| Serj Tankian – Saving Us Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I do believe that this song has many interpretations. It is my opinion that Tankian was intentionally vague in order to allow the listener to form his/her own opinion. Even so I think there is something that is vital to take into account when interpreting the lyrics of this song, and that is the accompanying music video. When looking at only the lyrics, the central idea seems to be mainly focused on the pain and necessity of love and loss. However, when viewing the music video while listening, it seems to be a deeper political commentary. While I agree with the previous posters' interpretations, there is one aspect of the video and song that I think is particularly important yet has been overlooked. I believe (my English teacher has forced this idea upon me time and time again) that one must make one's analysis based on the "words on the page" or in this case the words on the placards in the video that go tandem with the "words on the page"(or lyrics). This means that one must take every word into account. Since the lyrics use the anaphora "you're" in the chorus, it must be assumed that the character "you"(which may or may not be the listener or society as a whole) is committing all the actions in the chorus: "tearing...breaking...killing...(and)saving us". This demands the question: what is the purpose for the juxtaposition of the person's actions? How can one kill and save "us" at the same time? It is my opinion that this is the central idea of the song and the video: something that kills and saves at the same time, with another theme being that we need to love, respect, care for each other, etc as a society in entirety. The central idea is reflected in the contrasting lyrics but even more so in the signs that the characters of the video are carrying. I came upon this realization when trying to figure out what the "bottled water" sign meant. At first I had been of the opinion that everything is some negative influence or vice or guilt in the characters' lives. The "gambling", "rehab","NRA","Terrorism","Big business","nuclear testing","animal testing", "pharmaceuticals", "meat eating", "stem cell research","love","family","freedom", "arms race" "success", "immigration, "marriage", "war", "legalize marijuana", "religion", "FBI", "CIA", "Taxation", "big brother", "education", "gay rights" all seemed to have been the negatives and of course the two young girls in the end had the positive "faith" and "hope". The one thing that stood out as not making sense to me was "bottled water"; it seemed rather neutral. While other thing seemed to have a positive light, such as "love", "family","freedom", "gay rights" etc, it can be interpreted as negative by assume that the people lacked these things. Bottled water seemed un-place-able though. The man had no indication of needing bottled water, nor is bottled water a negative influence. Upon further thinking I have decided that the most likely scenario for the meaning behind these signs is that everything we do in our society has both a positive and negative effect. Bottled water provides necessary sustenance for all life, but it created the leftover waste of bottles. Love has the joy of love but the pain of losing it. War causes death but victory brings achievement to the victors. Taxation is necessary, but it costs people. Religion provides a moral guide, but it has led to some of the deadliest conflicts in history. Because of this I have come to the conclusion that in addition to the other interpretation as mentioned by the prior commentators, it is very relevant to view the as have the simple message that everything society does has positive and negative effects, and all of these effects are more or less important depending on each individual. Take for example "animal testing" held by the girl applying copious amounts of make-up. She is presumably ignorant or uncaring to animals that are used for testing in product research. Her make-up helps to define who she is and she appreciates it, so she indirectly supports animal testing. Similarly the family in the park supports religion and doesn't see its negative, and the man entering the men's restroom is uneducated and cares not for its possible values. Overall the main thing we need to do in society is accept everyone without judging them and fight for what WE(each individual) think is right. We cannot let society tell us what is right and what is wrong because everything has positives and negatives. |
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