpretation of the song.

Life is a waterfall,
we're one in the river,
and one again after the fall.

This is basically telling us that in the united states, we're all equal, with equal rights.

Swimming through the void
we hear the word,
we lost ourselves,
but we find it all?

This is about religion. Religion tells us how we should act, what rules we should obey, and even though we may be doing things that are not in our nature, we do them anyway for the blessings in the afterlife. (heaven, virgins, etc.)

cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay,

and we are the ones that want to choose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose.

This is about our military, and how we always want to liberate other countries, usually for a higher gain for ourselves.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

This is about the ones who have actually sacrificed themselves for others, or their religion. Aerials could be interpreted as angels, in one way or another to whatever god they worship. Some may consider them losing their mind when they kill themselves, but they see it as being free.

Life is a waterfall,
we drink from the river,
then we turn around and put up our walls.

This is talking about how we like to use things from other people, but don't allow them to use our resources in return, without some large substitution, because one's beliefs may be different than others.

Swimming through the void
we hear the word,
we lost ourselves,
but we find it all?

Cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay,

and we are the ones that want to chose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose.

Explained..


Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.
Aerials, so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize.
Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.
Aerials, so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize.

This is again talking about the ones who die for a greater cause usually for their religion or some belief that after their sacrifice, they will have the rewards for eternity.

anonymous 2006-08-22 01:07:49    

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Well if you saw the concert daron said " once again this song is about nothing " . That makes me think that they made the song just so we can think of our own meaning for it.


By the way my opinion is that it's about humans in genaral and how they are with each other and the world and how try put up mental and physcal walls when we 're all supose to be one

acire666 2006-09-10 09:28:47    

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They were probably all high when they wrote it

anonymous 2006-09-12 03:29:28    

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Ok, would people just stop saying that daron said "this song is about nothing"! I don't care if he said that or not, and even if he had, who cares! This website is to allow people to give their own interpretations of music, not have a set in stone one. Jeez...Who cares if the song is about nothing, that's irrelevant in the case of interpretation, and thus, all those trying to set it in stone are idiots who can't think for themselves. Jeez!

kellysantina 2006-10-15 23:59:50    

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Actually, stephenisgreat, I read daron said the song was about how retarded children or children with deformaties (hence the boy in the video) view the world.

anonymous 2006-11-17 15:55:40    

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This is for ryan
i like your interpretation
but go into more detail about the symbol of the river and water in general
water represents life and purity; it is an essential part of us. Yet, we put up a wall to block the water we must drink to live? This is illogical. We must not be truly living life.
Also, consider the void more. How can you swim through a void? We cannot. We struggle to do so. It is in this struggle that our minds are disillusioned and the truth is revealed. The truth is not free because truth is not valued until you earn it. Truth is hidden because the truth is unsettling. If you truly swim through the void you become free. Gravity, like society, is not longer limiting your ability, in this case, to know the truth.

anonymous 2006-12-22 00:40:08    

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To all of you who is saying the song has no meaning-SHUT UP NOW! System is all about free thinking, if you haven't noticed. You have to be a free-thinker, act alone, because that's how you will always be, alone.

anonymous 2006-12-31 08:10:28    

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System always try to confuse us, to make uns think...If they say that there is no meaning, it's because the want us to make us ask ourselves "Wait, there can't be no meaning...Any lyric has no meaning.It's the essential part of a lyric". If you've been listening to soad for years, you would appreciate that.

What I really wanted to say is that this song, like most of you think,is about existentialism, about life itself. Look, an Spanish poet said once "nuestras vidas son los rios, que van a dar a la mar, que es el morir" (Our lives are the rivers, that flows to the sea, where we die). That is exactly what the song says. We are the waterfall.

And the other thing is, why aerials? My little brother told me something that impressed me...So we are the wind, and just imagine yourself winding through aerials...That's life my friend, you can avoid them, or take them down...

There are lots of nuances that I cannot appreciate in this lyric, but we can learn a lot from the songs in this album.
Remember...That EVERYTHING is important..Always

anonymous 2007-01-02 12:22:30    

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Daron wrote this song. Someone already said this, but it's about a disabled boy watching a trapize artist, wanting to be up their but knowing he can't. Shavo said this during an interview in 2002.

anonymous 2007-01-26 22:34:40    

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welll I thought it was about a guy who does a crime (we lost ourselves) and put on trial (one again after the fall). He wants to be free (cause we are the ones that want to play..), he loses his court case (but you never want to lose). on the way to jail after being found guilty he looks up and sees helicopters following the vehicle (aerials....in the sky)..while he is in jail (put up our walls) he wants to get the freedom back so he escapes, and as he is escaping they find out and send helicopters out to find him, which he sees overhead and he "frees his life" after he out of jail and learns from the experience.......ionno but it could be a tight music video

anonymous 2007-02-05 22:27:29    

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I just want to say that just because the video has an alien guy in does not mean that's what the song is about... rarely do rock videos have the same meaning as their songs its just to give cool visualization to their song... and as for anyone who thinks it's about the government... not everything SOAD does is about the system... you mite need some medication if you think that every song is about that... other than that I do not know what this song is about