RADIO/VIDEO is the best Harmonization between Serj & Daron. I will continue to scream this from the mountain tops 🏔️ until you are able to sit down and bless yourself with this beautiful tune. Thank you for reawakening the love us SOAD fans have had for years, we hope these videos help the new generation find this beautiful band. There will never be another SYSTEM OF A DOWN 🙏🏾
Yes, yes, Elizabeth, you must to listen RADIO/VIDEO!!! You would enjoy it sooo much! It's so much fun to listen, very playful song with the two very different but also "well passing" singers :)
@@YeetForTheStars absolutely a fan of some Soldier Side. Enjoy the intro in the Mezmerise Album, and enjoy the full ending song in Hypnotize as well! Hope it bid listened to!
"I've tried to explain it... in the end it's just magic" is probably the most accurate explanation of Serj's tone. As kids, one of my best friends was obsessed with SOAD and ingrained the love of them in my mind. For one class we did an interpretive project on this song, I thought at the time we missed the point but somehow it worked in a very Dadaistic way.
While it may not be their best song I think “Holy Mountain” is great representation of System of a Down as a whole, from their musical direction, lyrics, and Serj’s vocal abilities. All are captured perfectly in that song.
Its one of their best songs its about the Armenian Genocide its one of their songs that always makes me near tears you can hear the anger and pain in that one.
Mr. Jack is in my opinion super underrated, and that is purely because it is on an album of high intensity gold stars. Mr. Jack is a slower song, but the use of high and lows in the melody give it one of the most powerful goosebump riddled sounds that SOAD has to offer. It is my favourite song by them by far, and the message has withstood the test of time.
My favorite SOAD song forever. I saw them when I was 14 in 2005. They had lights above that flashed "fuck you pig" over and over and it is forever engraved in my brain.
Every song on Hypnotize (and Mezmerize to a lesser degree) features dual vocals and a metric ton of delicious harmonies. Their entire catalog does this at times but the final two crank it up to 11.
Yes, I love the entire collection from SOAD. Their music has been in my playlist since the first time I heard Chop Suey (22 years ago). It's hard to fathom that Serge (reportedly) said he wasn't "in to" Hypnotize and Mesmerize.
Yeah, for those albums Daron basically went from back up singer to co-singer. Which to be honest I really didn't like when I was younger. It felt wrong for Daron to be stepping on Serj's toes like that. Very silly, young me. It wasn't until a few years later when I listened to Scars on Broadway that I learned to appreciate Daron's voice in its own right, and how well these two compliment each other.
"Dreaming" is undoubtedly a must. Powerful, chaotic,it encorporates complex musical interchanges yet the simplicity is still there and of course there's also the beautiful harmonies and vocals. It definitely does something to me every time i hear it
I always wonder what my favorite soad song is cuz all their songs are so good. But then I find myself really loving Dreaming and repeating it the most. That song is just another level for me 👌🏻
I used to be so disappointed at the lack of SOAD new music in the last 20 yrs. Now, I'm just happy that it happened for a magical period. SOAD just hits in some unexplainable way. So many unique tunes but still heavy.
I've always thought that Serj and Daron's voices sound like they were _made_ to sing and harmonize with one another... they just go along so _perfectly._ 🤌
And yet, Serj isn't that into it. Really sucks for the rest of us. They are perfect together, but neither can seem to find a way to relinquish their egos enough to make it happen.
I always thought that the line "I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl" was spoken from the perspective of western person hearing from the events through radio and reacting lethargically to it. Like they don't care, they just turned on the radio while they wait for their partner to come and that's what happened to be on. The news is just going in from one ear and going right out from the other. @17:06 That is just the album cover of Hypnotize. Would love to see your reaction to "I‐E‐A‐I‐A‐I‐O" simply because of the obscure lyrics. "Holy Mountains" is also a brilliant piece of music, and "Rumi" from Serj's solo work is great as well.
This is how I interpret it too. To me it's the standard "I am just sitting in my car waiting for my girl. Why are you trying to make me depressed by talking about these sad things that are happening elsewhere that doesn't directly affect me?"
That's a really good take. I thought about it as the author is sitting in his car and having genuine thoughts about deep stuff, but at the end of the day that's all they are, just thoughts, and he's just a guy sitting in a car.
SOAD is the pinnacle of not judging a heavy rock band before you listen to them. They both have super unique voices and can sing so well. True unicorn of a band.
100% AGREE. I’ve never been really into heavy rock, but System of a Down is one of my FAVORITE bands. The melodies are amazing as well, shit sends shivers down my spine. Then, on top of that, the lyrics are (and I feel edgy here but I can’t think of another word to use) very deep. Love them so much
@asoggyflipflop Yo, same! I'm into very little music that could be called "heavy" or "metal", but SOAD and Maximum the Hormone are 2 of my all time favourites. I'm also not really a bluegrass fan, but I LOVE Billy Strings. Just goes to show that good is good, and you like what you like.
I feel the same about Primus and obviously TOOL. I've heard Primus is just TOOL but for hillbillies, and fair enough. However the more you break it all down is when it all shines.
I've always felt that the line in this song was about being in one of those life moments where you are witnessing something, but doing all you can to stay out of it... someone comes up to you and you are parked in front of a building - somewhere you are not really supposed to be... I am just sitting in my car waiting for my girl. I am here, an innocent bystander, just chilling - passive, allowing life and conflict to pass us by as we are passively about, observing... but not engaged. That is how I have always interpreted this lyric. But I also know that Daron was sitting in his car waiting on his girl when he wrote this song... something a bit more literal.
I took it slightly darker, that it's about someone who's girlfriend has gone to the demonstration, and he's waiting for her to come back, but of course she won't due to the massacre that happened. I had since heard that he wrote it sitting in his car, so I'm probably wrong on that, but I think it's an interpretation that is quite poignant.
The reason why they resonate in me that much as well because in society there are so many non spoken thoughts and feelings which either leave us blinden or we have no control over it. You see its tragedy but you don't do anything, like siting at either edge of the abyss and looking down in the deep. I'm 34 now, when I was 17 this band was the shoulder I needed when no-one else was there for me. This is not music this is art in its purest form of existence.
She heard about the protests on the radio asking for peace and wanted to go with him. He was busy at work and this was his day off, instead of resting he decided he would drive her there tomorrow. She was excited and kept him up all night preparing for the next day. He was happy, but tired. The morning came and she was ready. Outfit, makeup, sign, supplies she was ready. They loaded up the car and he drove her there. Being grumpy about no sleep and a big work shift later that night he got into an argument with her. And when they got there she left alone to walk to the protest a few blocks away. He stayed with the car. After a while there is a bomb detonation at the protest and people are fleeing. There is gunfire in the not so distant distance. And the police show up. They walk up to this random dude in his car near the scene and all he can repeat over and over is "I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl." As the song and the hours go on you can hear him realize... She's never coming back. "I'm just sitting in my car and... Waiting for my girl."
This is why I don't read comments. Now I'm a bawling mess over this hypothetical scenario (the dude in the car, not the awful, and very real, events of 4th June 1989). So thanks for that! 😂😭
Ok… The line “waiting for my girl” was just bc Daron was literally sitting in his car waiting for his girl to do some errands when he wrote the song, calm down buddy.
