Sense, meet Lyrics

I suppose I should start out by admitting that I haven't had the most copacetic relationship with System of a Down. I remember hearing Toxicity on the radio and being vaguely interested if not thrilled, but Aerials was definitely a sing-along song and peaked enough interest that I borrowed a friend's perfectly legal copy to make a legal backup for her. From that album, Chop Suey was also good and there weren't any songs that I found completely unlistenable, and so when I started hearing Inner Vision on the radio, along with mention of their "new" album Steal This Album, I was fairly psyched and made a dutiful pilgrimage to the local mall FYE

(They had one of those anti-theft things on the disk, and at the cash register I commented that it seemed rather inappropriate and the kid behind the desk started at me roughly as if I had a odd growth on my nose and then went back to making change.)

and bought a copy. As it happens, the only thing that was stolen was my thirteen bucks and the time it took me to discover that I'd bought an album with one listenable song on it.

And the other disclaimer is that System has always had at best a tenuous relationship with conventional English usage. While it's true that neither Smashing Pumpkins nor Nine Inch Nails is exactly descriptive of the bands in question, they do at least consist of English words in a grammatical arrangement. System seems to have missed the second part of that right up front.

But that's cool. They're artists, and artists are allowed to do funny things, right? However, listening to the radio today, I came across definite evidence that their charming standoff with grammar and sense and what not has spiraled out of control. As evidence, I give you:

WHY DO THEY ALWAYS SEND THE POOR?!
Barbarisms by Barbaras
With pointed heels.
Victorious, victorious, kneel.
For brand new spankin' deals.
Marching forward hypocritic
And hypnotic computers.

So, sure, we've got some artistic protest against the Iraqi war here. I suppose pointed heels might be some kind of reference to fascism, although it seems to be more about BDSM to me, and the computers tie into the military-industrial complex and all, so while we may be skirting the boundaries of nonsensical, we can still see sense from here.

You depend on our protection,
Yet you feed us lies from the table cloth.

And now we have an exciting new metaphor, but the dogs and the master's table and what not isn't too hard to get. I thought it was a bit odd to bring it up right there, especially compared to the previous dominance and industry images, but it's not like I didn't follow...

La la la la la la la la la,

La la la is has a well respected past in both political protest songs and screaming metal.

Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.

What the fuck?

Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.

That's a Plan Nine from Outer Space reference right there.

In conclusion, on another song from the same album, System exclaims "Hey man! Look at me rocking out, I'm on the radio!" Honestly, I'll pass.