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Toxicity (Music)

 Toxicity (Music)
type
TVTItem
 Toxicity (Music)
label
Toxicity (Music)
 Toxicity (Music)
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Toxicity
 Toxicity (Music)
comment
Toxicity is the second studio album by Alternative Metal band System of a Down, released on September 4, 2001. While their previous eponymous album garnered them a substantial following, this record propelled the band into the mainstream due to its impressive Genre Roulette and stunning originality.Expanding from their usual tirades about government oppression, Toxicity highlighted more specific issues in which the band was interested, such as the decriminalization of drugs, environmentalism, education, religion, war, and fame. One of the more hard-hitting political messages was "Chop Suey!", which was an all-out critique of "self-righteous suicide" (such as jihad) and religious fundamentalism. It became a hugely successful song, especially when 9/11 occurred just a week after the album was released.The band also dabbled with Lighter and Softer melodies while keeping their Hard Rock edge and Serj Tankian's characteristic metal screams, such as on the hit singles "Toxicity" and "Aerials" (the latter of which was nominated for a Grammy Award). The album has since sold 12 million copies and remains SOAD's most influential album to date, since it helped to further popularize the progressive metal genre.Tracklist: "Prison Song" (3:21) "Needles" (3:13) "Deer Dance" (2:55) "Jet Pilot" (2:06) "X" (1:58) "Chop Suey!" (3:30) "Bounce" (1:54) "Forest" (4:00) "ATWA" (2:56) "Science" (2:43) "Shimmy" (1:51) "Toxicity" (3:38) "Psycho" (3:45) "Aerials" (6:11)note Contains the hidden track "Arto" during its last two minutes
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2024-04-09T13:47:44Z
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2024-04-09T13:47:44Z
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Dropped link to DoubleEntendre: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to StepUpToTheMic: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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StepUpToTheMic
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DBTropes
 Toxicity (Music) / int_1a237409
type
Order Versus Chaos
 Toxicity (Music) / int_1a237409
comment
Order Versus Chaos: "Toxicity" makes this juxtaposition, showing the constant tension between the struggle to create order and the confusion which causes disorder.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_2439b588
type
As the Good Book Says...
 Toxicity (Music) / int_2439b588
comment
As the Good Book Says...: "Chop Suey" quotes two verses from the Crucifixion of Jesus: "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46) and "Why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_26b2747
type
Alliterative Title
 Toxicity (Music) / int_26b2747
comment
Alliterative Title: "Deer Dance"
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_28b08686
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A Party, Also Known as an Orgy
 Toxicity (Music) / int_28b08686
comment
A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: Humorously invoked in "Bounce":
 Toxicity (Music) / int_28b08686
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_2eb94abd
type
Deadly Euphemism
 Toxicity (Music) / int_2eb94abd
comment
Deadly Euphemism: "Deer Dance" sarcastically invokes this:
 Toxicity (Music) / int_2eb94abd
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Toxicity (Music) / int_2eb94abd
 Toxicity (Music) / int_361d0d58
type
Concept Video
 Toxicity (Music) / int_361d0d58
comment
Concept Video: In addition to showing the band perform, the video for "Aerials" focuses mainly on a young Circus Brat with... ugly features, wishing that he were famous. He also has a naive view of the world; he assumes nobody would give a second thought toward his physical characteristics, he imagines a reporter as a young boy, and he imagines that rich people do nothing but blow money up in the air all the time. It ends with him kneeling face-down in disappointment on the same ground where the band had been performing a minute ago.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_38da8916
type
Uncommon Time
 Toxicity (Music) / int_38da8916
comment
Uncommon Time: "Toxicity" is largely done in a 6/8 time signature.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_38da8916
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Toxicity (Music) / int_38da8916
 Toxicity (Music) / int_3e92ed3e
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Groupie Brigade
 Toxicity (Music) / int_3e92ed3e
comment
Groupie Brigade: "Psycho" is a commentary about how groupies get entrenched in the culture of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll in order to follow musicians they admire:
 Toxicity (Music) / int_3e92ed3e
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Toxicity (Music) / int_3e92ed3e
 Toxicity (Music) / int_3eb0f889
type
Pun-Based Title
 Toxicity (Music) / int_3eb0f889
comment
Pun-Based Title: The original title for "Chop Suey!" was "Suicide" note the album version even confirms this, with one of the band members announcing "Rolling 'Suicide'". To make it more palatable to a mainstream audience, however, the band renamed the song after a certain Chinese takeout food, with "Suey", of course, short for "Suicide". (The band has said that they weren't really under pressure from management to do this, however.)