I usually refrain from commenting in open spaces like this, but this reaction compelled me to break that rule. I was at this show in '05 when they filmed this music video. I was 16, System was (and still is) my favorite band, and it was my first concert. No words can verbalize how impactful this show and night was for me. This was System at their peak, and seeing your reaction to the instrumental break gave me goosebumps while listening to them for the first time in a very long time. Thank you so much for that. As for which System song you should do next, I vote Holy Mountains.
for me the repeated part of the lyrics give me the feeling of someone who is living his peaceful life doing normal daily things while all these horrible things happen in the world. Maybe hearing about them in the news on radio or televison but not feeling affected by them because it's just a peaceful day for him/her. The repeat of the same line also gives me the image of someone listening to horrible news but trying to tell himself "hey this doesn't affect me. I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl, this is happening far, far away" to not get pushed out of his peacefull happy bubble media and politicians keep us in. (sorry for grammar errors, not a native english speaker)
That's exactly how I always interpreted it too. Like, I'm just trying to do my own thing, and make it through *my* day. But everyday all over the world, people are dealing with their own various situations, good and bad. And the world just keeps turning. Also, "Was fashion the reason, why they were there?" making a comment on how shallow people can be over superficial things, when a lot of people have extremely real and serious problems to deal with.
Yeah this is my interpretation as well. The beginning of the song starts with a few allusions to terrible events, talks about propaganda and how it’s sort of weaponized to hypnotize the population. Ending with repeated “I’m just sitting in my car” makes it seem like the person is trying to convince themselves it is okay, but they know it’s not.
with the different tone to each repetition of "im just sitting...." I thought it was the different stages of grief with the final repetitions being acceptance
I appreciate seeing her nerd out on these songs I’ve known and loved for so long, her in-depth analysis helps someone with zero musical background like me.
Love SOAD so much!! Such a formative band for me and still always pops back I to my life when I didn't know I needed them. Thanks for helping to make that happen 💙. I think of that last line as a metaphor for apathy. Like, "don't look at me I'm just sitting here in my car waiting for my girl". It can also be a double entendre in that "I'm waiting for my girl... But she is not going to come, and I don't want to acknowledge that fact". I always take their general messaging to be " wake up, be aware, face the things you don't want to face and do something to change what isn't right". ✊✊✊
Yes it could very well be a metaphor for apathy... I just noticed the lines after the first time they say the "I'm just sitting..." ---> "She's scared that I will take her away from there/dreams that her country left with no one there" Is it fear of leaving one's political reality, no matter how repressive it is? I don't know, but it's so interesting
This is probably one of my favorite SOAD songs. It's so mesmerizing! And the contrast between the simplicity of the music and the complexity of the meaning is so perfect.
there are only a few bands out there which touch me the way SOAD does. i heard this song so often, that after you stop right after the intro, i knew how the song is going to continue and i heard it in my head and my eyes immediately started watering of joy ...so crazy that music can do this
My dad often listened to SOAD and I wasn't really a fan, I never disliked them. But over the years I've grown to absolutely love them and every now and then I get a huge SOAD phase, they are so fucking good, the songs hit so hard you can almost feel the music, lyrics and voices it's just so unique
Love The Charismatic Voices experience with different types of music genres. Whether it’s pop, rock, or metal, the feeling for music is breathtaking! Been a fan since their first album back in 99’ with their single, Spiders which was on the soundtrack to SCREAM 3
I'm surprised Elizabeth hasn't reacted to "Roulette" or "U-Fig". When I first listened to SOAD as a kid, I didn't realize how profound their lyrics were. Then I listened to the song "Tentative" and I looked up the meaning to the song because the lyrics made no sense to me. After that, I had to listen back to their other songs and the messages hit my middle school brain like a truck. I was now aware of just how much bigger the world was than just what I could see, and how much more difficult and painful life was for so many people and how lucky I was, in a way, to just be a poor American. Ever since then, SOAD have been one of my favorites, and the music I listen to are artists with similar talents in writing strong messages. I can't get enough of the journeys great writers take us on in just a few minutes.
Pink Floyd did that for me as a kid in the 70s, nobody else did that for me really until Tool and then SOAD, and then perhaps to a lesser and darker extent Meshugga.
While this song was germinating in Daron's mind, he was on his cell with another band member, while he sat in his car waiting on his girl. When his pal asked what he was doing, he told him, and he liked the sound of it. So, he incorporated it into these lyrics. But, with his sad, plaintive outro vocal, I think it's clear he wants you to think of someone near Tianenmen Square, who was waiting for his girl, and she never came. For a different side of them, they sometimes have a very playful and zany side to them, so I request Bounce. What Serj does with his vocals on it is so fun.
Agreed like someone was waiting to pick up their significant other after the massacre and now he will never 100% know what happened due to the cover-up
The Armenian stories that Serj and Darren tell us with these pieces make me sentimental, while not even having witnessed any of what he talks about. That is a skill in and of itself.
The way I always interpreted this song was that, yes there are so many things wrong with the world and we are being lied to about them all. Having shallow and to a degree worthless things always shoved down our throats to hypnotize us into whatever is wanted of us. And in all of this it doesn’t matter because he’s, to a degree, tuning it out because he’s outside waiting for his girl, the more/most important thing he has.
It's funny how people acknowledge how we're being lied to about the many "things" that happen but then uncritically swallow the Western narrative that the Chinese state just mowed down loads of citizens. No capacity for analysis.
That's way too many songs from S.O.A.D. They're good, but not THAT good. She needs to do more Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Soundgarden, Danzig, and Faith No More, just to name a few.
The greatness of the SOAD aside, we really enjoyed your interpretations. How you managed to embed emotions, causes they stand for, lyrics, phonetics, and vocals, rather than discussing the vocals purely and rigidly. We are machines, we are human beings, feel the same sentiments and in need of more than just professional comments on vocal chord, and you made us watching your very same reactions over and over again I found all those genuine, straight from the heart
Thank you again for your great analysis :-) The "Symbol" you could not identify is just the album artwork - Both albums Mesmerize and Hypnotize have an unique artwork and you could stick both CDs together and get another picture - it's just like their music: mindblowing and thought provoking.
Gonna say it again; you really should listen to Serj singing Gate 21 live at his Elect the Dead Symphony concert. Awesome song, and an awesome performace. I think you'll love it.
it was incredible to listen to the song with you and watch your face light up and change at the same time as i got goosebumps from the song. there's something so magical about experiencing music with someone who enjoys it as much as you do :)
SOAD is my favorite band from their beginning. Favorite all time. Love the reaction. And it’s worth pointing out that the passion and excitement here in the reaction is so genuine. There’s nothing in it for Elizabeth-it’s not like this band is new/actively putting out music/open for interviews/etc. There are obviously artists that reactors give major props to, and in exchange they may get a younger audience, potential band interview, strike up a conversation about a more current artist, things like that. Reacting to SOAD? No special perks in it for the reactor-you just do that cuz you love it!!
@@JoeStanek-vu7rl sure. My point is that if she was only thinking about getting paid, she could spend her time doing other artists and probably getting more views. So I’m saying I appreciate the choice to review different/diverse music and not just popular music.
Your System of a Down videos are my absolute favorites. Eventhough you know what to expect by now, your mind still gets blown every single time and that's awesome :D
There is a less well known band called Snot that was a real contender for nu-metal greatness until the lead singer died in a car accident in the late 90's. Anyway, the question you posed in the title here made me think of a song of theirs called "The Box". I'm sure you get a thousand recommendations a day but if you have a chance to listen to it I think you may like it. Incredible energy and projection from Lynn Strait. It's a shame more people arent familiar with them.
@@fuksmidlagdmen When I think about bands like SOAD and Deftones and how their sound matured and evolved over the years it makes me sad that we never got to see that out of Lynn.
So much of their style shifts from album to album. Their first album has some of Serj's more wild and idiosyncratic vocal decisions, on songs like "Suggestions" or "Ddevil". Would love to see the first album explored here!
