| Serj Tankian – Empty Walls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Jady2shoes, I respect your interpretation, although I do sense a bit of sarcasm. Correct me if I'm wrong though. And etrubeastxcs, my interpretation of the song had to do with the Armenian Genocide, but I can see very strong allusions to the Jewish Holocaust as well. In fact, that's why the song is so powerful, it can be anything from the Armenian Genocide, to the Holocaust, to the war in Iraq, and even to smoking cigs...I guess... | |
| Serj Tankian – Empty Walls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Thanks to everyone who read my post and for your kind words. I love everyone’s own interpretation of the song. I hold the same belief that Serj does, that is, that having your own interpretation of music (or any other artistic medium) is more thought-provoking and valid than having someone else tell you how to interpret it or what to think. I also wanted to add that just because the music video has strong symbols of September 11th, and the war in Iraq, it doesn’t mean that the song is necessarily about modern atrocities. The video is simply one director’s (Tony Petrossian) interpretation of the same song. His interpretation is not wrong or right. Neither is yours about cremation. Neither is mine about the Armenian Genocide. In fact, our collective interpretations are what make music so enjoyable to listen to. If we all viewed everything the same way and believed the same way, the world would be a boring place to live in. |
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| Serj Tankian – Empty Walls Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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My interpretation of the song is one that requires background information, as most people would be confused with my interpretation unless they were well educated in history, or unless they were of Armenian descent. The Armenian Genocide, sometimes appropriately called “The Forgotten Genocide,” has never received the national attention it deserves. One reason is because of the Turkish government’s succesful campaign to erase history with threats and political pressure on countries like the USA (It works because of Turkey’s strategic location on the map). Thus, Serj Tankian’s masterful song, “Empty Walls” is an obvious allusion to the unjustified and brutal persecution that the Armenian people had been subjected to under the Ottoman Empire, espescially during the 20th Century. “Your Empty Walls” is not referring to your empty walls, or my empty walls, but indirectly referring to the lives lost during one of the bleakest moments in history. If we dig down deeper, in a philosophical sense, Serj wants us to look past the real or concrete aspects of the world we live in, and reach out to the abstract, the spiritual world. By speaking to the dead, specifically to those who died in the unbearable heat of the desert, Serj is reaching out to the souls that still suffer and linger under the sand, their “Empty Walls.” These souls will continue suffering until they receive justification, until their wounds are healed and only then can they rest. Until then, they shouldn’t “waste their times on coffins today.” |
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