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Toxicity (Music) / int_3eb0f889
 Toxicity (Music) / int_43d39d6b
type
Song Style Shift
 Toxicity (Music) / int_43d39d6b
comment
Song Style Shift: It is a System of a Down album, after all.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_43d39d6b
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Toxicity (Music) / int_43d39d6b
 Toxicity (Music) / int_4a35344c
type
Media Watchdog
 Toxicity (Music) / int_4a35344c
comment
Media Watchdog: The 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, following the 9/11 attacks, actually banned (well, discouraged) a bunch of songs from playing on the radio that were apparently insensitive to the public, including "Chop Suey!". Since "Chop Suey!" was the lead single, it had already been playing on radios a month before the album's release date, so it was already popular enough to not be that affected by the ban.
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Toxicity (Music) / int_4a35344c
 Toxicity (Music) / int_4bca5b2e
type
We Have Become Complacent
 Toxicity (Music) / int_4bca5b2e
comment
We Have Become Complacent: The subject of "Forest" and "ATWA", both about the environment.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_50b05d30
type
Disproportionate Retribution
 Toxicity (Music) / int_50b05d30
comment
Disproportionate Retribution: "Deer Dance" features innocent, young protesters and the tired poor peacefully fighting against the system, which continually oppresses them.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_50b05d30
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Toxicity (Music) / int_50b05d30
 Toxicity (Music) / int_511728ae
type
Magic Versus Science
 Toxicity (Music) / int_511728ae
comment
Magic Versus Science: "Science", contrary to lots of interpretations, is actually about how a more spiritual outlook toward our world can be more useful to humanity than a neutral, even devastating view toward ideas which govern our lives.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_511728ae
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_56b53152
type
Green Aesop
 Toxicity (Music) / int_56b53152
comment
Green Aesop: "ATWA" and "Forest" mainly serve as this, to show how complacency and an uncaring attitude can be destructive to the world surrounding us.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_56b53152
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Toxicity (Music) / int_56b53152
 Toxicity (Music) / int_5be7bcfa
type
Older Than They Think
 Toxicity (Music) / int_5be7bcfa
comment
Older Than They Think: "X" dates back to before the band's first album, and it was played regularly on its tour as well.
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Toxicity (Music) / int_5be7bcfa
 Toxicity (Music) / int_5c99b642
type
War for Fun and Profit
 Toxicity (Music) / int_5c99b642
comment
War for Fun and Profit: "Jet Pilot" mainly deals with this. This song was actually written before the war in Afghanistan, when this criticism became par for the course for every anti-war protester.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_5c99b642
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Toxicity (Music) / int_5c99b642
 Toxicity (Music) / int_67784113
type
Non-Appearing Title
 Toxicity (Music) / int_67784113
comment
Non-Appearing Title: "Chop Suey!" is justified mostly because it was a playful censorship of the song's original title, "Suicide". Although the music video, possibly as a joke, includes a single shot of the guys apathetically eating chop suey out of cardboard takeaway cartons.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_67784113
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Toxicity (Music) / int_67784113
 Toxicity (Music) / int_74149c93
type
Epic Rocking
 Toxicity (Music) / int_74149c93
comment
Epic Rocking: Comparatively, "Psycho" has a pretty long solo from the rest of the songs on the record. It also sounds really cool.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_74149c93
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Toxicity (Music) / int_74149c93
 Toxicity (Music) / int_744e3311
type
Police Brutality
 Toxicity (Music) / int_744e3311
comment
Police Brutality: In "Deer Dance":
 Toxicity (Music) / int_744e3311
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Toxicity (Music) / int_744e3311
 Toxicity (Music) / int_7d88c452
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Academy of Evil
 Toxicity (Music) / int_7d88c452
comment
Academy of Evil: "Shimmy" is a playful assertion that we have all become puppets of the education system:
 Toxicity (Music) / int_7d88c452
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Toxicity (Music) / int_7d88c452
 Toxicity (Music) / int_898ff050
type
Villain Protagonist
 Toxicity (Music) / int_898ff050
comment
Villain Protagonist: "Chop Suey" is often interpreted to be about a religious terrorist's attempt to internally justify killing a large amount of people.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_898ff050
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Toxicity (Music) / int_898ff050
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9603fba3
type
The Something Song
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9603fba3
comment
The Something Song: "Prison Song"
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e0c3153
type
Punctuated! For! Emphasis!