Tears. Why? I am not a political person, and I am an enthusiast for joy (giving and receiving). I feel such passion for the worthy topics SOAD presents, and such revulsion for the blind eye we choose to see with. It seems to be a theme with these guys, and I’m thankful for it. Thank you, Elizabeth, for trying to understand the lyrics of the videos you review. So many people get caught up in SOAD’s music and rock with that blind eye. (It’s only natural … the music is that good). Then we (I) become the duality they so often describe, and it shakes me. Tears of shame and gratitude.(I feel I’ve botched this explanation).
So long as you are trying to effectively understand the world and to make the world a better place with less violence, you are engaging in political acts, and I say this as a hyper political Guy, who's on the extreme end of the left. Even religion and Christianity can be analyzed with the politics of the time, with Jesus an anti-imperialist protester given the death sentence. If you feel rage at injustice, if you talk about how you feel about current events with a definite opinion, you are giving political commentary. Many choose not to view it in that lens, but others will. Politics is one of the games that is involuntary, both on the other end and what you find yourself doing. Maybe your in it only for a season, but there are few who stay away their whole lives. I understand there are those who don't want to get too close, and I respect that, but we are all implicated, whether we think we are or not.
I'm glad you got to this song. it's my favorite SOAD song. It's simple yet insanely complex too. There are very few words, but there are alot of meanings. It's a paradox wrapped into a song. And I love Darren's vocals.
I think their extremely underrated song "Streamline" is a great example of 2001 Serj's great vocals. But if you want a calm song with both Serj and Daron's beautiful vocals, you NEED to hear "Roulette"
I love Science by SOAD. That song just hits right in every regard for me. A band that are vocally, musically and lyrically divisive. Perhaps victims of the their own commercial success in the MTV age with toxicity and chop suey. A band i always go back to when i need to perk up as they have this wonderful frenzied energy in their songs. I think the repeating line in this song is about just generally ignoring the horror of modern life. It’s best to try let it happen around you and go on as normal? That’s my take anyway.
Now that you've heard some of Yes, I think King Crimson would be another great way to learn about Prog Rock's early days! Yes was in many ways directly inspired by their sound. Their song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from their debut album is a great showcase of how experimental they could get. But if you want to hear Greg Lake's haunting and grand vocals I'd recommend Epitaph or In The Wake of Poseidon!
@@stefanomaccheo No- the ppl who own the rights to their music are video blockers. The actual band probably has nothing whatsoever to do with it. 9 times out of 10 this is the case- the musicians themselves don't block or sue anyone- it's the ppl who own the rights to the song or album in question- which usually isn't the band. That's not always the case- Don Henley is a great example- he viciously goes after anyone who dares play an Eagle's lick without paying up first. But that's rare, most of the time the musicians don't even know someone has posted one of their songs or something. But the ppl who own the rights to the music do- because they actively search the internet daily for instances of it.
The songs of System of a Down are dazzling, that beautiful combination of Armenian melodies that Serj makes with his powerful baritone voice and Daron's sweet supporting voice give it a special touch. System of a Down is more than a Rock band.
I'm really thankful for your posts! Your attention to the musical details in their songs as well as your take on some of their lyrics made me listen to SOAD in a new light (wave?) and fall in love with their work a second time after many years. Thank you so much! And thanks to the geniuses of SOAD of course for being such an outstanding and enlightening set of ppl ❤
13:29 this Armenian Folk Tale part is an absolute perfection. Triggers goosebumps all over my body every single time. Beautiful and so unexpected in a rock music but also such a beautiful flow from one genre to another and back. Amazing. Music is the best form of Time Machine.
I'd love to see you review either Radio/Video or Sad Statue. The duo harmonize great on both of those. Sad Statue is one of their most underrated songs in general. Either way, SOAD is the greatest and I'm always happy when you review them.
I'd love to see your reaction to the song "Mr. Jack" from Steal This Album. The dissonant harmonies on that song are so unique. That entire album is so under-rated and is one of their best!
I love the way this harmony allows singing along in soooo many ways mixing natural and phrygian scales - endless pleasure. There're tons of similar tunes in Eastern (slavic, asian, middle east, you name it) tunes worth to listen and learn
I really love Ego Brain by SOAD, these ar so touching lyrics (to me at least) and puts up the well-known fact that Daron & Serj are so good at harmonizing and put so much emotion through the voice. And also the guitar is beautiful.
This song, and really their whole catalog, just sounds so full and good on a big stereo system! I still jam this stuff quite often, and as i've gotten older, it makes me emotional thinking about and understanding the themes better.
I came across your channel just a week ago, scrolling through all your SOAD-videos. Really hooked and loved your videos, and just now realized why. Always loved System of a Downs music, and your channel makes me understand why i love their music so much! Would love to see you analyze many more songs like Cigaro, Revenga, Vicinity of Obscenity, Radio/Video, Holy Mountains, Soldier Side and Psycho! Looking forward to see more :)
The art at the end is the cover art for their album Hypnotize. But if you really want to nerd out the vocal harmonies of both Serj and Darren you should check out Old School Hollywood and Radio/Video. There are more songs but those are the two I always think of first.
I have never heard a System fan say they like Old School Hollywood. Personally I think it's their weakest song out of an amazing discography. I won't skip it when it comes on, but I've never gone out of my way to listen to it.
Love your metal beanie and hoodie - good visual presentation - your sympathetic analysis of all kinds of music makes your videos easy to watch and educational - that's a very unique blend for RUclips and we all appreciate it - Merry Christmas Liz❤🎄
"In the end it is just magic". I come back to your SOAD reactions every now and then. This was my band when I got into music and growing up. I was thinking this is magic and then you said it. It has such a profound impact and nostalgia for me. I hope you listen to Roulette some time. Music can convey emotions quite well.
It always makes me sad to know they left so much on the table as I know they had so much more to give the world with their music. Amazing band with phenomenal sound!
Serj never wanted to be a Rockstar. And tbh, it makes sense to leave while you're on top than burn out like Great White still playing shows in small bars at 70 years old 😂
@robertcrowley4599 yup, and also potentially ruining, or at least soiling, your legacy. People want to remember that energetic, wild band, not some old guys who are taketh, but don't move too much
Serj went on to make a classical album (ruclips.net/video/U4-1bHbYb68/видео.html&ab_channel=YussepCantor), jazz album (ruclips.net/video/U73ifvX2cu0/видео.html&ab_channel=Flos), and a few SOAD style albums.
@@Cablev94 Serj's solo career is amazing, Elect the Dead Symphony is still one of the best live performances I've ever heard. And how they transformed rock songs from a pretty heavy album compared to his later ones into orchestra pieces is just magic.
Soldier Side Intro and Soldier Side back to back (whether it be the album versions or live version from Sick New World), are perfect examples on how Serj and Daron harmonize perfectly and still deliver a powerful message.
Hello Elizabeth! I’ve been a fan of yours for close to a year now and I love your content! I would love to see an Alanis Morissette analysis from you. Keep up the awesome content and thank you, you rock!!!
I sometimes feel SOAD was able to put more into their 3:30 min songs than Pink Floyd could into half an album. So many different twists and turns, musical and vocal styles and layers upon layers of emotions. That made me listen to their albums again and again even after almost 20 years. New nuances to discover every single time.
Sadly that's also why SOAD stopped making albums. They couldn't get anything past the cutting room floor because nothing ever sounded *quite* SOAD enough for serj and sometimes others who were also unhappy with the writes
Hi Elizabeth!...sweet and beautiful as always!...greetings from Colombia and happy because you accurately analyze Metal in all its expressions...from the greatness of Nightwish, through the power of Metallica, the message of System of a Down or making us shudder with the incomparable voice of Eddie Vedder...thank you because even though we don't speak English in the country, we are sure that our musical taste is the correct... God bless you!!...
