B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs) is the second track on System of a Down's fourth album, Mezmerize, and the only track off of the album to reach the Top 30, reaching #27. The music and lyrics of the song were written by Daron Malakian.
Music Video[]
The music video for B.Y.O.B., directed by Jake Nava, depicts an army of soldiers marching through the streets, wearing paintball masks displaying the words "DIE", “I”, "OBEY", "TRUTH", “BUY”, and "GOD", with the band playing in the middle of the soldiers.
During the chorus of the song, the performance goes from a street filled with soldiers to a night club.
Midway through the song, Daron is seen screaming "Blast off! It's party time! And we don't live in a fascist nation!" as the soldiers storm the night club, forcing the party-goers to wear the brain-washing paintball masks, which, instead of displaying words, show cartoons and television shows.
At the end of the video, the band members are seen wearing masks displaying static.
Awards[]
- System of a Down won the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category in the 2006 Grammy Awards.
- The track was the band's only Top 30 hit off Mezmerize peaking at #27.
- It was voted #76 in Total Guitar's 100 Greatest Riffs ever.
- It made onto numerous "Top 40" play lists around the globe, including Germany, New Zealand, Australia And the United States, and occasionally made it to #1 on other music shows.
- It made #134 on the Y2KROQ Top 200 Songs of the Century.
Live Performance[]
During live performances of B.Y.O.B., Daron switches to a reggae-based riff, with Serj saying "Come on!" after "Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time".
10 days before Mezmerize was released, the band played B.Y.O.B. live on SNL. Where Daron normally performs a guitar slide, he instead screamed "Fuck yeah!". This improvisation was missed by the censors, causing much uproar for several days afterward.
When playing live at the MTV Europe Music Awards, the line "And we don't live in a fascist nation" was changed to "This ain't no bullshit political punk rock", a reference to MTV, which had categorized the group as "political punk rock" on an earlier review.
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Lyrics:[]
[Intro: Daron Malakian]
You!
Why do they always send the poor?
[Verse 1: Serj Tankian]
Barbarisms by Barbaras with pointed heels
Victorious Victoria’s kneel for brand new spanking deals
Marching forward, hypocritic and hypnotic computers
You depend on our protection, yet you feed us lies from the table cloth
[Chorus: Serj Tankian]
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ooh-ooh
Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine
[Verse 2: Serj Tankian]
Kneeling roses disappearing into Moses' dry mouth
Breaking into Fort Knox, stealing our intentions
Hangars sitting dripped in oil, crying, "Freedom"
Handed to obsoletion, still, you feed us lies from the table cloth
[Chorus: Serj Tankian with Daron Malakian]
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ooh-ooh
Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine
Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine
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[Bridge: Daron Malakian]
Blast off, it's party time
And we don't live in a fascist nation
Blast off, it's party time
And where the fuck are you?
[Refrain: Daron Malakian with Serj Tankian]
Where the fuck are you?
Where the fuck are you?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why they always send the poor?
[Verse 2: Serj Tankian]
Kneeling roses disappearing into Moses' dry mouth
Breaking into Fort Knox, stealing our intentions
Hangars sitting dripped in oil, crying, "Freedom"
Handed to obsoletion, still, you feed us lies from the table cloth
[Chorus: Serj Tankian with Daron Malakian]
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ooh-ooh
Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine
Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sun
[Refrain: Serj Tankian & Daron Malakian]
Where the fuck are you?
Where the fuck are you?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
[Outro: Serj Tankian & Daron Malakian]
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
They always send the poor, they always send the poor