Saving Us

I completely disagree with those who say that this is just a love song. I haven't really started listening to Serj Tankian until yesterday, but it was very obvious for me that he aims for deeper meanings in his lyrics.

To me, I'm kind of interpreting the lyrics as him saying we need to forget the issues and focus on us as human beings and the nature around us. "Why do we sit around and Break each others hearts tonight, Why do we dance aound The issues till the morning light, When we sit and talk and Tear each others lives apart..."

• We're only infuriating ourselves, breaking each others hearts, by sitting around and debating the issues. "And now youre going through the door When you take that step I love you baby more and more..." -It's a lot easier to look at one another when we're not tearing at each other with our beliefs and the political issues. "We need to laugh and sing and cry And warm each others hearts tonight, Observing the fun of everything And loving all of mother God..." -We need to enjoy the simpler things in life, like laughing and singing, and just learn to get along with one another. As for the chorus, I see the "you're" as the issues. They may be "saving us" when we solve them, but they are also contradictorily killing us/tearing us because we are too wrapped up in them to focus on the more finer, simpler things in life. And for the "forever alive," (if the lyrics there are even right), I feel that is saying that the issues are forever alive because we're so wrapped up in them. It feels right with the way the music is played right there. (And now that I've finished typing this out, I feel like it could apply to civilization in general, but I'm not entirely sure on this.) It applies to the music video, too. Everyone is so wrapped up in the issues (everything that's written on the cards) to care about the homeless man. The kids are different, though. They stop and take the time to notice the homeless man to actually help him by giving him money. (And as for civilization in general, you all can see how everyone looks at him as he passes by...they look down on him because he's homeless, rather than seeing him as a human being and lending him a hand -- well, all except for the two girls at the end. They represent hope and faith in humanity as a whole. Also, it fits in a little better with the religion, family, and possibly the love, cards, as these are things created by civilization and society rather than being political issues.)

But I do agree with a lot of what everyone else is saying. A lot of it makes perfect sense with the lyrics.

I can honestly say that I really like a lot of Serj Tankian's songs, even if I haven't been listening to them for long. Not only is the music well-written, but the songs are very deep, and I think that is what makes it a lot better than the junk the majority listens to. He's a genius lyricist.

I feel its about how difficult the world can be for the downtrodden and 'out of the wheel' type people, e.g. homeless, jobless and such. In the video the homeless guy can be seen as someone who needs help while the world and all their misguided/twisted ideals ignore him and let the man struggle on through life yet it is the people who are not tied to the majority of the world who are willing, no they want to help and do (the children in the vid).

Because its difficult to break free and see the world as it is, away from all the trappings people forget the whole point of being human and thats love.

To me the lyrics are telling how hard it is for someone without these so called 'ideals' and attempting to fit into the world as it is but mostly rejected and attacked, the saving us bit is how only an small portion of people want to help and even then most do it for guilt/ego (thus continuing the 'tearing us' thing). Serj lying I think is about how people lie to avoid false judgement from others because they fear it, and 'being honest is a sign of weakness' mentality. Not to mention in doing so it would probally scrap most of the 'ideals'.

Pretty much this song is about how much conflict and aggression there is in todays society, with almost everyone trying to force their ideals on everyone else 'for the better'.

The way Serj sings this song is incredible. He's a master lyricist.

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.

Seems like a love song to me.

To the director, however, it's more political:

http://www.kevinestrada.com/serj.html

I agree naeem9. This is my favorite song (of the first three released) because is reminds me of somebody I love. However, it's my least favorite video (also of the first three) because the director tries to force a political slant into a song that simply doesn't have one.

I agree- his voice in this song almost made me want to cry-it's very heartfelt.

I don't believe this song is a simple lovesong. I think Xxdoomed2diexX got it right.

I don't think this is a love song at all.

"Why do we sit around and break eachother's hearts" - Why do we care about other people's lives so much? Following the life of a celebrety throughout your entire life is a waste of time, a waste of life. "Why do we dance around the issues til to morning light" Why do we play football with politics. Republican vs Democrat is a joke. There are REAL issues, and we should be real people, stand up for ourselves, and resolve problems. Instead, Politics are just another room at this movie theater we live in. No real resolution to the problems, just more things to fight over.

I think this entire CD ties in with itself

You guys actually aren't going far enough between the lines. I think he is talking not about politics or society or forcing ideals, but simply about people in general and human interaction on a basic level. He's saying that sometimes, the only way two people can save each other is by totally destroying the connection between each other, and thus what he's saying is that she's saving the two of them by killing the "us" that they've become.

This song gave me chills the first time I heard it, it really hit me deep and hard.