This is my personal favourite SOAD song. Everytime I hear it, it's just transports me to a different time, place and feeling. Waiting for my girl always leaves me with the feeling of being trapped inside our 9-5 waiting for "my girl" to finish work and thinking about your life, about the news, about reality we are presented through TV. Feeling frustrated in a 3.09 capsule of sound. Brilliant.
For years, I got off work an hour before my girlfriend, Monday thru Friday, waiting in my car to pick her up because I didn't ever want to be late, disappointing her. Just sitting in the dark, window down, all seasons, listening to music and thinking about my utter insignificance in how the people of the world are treated. By me, by others. Feeling helpless. Only the music to dampen my emotions. Waiting for her to join me in our joy or misery at what the day had wrought upon us. Nights when something really bad had happened, to us, to unknown nameless others. I can still taste the humid stifling air and the biting, crisp frozen air. And I still cry when I think back on the countless days worth of time. Just sitting in my car. Thinking. Waiting.
Fun fact: a friend pointed out a crowd flasher in the official video around 1:50. Her upper frontals are immortalized still. That aside, long time SOAD fan and recent fan of your show. Candid input from such a smart musician is always appreciated keep it up!
I don't think it's really right to say the meaning of any SOAD song is "deep", more so that it's heavy and maybe even profound, even accurate to now, but "deep" is so vague and non-specific that it kinda does the songs a big disservice, y'know?
I think being a little lost helps us to continue to expand our thoughts and it is nice to see Elizabeth exploring new ground as she has helped me so many times. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your feelings with a band that is making us think!!
Always loved the harmonies in all of System of a Down songs. Elizabeth if you ever want to hear another band with tremendous harmony structures, check out a Canadian band called Harem Scarem. Melodic rock harmonies at it's finest!
This is the song that first drew me to SOAD. I would be fascinated by an analysis of one of their newer songs, "Protect the Land", perhaps a comparison of new with the classic SOAD? It is a bit different, but still uniquely SOAD; I think it's a pretty enjoyable listen
I like to think of “I’m just sitting in my car, waiting for my girl” as a response to police officer questioning a man in his car on the side of the road. The officer continues to question the man as he replies, “I’m just sitting in my car, waiting for my giiiiirrrlll” over and over until the officer leaves him be.
Honestly I've always heard the last bit as someone who's being forced out of an area and both voices are saying that they're just waiting, but they're at different times in the story. It goes from Serj to Darin, light to exasperated, and it concludes with seeing that the girl they were waiting for as they were being directed out of an area, sadly passed in front of them
for me the song blends the mundane "I'm just waiting for my girl" with the stories like the ones on Tiannamen. They also make a joke about it, speaking ironically as if asking to a fashion obsessed a non political person "Was fashion the reason why they where there??"
@@joseanl Same for me. The line always struck me as: my girl is in the store shopping and I'm just waiting in my car for her to come out. Both of us oblivious to how shallow our pursuits are compared to the struggles of people the same age in other places.
@@mikecarey5432 I feel it's kind of a combo what you said and what I said I just didn't voice it well. I'm claiming that said girl is at the protests and the one waiting in the car is being told to leave
I literally just commented on one of your older videos suggesting Hypnotize haha my favourite SOAD song. I can't emphasise enough how much you should listen to Lie Lie Lie by Serj. There are two versions - the original and the orchestral version. Both are stellar vocal performances from the main man. You got yourself a sub here. Love your breakdowns and discovery.
The vocal styling, and a lot of their tonality are tied to their Armenian heritage. I often think of calls to prayer when Serj sings. Might be fun to hear you explore that connection
"Lost in Hollywood" is probably the best example of how well Serj & Darren harmonize together
and Soldier Side
Yes, Lost in Hollywood deff
Deff a must react
Yes!
Radio video more
Liz: Am I part of the problem
Serj: WHY DON'T YOU ASK THE KIDS IN TIANANMEN SQUARE
LMAOOO
imagine playing this in PRC country 😆
RADIO/VIDEO is the best Harmonization between Serj & Daron. I will continue to scream this from the mountain tops 🏔️ until you are able to sit down and bless yourself with this beautiful tune. Thank you for reawakening the love us SOAD fans have had for years, we hope these videos help the new generation find this beautiful band. There will never be another SYSTEM OF A DOWN 🙏🏾
Agreed. But maybe the lack of music video is a problem for reactions.
Yes, yes, Elizabeth, you must to listen RADIO/VIDEO!!! You would enjoy it sooo much! It's so much fun to listen, very playful song with the two very different but also "well passing" singers :)
@@Scoobay I don't believe a music video is necessary to enjoy a reaction. Music in itself is enough IMO
I am here to say that I can't wait for her to analyze this song!
Yes I totally agree. However idk if enough happens in this song to make it a great candidate for a reaction video
Soldier Side is a harmony the whole way through and its beautiful. Honestly I could watch you do SoaD videos exclusively and never get tired of it.
Soldier Side is for sure my absolute favorite song!
💯
it's not the popular one, but I listened to it and actually cried. there was so much emotion I felt in it.
@@uhbier I love playing that on piano
@@YeetForTheStars absolutely a fan of some Soldier Side. Enjoy the intro in the Mezmerise Album, and enjoy the full ending song in Hypnotize as well! Hope it bid listened to!
"I've tried to explain it... in the end it's just magic" is probably the most accurate explanation of Serj's tone.
As kids, one of my best friends was obsessed with SOAD and ingrained the love of them in my mind. For one class we did an interpretive project on this song, I thought at the time we missed the point but somehow it worked in a very Dadaistic way.
While it may not be their best song I think “Holy Mountain” is great representation of System of a Down as a whole, from their musical direction, lyrics, and Serj’s vocal abilities. All are captured perfectly in that song.
I love this song, it's one of my favorites
Its one of their best songs its about the Armenian Genocide its one of their songs that always makes me near tears you can hear the anger and pain in that one.
I was about to recommend this song. The range of serjs vocals on this song is out of this world
YES! very underrated song. I hope it makes it on the next one
Fuckin love this song! So much emotion behind the delivery. It’s one of my favorites alongside Radio/Video because it’s just a really fun song
Mr. Jack is in my opinion super underrated, and that is purely because it is on an album of high intensity gold stars. Mr. Jack is a slower song, but the use of high and lows in the melody give it one of the most powerful goosebump riddled sounds that SOAD has to offer. It is my favourite song by them by far, and the message has withstood the test of time.
My favorite SOAD song forever. I saw them when I was 14 in 2005. They had lights above that flashed "fuck you pig" over and over and it is forever engraved in my brain.
It's one of my favorites as well!
Mr. Jack is by far one of my favorites, could't agree more with you
Literally just made this comment then seen yours… she will crazy love that song… they harmonize way too well in that one 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Fantastic fucking song!
Every song on Hypnotize (and Mezmerize to a lesser degree) features dual vocals and a metric ton of delicious harmonies. Their entire catalog does this at times but the final two crank it up to 11.
They harmonize a shit load in steal this album too!
@@joshuaguerra2651 For sure. Ego Brain, Mr. Jack, Innervision...basically all of them. Some of their best stuff. Totally underrated album.
Yes, I love the entire collection from SOAD. Their music has been in my playlist since the first time I heard Chop Suey (22 years ago).
It's hard to fathom that Serge (reportedly) said he wasn't "in to" Hypnotize and Mesmerize.
Yeah, for those albums Daron basically went from back up singer to co-singer. Which to be honest I really didn't like when I was younger. It felt wrong for Daron to be stepping on Serj's toes like that. Very silly, young me. It wasn't until a few years later when I listened to Scars on Broadway that I learned to appreciate Daron's voice in its own right, and how well these two compliment each other.
