its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
We don't need your democracy
Execute them kindly for me
Take them by their filthy nostrils
Put them up in doggy hostels
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Oooh, ah, ah
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
We don't need your democracy (we don't need your hypocrisy, execute real democracy)
Execute them kindly for me (post-industrial society, the unthinking majority)
Take them by their filthy nostrils (we don't need your hypocrisy, execute real democracy)
Put them up in doggy hostels (post-industrial society, the unthinking majority)
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Execute them kindly for me
Take them by their filthy nostrils
Put them up in doggy hostels
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Oooh, ah, ah
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
Anti-depressants
Controlling tools of your system
Making life more tolerable
Making life more tolerable
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy
Post-industrial society
The unthinking majority
We don't need your democracy (we don't need your hypocrisy, execute real democracy)
Execute them kindly for me (post-industrial society, the unthinking majority)
Take them by their filthy nostrils (we don't need your hypocrisy, execute real democracy)
Put them up in doggy hostels (post-industrial society, the unthinking majority)
I believe that you're wrong
Insinuating that they hold the bomb
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Clearing the way for the oil brigade
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Alright, so the lyrics aren't very deep so this shouldn't be too hard. Let's start off with the first part...
Quote: We don't need your democracy. Execute them kindly for me. Take them by their filthy nostrils Put them up in doggy hostels.
We don't need your hypocrisy Execute real democracy. Post-industrial society The unthinking majority
Basically, Serj is pissed at whoever is running their democracy and wants them dead. In the second part of this, Serj wants leaders to execute (carry out) what democracy is all about. Now we the people, in this post-industrial society, are not thinking.
Quote: Anti-depressants Controlling tools of your system Making life more tolerable
"Tools of your system" are referring to us. We are taking anti-depressants (drugs, alcohol, etc.) and forgetting about what is going on around us.
Quote: I believe that you're wrong Insinuating that they hold the bomb Clearing the way for the oil brigade
Serj, in my opinion, is referring to Iraq here. The US government told everyone that Saddam had bombs, and once they got in they brought in people to get oil.
That's it!
Or what he is trying to say is that people who believe that anti-depressants make life more tolerable are really stupid and make assumptions without thinking, that people take for granted their safety secured for them by democracy, that these things are what 'The Unthinking Majority' believe.
I agree with you completely! I just want to add that TV shows and such are also anti-depressants, as they make you forget about what's happening around you, while you emerge yourself in that other world...