@@S14N9LSEgo Brain is such an underrated song. Glad to see it mentioned here!
"Dreaming" is undoubtedly a must. Powerful, chaotic,it encorporates complex musical interchanges yet the simplicity is still there and of course there's also the beautiful harmonies and vocals. It definitely does something to me every time i hear it
EXCELLENT underrated song. It feels like the same degree of transformative as songs like Toxicity, BYOB, etc. It's for sure in my top 7 SOAD songs.
yes please! the "dreaming of screaming" part of daron and serj singing together is sooo beautiful and remarkable
Yes do dreaming!
@@xsystem1That part always sends chills down my spine. Damnit I love this band so much.
I always wonder what my favorite soad song is cuz all their songs are so good. But then I find myself really loving Dreaming and repeating it the most. That song is just another level for me 👌🏻
I used to be so disappointed at the lack of SOAD new music in the last 20 yrs. Now, I'm just happy that it happened for a magical period. SOAD just hits in some unexplainable way. So many unique tunes but still heavy.
Have you listened to Serj Tankian's stuff. It's incredible.
I've always thought that Serj and Daron's voices sound like they were _made_ to sing and harmonize with one another... they just go along so _perfectly._ 🤌
And yet, Serj isn't that into it. Really sucks for the rest of us. They are perfect together, but neither can seem to find a way to relinquish their egos enough to make it happen.
"I've tried to explain why Serj's tone hits my heart so many times"... Yeah I feel that too
Yup
Same
I always thought that the line "I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl" was spoken from the perspective of western person hearing from the events through radio and reacting lethargically to it. Like they don't care, they just turned on the radio while they wait for their partner to come and that's what happened to be on. The news is just going in from one ear and going right out from the other.
@17:06 That is just the album cover of Hypnotize.
Would love to see your reaction to "I‐E‐A‐I‐A‐I‐O" simply because of the obscure lyrics. "Holy Mountains" is also a brilliant piece of music, and "Rumi" from Serj's solo work is great as well.
This is how I interpret it too. To me it's the standard "I am just sitting in my car waiting for my girl. Why are you trying to make me depressed by talking about these sad things that are happening elsewhere that doesn't directly affect me?"
This is exactly how I take it as well.
ooohh i always just thought that lyric was a funny filler and didn't dwell on it but that's a very good take
I think you nailed it, as a teenager I thought it was about someone who was about to become a victim of a reigeme
That's a really good take. I thought about it as the author is sitting in his car and having genuine thoughts about deep stuff, but at the end of the day that's all they are, just thoughts, and he's just a guy sitting in a car.
SOAD is the pinnacle of not judging a heavy rock band before you listen to them. They both have super unique voices and can sing so well. True unicorn of a band.
100% AGREE. I’ve never been really into heavy rock, but System of a Down is one of my FAVORITE bands. The melodies are amazing as well, shit sends shivers down my spine. Then, on top of that, the lyrics are (and I feel edgy here but I can’t think of another word to use) very deep. Love them so much
@asoggyflipflop
Yo, same! I'm into very little music that could be called "heavy" or "metal", but SOAD and Maximum the Hormone are 2 of my all time favourites. I'm also not really a bluegrass fan, but I LOVE Billy Strings. Just goes to show that good is good, and you like what you like.
I feel the same about Primus and obviously TOOL. I've heard Primus is just TOOL but for hillbillies, and fair enough. However the more you break it all down is when it all shines.
Ego Brain is an underrated gem and where all the harmonization shenanigans started. A true work of art.
egobrain has been my favorite system tune for over 20 years, THANK YOU! most people seem to ignore it...
"Tentative" is one of my favorite SOAD songs. I love the harmonies, and the lyrics are devastating.
Yeah, same. My favourite from Mezmerize/Hynotize. Well, maybe a tie with Soldier Side. Another one with devastating lyrics! 😅
This was the one I was thinking, it's topical too with everything going on.
If she reacts to/analyzes a song that powerful, she needs to balance it out with something nonsensical like Vicinity Of Obscenity maybe
@@uncluckable6535 One of the times where its not daron singing the majority of a weird one. She's like heroin is my go to wtf SOAD song.
@@Slaughter0tter that's fair
I've always felt that the line in this song was about being in one of those life moments where you are witnessing something, but doing all you can to stay out of it... someone comes up to you and you are parked in front of a building - somewhere you are not really supposed to be... I am just sitting in my car waiting for my girl. I am here, an innocent bystander, just chilling - passive, allowing life and conflict to pass us by as we are passively about, observing... but not engaged. That is how I have always interpreted this lyric. But I also know that Daron was sitting in his car waiting on his girl when he wrote this song... something a bit more literal.
Same
I took it slightly darker, that it's about someone who's girlfriend has gone to the demonstration, and he's waiting for her to come back, but of course she won't due to the massacre that happened. I had since heard that he wrote it sitting in his car, so I'm probably wrong on that, but I think it's an interpretation that is quite poignant.
@@noggintubewow - that is deep. I had not thought of that before ... you could absolutely see it that way.
The reason why they resonate in me that much as well because in society there are so many non spoken thoughts and feelings which either leave us blinden or we have no control over it. You see its tragedy but you don't do anything, like siting at either edge of the abyss and looking down in the deep. I'm 34 now, when I was 17 this band was the shoulder I needed when no-one else was there for me. This is not music this is art in its purest form of existence.
@@noggintube I think that's the same sentiment as the original comment.
She heard about the protests on the radio asking for peace and wanted to go with him. He was busy at work and this was his day off, instead of resting he decided he would drive her there tomorrow. She was excited and kept him up all night preparing for the next day. He was happy, but tired. The morning came and she was ready. Outfit, makeup, sign, supplies she was ready. They loaded up the car and he drove her there. Being grumpy about no sleep and a big work shift later that night he got into an argument with her. And when they got there she left alone to walk to the protest a few blocks away. He stayed with the car. After a while there is a bomb detonation at the protest and people are fleeing. There is gunfire in the not so distant distance. And the police show up. They walk up to this random dude in his car near the scene and all he can repeat over and over is "I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl." As the song and the hours go on you can hear him realize... She's never coming back. "I'm just sitting in my car and... Waiting for my girl."
omg best interpretation i`ve seen so far
Fuuuck. Good interpretation damn
@@joseph10ize let me know if you have a better one :)
This is why I don't read comments. Now I'm a bawling mess over this hypothetical scenario (the dude in the car, not the awful, and very real, events of 4th June 1989). So thanks for that! 😂😭
Ok… The line “waiting for my girl” was just bc Daron was literally sitting in his car waiting for his girl to do some errands when he wrote the song, calm down buddy.
Daron is one of the geniuses of our generation. He makes so simple songs but yet absolutely powerful and deep.
I usually refrain from commenting in open spaces like this, but this reaction compelled me to break that rule.
I was at this show in '05 when they filmed this music video. I was 16, System was (and still is) my favorite band, and it was my first concert. No words can verbalize how impactful this show and night was for me. This was System at their peak, and seeing your reaction to the instrumental break gave me goosebumps while listening to them for the first time in a very long time. Thank you so much for that.
As for which System song you should do next, I vote Holy Mountains.
Definitely one of the best shows I have ever seen.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Holy Mountains is an absolute must ❤
Holy Mountains is amazing, probably my favorite System song and a great showcase of the vocals and emotion of the band.
Adore holy mountains
for me the repeated part of the lyrics give me the feeling of someone who is living his peaceful life doing normal daily things while all these horrible things happen in the world. Maybe hearing about them in the news on radio or televison but not feeling affected by them because it's just a peaceful day for him/her. The repeat of the same line also gives me the image of someone listening to horrible news but trying to tell himself "hey this doesn't affect me. I'm just sitting in my car and waiting for my girl, this is happening far, far away" to not get pushed out of his peacefull happy bubble media and politicians keep us in. (sorry for grammar errors, not a native english speaker)
That's exactly how I always interpreted it too. Like, I'm just trying to do my own thing, and make it through *my* day. But everyday all over the world, people are dealing with their own various situations, good and bad. And the world just keeps turning. Also, "Was fashion the reason, why they were there?" making a comment on how shallow people can be over superficial things, when a lot of people have extremely real and serious problems to deal with.
Yeah this is my interpretation as well. The beginning of the song starts with a few allusions to terrible events, talks about propaganda and how it’s sort of weaponized to hypnotize the population. Ending with repeated “I’m just sitting in my car” makes it seem like the person is trying to convince themselves it is okay, but they know it’s not.
yes, this is what Ialways thought too. We dont care and just go on with our life ignoring all the shit happening
with the different tone to each repetition of "im just sitting...." I thought it was the different stages of grief with the final repetitions being acceptance
@@bbyklee_8873 I love the descending resolve from Serj at the end , too. There is a sense of finality, completion. Relief?
I appreciate seeing her nerd out on these songs I’ve known and loved for so long, her in-depth analysis helps someone with zero musical background like me.
Love SOAD so much!! Such a formative band for me and still always pops back I to my life when I didn't know I needed them. Thanks for helping to make that happen 💙.
I think of that last line as a metaphor for apathy. Like, "don't look at me I'm just sitting here in my car waiting for my girl". It can also be a double entendre in that "I'm waiting for my girl... But she is not going to come, and I don't want to acknowledge that fact".
I always take their general messaging to be " wake up, be aware, face the things you don't want to face and do something to change what isn't right". ✊✊✊
Yes it could very well be a metaphor for apathy... I just noticed the lines after the first time they say the "I'm just sitting..." ---> "She's scared that I will take her away from there/dreams that her country left with no one there" Is it fear of leaving one's political reality, no matter how repressive it is? I don't know, but it's so interesting
You were able to put into words exactly what i was thinking with regards to apathy. Love the comment!
This is probably one of my favorite SOAD songs. It's so mesmerizing! And the contrast between the simplicity of the music and the complexity of the meaning is so perfect.
I love that you're still coming back to system of a down, they're my favourite videos!
there are only a few bands out there which touch me the way SOAD does. i heard this song so often, that after you stop right after the intro, i knew how the song is going to continue and i heard it in my head and my eyes immediately started watering of joy ...so crazy that music can do this
My dad often listened to SOAD and I wasn't really a fan, I never disliked them. But over the years I've grown to absolutely love them and every now and then I get a huge SOAD phase, they are so fucking good, the songs hit so hard you can almost feel the music, lyrics and voices it's just so unique
Love The Charismatic Voices experience with different types of music genres. Whether it’s pop, rock, or metal, the feeling for music is breathtaking! Been a fan since their first album back in 99’ with their single, Spiders which was on the soundtrack to SCREAM 3
I'm surprised Elizabeth hasn't reacted to "Roulette" or "U-Fig".
When I first listened to SOAD as a kid, I didn't realize how profound their lyrics were. Then I listened to the song "Tentative" and I looked up the meaning to the song because the lyrics made no sense to me. After that, I had to listen back to their other songs and the messages hit my middle school brain like a truck. I was now aware of just how much bigger the world was than just what I could see, and how much more difficult and painful life was for so many people and how lucky I was, in a way, to just be a poor American.
Ever since then, SOAD have been one of my favorites, and the music I listen to are artists with similar talents in writing strong messages. I can't get enough of the journeys great writers take us on in just a few minutes.
Pink Floyd did that for me as a kid in the 70s, nobody else did that for me really until Tool and then SOAD, and then perhaps to a lesser and darker extent Meshugga.
@@MF-de6jh At this point in my life, my #1 band is RUSH. Peart was just an amazing lyricist.
Love Roulette.
This is the SOAD song I’ve been waiting for you to do. Love this song. The harmonies are amazing.
She has the kinds of reactions I wish my friends had when I told them about a song. Love these videos.
While this song was germinating in Daron's mind, he was on his cell with another band member, while he sat in his car waiting on his girl. When his pal asked what he was doing, he told him, and he liked the sound of it. So, he incorporated it into these lyrics. But, with his sad, plaintive outro vocal, I think it's clear he wants you to think of someone near Tianenmen Square, who was waiting for his girl, and she never came.
For a different side of them, they sometimes have a very playful and zany side to them, so I request Bounce. What Serj does with his vocals on it is so fun.
Agreed like someone was waiting to pick up their significant other after the massacre and now he will never 100% know what happened due to the cover-up
SOAD is one of those bands that just gets better and better the more you listen to them.
The Armenian stories that Serj and Darren tell us with these pieces make me sentimental, while not even having witnessed any of what he talks about. That is a skill in and of itself.
This is my favorite song of all time, reacted to by my favorite music video reactor. You explain exactly what i feel every time i listen to SOAD.
“Streamline” for sure. The second verse in that song is actual vocal magic.
The way I always interpreted this song was that, yes there are so many things wrong with the world and we are being lied to about them all. Having shallow and to a degree worthless things always shoved down our throats to hypnotize us into whatever is wanted of us. And in all of this it doesn’t matter because he’s, to a degree, tuning it out because he’s outside waiting for his girl, the more/most important thing he has.
It's funny how people acknowledge how we're being lied to about the many "things" that happen but then uncritically swallow the Western narrative that the Chinese state just mowed down loads of citizens. No capacity for analysis.
With 8 SOAD under her belt that she has analyzed and this the ninth, Is Elizabeth "Hypnotized" by SOAD I'm thinking, yes.
Y cual seria el problema?? 😂
Yes, so let's get her mesmerized next :)
That's way too many songs from S.O.A.D. They're good, but not THAT good. She needs to do more Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Soundgarden, Danzig, and Faith No More, just to name a few.
@@dmitryowens Good list of bands. I'm wanting to see more of my favorite band Lovebites, the Metal Queens 🤘
I will check out every single one
The greatness of the SOAD aside, we really enjoyed your interpretations. How you managed to embed emotions, causes they stand for, lyrics, phonetics, and vocals, rather than discussing the vocals purely and rigidly. We are machines, we are human beings, feel the same sentiments and in need of more than just professional comments on vocal chord, and you made us watching your very same reactions over and over again
I found all those genuine, straight from the heart
Thank you again for your great analysis :-) The "Symbol" you could not identify is just the album artwork - Both albums Mesmerize and Hypnotize have an unique artwork and you could stick both CDs together and get another picture - it's just like their music: mindblowing and thought provoking.
The artwork was done by Daron's father, Vartan
Gonna say it again; you really should listen to Serj singing Gate 21 live at his Elect the Dead Symphony concert. Awesome song, and an awesome performace. I think you'll love it.
It’s so good. Almost sounds fake how good he is there!
I second this!!
it was incredible to listen to the song with you and watch your face light up and change at the same time as i got goosebumps from the song. there's something so magical about experiencing music with someone who enjoys it as much as you do :)
SOAD is my favorite band from their beginning. Favorite all time. Love the reaction. And it’s worth pointing out that the passion and excitement here in the reaction is so genuine. There’s nothing in it for Elizabeth-it’s not like this band is new/actively putting out music/open for interviews/etc. There are obviously artists that reactors give major props to, and in exchange they may get a younger audience, potential band interview, strike up a conversation about a more current artist, things like that. Reacting to SOAD? No special perks in it for the reactor-you just do that cuz you love it!!
I believe she gets paid if we watch her videos.
@@JoeStanek-vu7rl sure. My point is that if she was only thinking about getting paid, she could spend her time doing other artists and probably getting more views. So I’m saying I appreciate the choice to review different/diverse music and not just popular music.
"Soldier Side" - Please its my favourite song. IMO its masterpiece
Your System of a Down videos are my absolute favorites. Eventhough you know what to expect by now, your mind still gets blown every single time and that's awesome :D
There is a less well known band called Snot that was a real contender for nu-metal greatness until the lead singer died in a car accident in the late 90's.
Anyway, the question you posed in the title here made me think of a song of theirs called "The Box". I'm sure you get a thousand recommendations a day but if you have a chance to listen to it I think you may like it. Incredible energy and projection from Lynn Strait. It's a shame more people arent familiar with them.
HARD AGREE ! snot is amazing and i really wish they got more recognition
@@fuksmidlagdmen When I think about bands like SOAD and Deftones and how their sound matured and evolved over the years it makes me sad that we never got to see that out of Lynn.
Snot! Great first album
I want too listen more songs system of down ❤😂
Thanks for the introduction :)
So much of their style shifts from album to album. Their first album has some of Serj's more wild and idiosyncratic vocal decisions, on songs like "Suggestions" or "Ddevil". Would love to see the first album explored here!
With how the albums flow together, would love to see a full album full discography listen from her
Tears. Why? I am not a political person, and I am an enthusiast for joy (giving and receiving). I feel such passion for the worthy topics SOAD presents, and such revulsion for the blind eye we choose to see with. It seems to be a theme with these guys, and I’m thankful for it. Thank you, Elizabeth, for trying to understand the lyrics of the videos you review. So many people get caught up in SOAD’s music and rock with that blind eye. (It’s only natural … the music is that good). Then we (I) become the duality they so often describe, and it shakes me. Tears of shame and gratitude.(I feel I’ve botched this explanation).
So long as you are trying to effectively understand the world and to make the world a better place with less violence, you are engaging in political acts, and I say this as a hyper political Guy, who's on the extreme end of the left. Even religion and Christianity can be analyzed with the politics of the time, with Jesus an anti-imperialist protester given the death sentence.
If you feel rage at injustice, if you talk about how you feel about current events with a definite opinion, you are giving political commentary.
Many choose not to view it in that lens, but others will. Politics is one of the games that is involuntary, both on the other end and what you find yourself doing. Maybe your in it only for a season, but there are few who stay away their whole lives.
I understand there are those who don't want to get too close, and I respect that, but we are all implicated, whether we think we are or not.
The way SOAD writes songs is awesome, the blend of music works perfectly
Watching her analyze SOAD will NEVER get old. Just fantastic.
I was at the show this video was filmed at! Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of the best concerts I've ever been to!
I'm glad you got to this song. it's my favorite SOAD song. It's simple yet insanely complex too. There are very few words, but there are alot of meanings. It's a paradox wrapped into a song. And I love Darren's vocals.
I think their extremely underrated song "Streamline" is a great example of 2001 Serj's great vocals. But if you want a calm song with both Serj and Daron's beautiful vocals, you NEED to hear "Roulette"
Great songs
Fully agree,ive suggested this track here before..its impressive...Streamline next please 😈
I love Science by SOAD. That song just hits right in every regard for me. A band that are vocally, musically and lyrically divisive. Perhaps victims of the their own commercial success in the MTV age with toxicity and chop suey. A band i always go back to when i need to perk up as they have this wonderful frenzied energy in their songs.
I think the repeating line in this song is about just generally ignoring the horror of modern life. It’s best to try let it happen around you and go on as normal? That’s my take anyway.
keep reacting to SOAD songs please!! It's been a wonderful journey with you.
Now that you've heard some of Yes, I think King Crimson would be another great way to learn about Prog Rock's early days! Yes was in many ways directly inspired by their sound.
Their song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from their debut album is a great showcase of how experimental they could get. But if you want to hear Greg Lake's haunting and grand vocals I'd recommend Epitaph or In The Wake of Poseidon!
Starless.👍
I would love it but it will never happen. KC is a video blocker.
@@stefanomaccheo No- the ppl who own the rights to their music are video blockers. The actual band probably has nothing whatsoever to do with it. 9 times out of 10 this is the case- the musicians themselves don't block or sue anyone- it's the ppl who own the rights to the song or album in question- which usually isn't the band. That's not always the case- Don Henley is a great example- he viciously goes after anyone who dares play an Eagle's lick without paying up first. But that's rare, most of the time the musicians don't even know someone has posted one of their songs or something. But the ppl who own the rights to the music do- because they actively search the internet daily for instances of it.
@stefanomaccheo there are plenty of KC reactions on YT.
@@shegocrazy Yes, not monetized. There are many others that have tried and failed when it comes to KC reactions and monetization.
The songs of System of a Down are dazzling, that beautiful combination of Armenian melodies that Serj makes with his powerful baritone voice and Daron's sweet supporting voice give it a special touch. System of a Down is more than a Rock band.
If you do more SOAD I would love to hear your thoughts on Holy Mountain, it's incredibly impactful to me
It was my 3rd most played this song in 2023. Love it so much
I'm really thankful for your posts! Your attention to the musical details in their songs as well as your take on some of their lyrics made me listen to SOAD in a new light (wave?) and fall in love with their work a second time after many years. Thank you so much! And thanks to the geniuses of SOAD of course for being such an outstanding and enlightening set of ppl ❤
13:29 this Armenian Folk Tale part is an absolute perfection. Triggers goosebumps all over my body every single time. Beautiful and so unexpected in a rock music but also such a beautiful flow from one genre to another and back. Amazing. Music is the best form of Time Machine.
I'd love to see you review either Radio/Video or Sad Statue. The duo harmonize great on both of those. Sad Statue is one of their most underrated songs in general. Either way, SOAD is the greatest and I'm always happy when you review them.
Sad statue is one of my favorite songs by them
I hope we get more SOAD! Love how much you love Serj's voice
I'd love to see your reaction to the song "Mr. Jack" from Steal This Album. The dissonant harmonies on that song are so unique. That entire album is so under-rated and is one of their best!
I love the way this harmony allows singing along in soooo many ways mixing natural and phrygian scales - endless pleasure. There're tons of similar tunes in Eastern (slavic, asian, middle east, you name it) tunes worth to listen and learn
I really love Ego Brain by SOAD, these ar so touching lyrics (to me at least) and puts up the well-known fact that Daron & Serj are so good at harmonizing and put so much emotion through the voice. And also the guitar is beautiful.
"Simple minded propaganda leaves us blinded" is still one of my favorite lines in all of music. Loved this breakdown.
LOVE this song, and great analysis! Bragging moment; I was at the show this was filmed at, Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan
That must have been absolutely incredible
This song, and really their whole catalog, just sounds so full and good on a big stereo system! I still jam this stuff quite often, and as i've gotten older, it makes me emotional thinking about and understanding the themes better.
I came across your channel just a week ago, scrolling through all your SOAD-videos. Really hooked and loved your videos, and just now realized why. Always loved System of a Downs music, and your channel makes me understand why i love their music so much! Would love to see you analyze many more songs like Cigaro, Revenga, Vicinity of Obscenity, Radio/Video, Holy Mountains, Soldier Side and Psycho! Looking forward to see more :)
Hearing Serj sing Chris Cornell “Like a Stone” hit my heart so hard. It was surreal and beautiful.
The art at the end is the cover art for their album Hypnotize. But if you really want to nerd out the vocal harmonies of both Serj and Darren you should check out Old School Hollywood and Radio/Video. There are more songs but those are the two I always think of first.
I have never heard a System fan say they like Old School Hollywood. Personally I think it's their weakest song out of an amazing discography. I won't skip it when it comes on, but I've never gone out of my way to listen to it.
Love your metal beanie and hoodie - good visual presentation - your sympathetic analysis of all kinds of music makes your videos easy to watch and educational - that's a very unique blend for RUclips and we all appreciate it - Merry Christmas Liz❤🎄
You could do this for their entire discography.
SOAD was my favorite band for a decade before I started processing my angst lmao
They're so good.
"In the end it is just magic". I come back to your SOAD reactions every now and then. This was my band when I got into music and growing up. I was thinking this is magic and then you said it. It has such a profound impact and nostalgia for me. I hope you listen to Roulette some time. Music can convey emotions quite well.
I'm nearly 63 years old, but I love SOAD. So true to life!!! And this, is one of my favorites...
The wait is over! More SOAD!
It always makes me sad to know they left so much on the table as I know they had so much more to give the world with their music. Amazing band with phenomenal sound!
Serj never wanted to be a Rockstar. And tbh, it makes sense to leave while you're on top than burn out like Great White still playing shows in small bars at 70 years old 😂
@@TikkiNikki there's definitely a time to leave and some people miss the opportunity. I agree that it's better than playing into a diminishing return.
@robertcrowley4599 yup, and also potentially ruining, or at least soiling, your legacy. People want to remember that energetic, wild band, not some old guys who are taketh, but don't move too much
Serj went on to make a classical album (ruclips.net/video/U4-1bHbYb68/видео.html&ab_channel=YussepCantor), jazz album (ruclips.net/video/U73ifvX2cu0/видео.html&ab_channel=Flos), and a few SOAD style albums.
@@Cablev94 Serj's solo career is amazing, Elect the Dead Symphony is still one of the best live performances I've ever heard. And how they transformed rock songs from a pretty heavy album compared to his later ones into orchestra pieces is just magic.
Soldier Side Intro and Soldier Side back to back (whether it be the album versions or live version from Sick New World), are perfect examples on how Serj and Daron harmonize perfectly and still deliver a powerful message.
i started liking metal and found soad through your channel about 7 months ago and thats my favorite band ever since
Love your analysis! Privileged to have seen them three times live. One of my favorite bands of all time.
Hello Elizabeth! I’ve been a fan of yours for close to a year now and I love your content! I would love to see an Alanis Morissette analysis from you. Keep up the awesome content and thank you, you rock!!!
CONTINUE COM SYSTEM OF A DOWN
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@@drudkill 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
I sometimes feel SOAD was able to put more into their 3:30 min songs than Pink Floyd could into half an album. So many different twists and turns, musical and vocal styles and layers upon layers of emotions. That made me listen to their albums again and again even after almost 20 years. New nuances to discover every single time.
Sadly that's also why SOAD stopped making albums. They couldn't get anything past the cutting room floor because nothing ever sounded *quite* SOAD enough for serj and sometimes others who were also unhappy with the writes
Why did Pink Floyd catch a stray here 😂
Hi Elizabeth!...sweet and beautiful as always!...greetings from Colombia and happy because you accurately analyze Metal in all its expressions...from the greatness of Nightwish, through the power of Metallica, the message of System of a Down or making us shudder with the incomparable voice of Eddie Vedder...thank you because even though we don't speak English in the country, we are sure that our musical taste is the correct... God bless you!!...
This is my personal favourite SOAD song. Everytime I hear it, it's just transports me to a different time, place and feeling. Waiting for my girl always leaves me with the feeling of being trapped inside our 9-5 waiting for "my girl" to finish work and thinking about your life, about the news, about reality we are presented through TV. Feeling frustrated in a 3.09 capsule of sound. Brilliant.
For years, I got off work an hour before my girlfriend, Monday thru Friday, waiting in my car to pick her up because I didn't ever want to be late, disappointing her. Just sitting in the dark, window down, all seasons, listening to music and thinking about my utter insignificance in how the people of the world are treated. By me, by others. Feeling helpless. Only the music to dampen my emotions. Waiting for her to join me in our joy or misery at what the day had wrought upon us. Nights when something really bad had happened, to us, to unknown nameless others. I can still taste the humid stifling air and the biting, crisp frozen air. And I still cry when I think back on the countless days worth of time. Just sitting in my car. Thinking. Waiting.
Fun fact: a friend pointed out a crowd flasher in the official video around 1:50. Her upper frontals are immortalized still.
That aside, long time SOAD fan and recent fan of your show. Candid input from such a smart musician is always appreciated keep it up!
The SOAD song that really gets me every time ist "forest". It's meaning is just so deep 🤯
I don't think it's really right to say the meaning of any SOAD song is "deep", more so that it's heavy and maybe even profound, even accurate to now, but "deep" is so vague and non-specific that it kinda does the songs a big disservice, y'know?
everytime i hear Serg, i feel more alive. the joy when others hear them gives me hope.
I think being a little lost helps us to continue to expand our thoughts and it is nice to see Elizabeth exploring new ground as she has helped me so many times. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your feelings with a band that is making us think!!
I think the next System Of A Down song should be ATWA.
Though similar sounding to Hypnotize, it has some surprising turns. It is beautiful ❤️
Always loved the harmonies in all of System of a Down songs. Elizabeth if you ever want to hear another band with tremendous harmony structures, check out a Canadian band called Harem Scarem. Melodic rock harmonies at it's finest!
You HAVE to listen to Soldier Side by SOAD next, it's hands down their best vocal performance from both Serj and Daron
A cup of tea with Serj would be epic!
This is the song that first drew me to SOAD. I would be fascinated by an analysis of one of their newer songs, "Protect the Land", perhaps a comparison of new with the classic SOAD? It is a bit different, but still uniquely SOAD; I think it's a pretty enjoyable listen
I was at that show where this was made at! It was in Grand Rapids Michigan
I like to think of “I’m just sitting in my car, waiting for my girl” as a response to police officer questioning a man in his car on the side of the road. The officer continues to question the man as he replies, “I’m just sitting in my car, waiting for my giiiiirrrlll” over and over until the officer leaves him be.
Honestly I've always heard the last bit as someone who's being forced out of an area and both voices are saying that they're just waiting, but they're at different times in the story. It goes from Serj to Darin, light to exasperated, and it concludes with seeing that the girl they were waiting for as they were being directed out of an area, sadly passed in front of them
for me the song blends the mundane "I'm just waiting for my girl" with the stories like the ones on Tiannamen. They also make a joke about it, speaking ironically as if asking to a fashion obsessed a non political person "Was fashion the reason why they where there??"
@@joseanl Same for me. The line always struck me as: my girl is in the store shopping and I'm just waiting in my car for her to come out. Both of us oblivious to how shallow our pursuits are compared to the struggles of people the same age in other places.
I always thought it was a story about being unintentionally caught up in the conflict at the Tiananmen Square protests. 😢 ❤
@@mikecarey5432 I feel it's kind of a combo what you said and what I said I just didn't voice it well. I'm claiming that said girl is at the protests and the one waiting in the car is being told to leave
@@ByakurothMarkov yeah definitely seems something like that to me
I literally just commented on one of your older videos suggesting Hypnotize haha my favourite SOAD song.
I can't emphasise enough how much you should listen to Lie Lie Lie by Serj. There are two versions - the original and the orchestral version. Both are stellar vocal performances from the main man. You got yourself a sub here. Love your breakdowns and discovery.
Please, we need more system of a down videos! You're making an incredible content
The vocal styling, and a lot of their tonality are tied to their Armenian heritage. I often think of calls to prayer when Serj sings. Might be fun to hear you explore that connection
I think the Armenian-ness really shines on this song and is a big part of why I like it so much.