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e0c3153
comment
Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "PSYCHO! GROUPIE! COCAINE! CRAZY!"
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e0c3153
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e31f0b1
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One-Letter Title
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e31f0b1
comment
One-Letter Title: "X"
 Toxicity (Music) / int_9e31f0b1
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_a4c37cbe
type
Mood Whiplash
 Toxicity (Music) / int_a4c37cbe
comment
Mood Whiplash: After the deep, powerful melodies of "Chop Suey!", the band immediately moves toward the particularly weird, fast "Bounce". Serj has said that this was intentional, to provide a light-hearted contrast between "Chop Suey!" and the rest of the album.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_a4c37cbe
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_a8adc5a0
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Like a Son to Me
 Toxicity (Music) / int_a8adc5a0
comment
Like a Son to Me: "Forest" is mostly about how we are all children of the nature, and we have all disavowed ourselves from protecting our progenitor:
 Toxicity (Music) / int_a8adc5a0
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Toxicity (Music) / int_a8adc5a0
 Toxicity (Music) / int_b41c411e
type
Toilet Humour
 Toxicity (Music) / int_b41c411e
comment
Toilet Humour: "Needles", which features the sarcastic, if odd, refrain, "Pull the tapeworm out of your ass."
 Toxicity (Music) / int_b41c411e
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_b7bc7d28
type
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!
 Toxicity (Music) / int_b7bc7d28
comment
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Daron said during a live performance that "Toxicity" was mainly about Attention Deficit Disorder, with the "seeds" in the song representing the pharmaceutical drugging of the youth.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_c25c7890
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Fun with Acronyms
 Toxicity (Music) / int_c25c7890
comment
Fun with Acronyms: "ATWA" is short for "Air, Trees, Water, and Animals", though none of those words appear in the song.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_c25c7890
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_c276fba0
type
Martyrdom Culture
 Toxicity (Music) / int_c276fba0
comment
Martyrdom Culture: "Chop Suey!" is a powerful, reflective critique of this. It mostly serves to show the absurdity of "self-righteous suicide" and pleading to a God before one's death.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_c276fba0
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_d0f0a80d
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One-Word Title
 Toxicity (Music) / int_d0f0a80d
comment
One-Word Title: "Needles", "Bounce", "Forest", "Science", "Shimmy", "Toxicity", "Psycho" and "Aerials".
 Toxicity (Music) / int_d0f0a80d
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_db26451e
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Limited Lyrics Song
 Toxicity (Music) / int_db26451e
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Limited Lyrics Song: "X" mostly repeats "We don't need to multiply" and "No need to nullify" a bunch of times.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_ddf8c5ba
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Album Filler
 Toxicity (Music) / int_ddf8c5ba
comment
Album Filler: Word of God confirms that "Bounce", "X" and "Shimmy" were mostly written for this purpose.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_de7b7cbf
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Drugs Are Bad
 Toxicity (Music) / int_de7b7cbf
comment
Drugs Are Bad: "Needles", which is a little ironic given that it's preceded by "Prison Song"note which isn't a song saying that drugs are good, per say, but is a song arguing that drug criminalization has gotten way out of hand.
 Toxicity (Music) / int_de7b7cbf
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_e18675e6
type
Word Salad Lyrics
 Toxicity (Music) / int_e18675e6
comment
Word Salad Lyrics: "Bounce". It's about hopping on a pogo stick in front of your date's friends... and having a huge orgy, maybe?
 Toxicity (Music) / int_e18675e6
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_f1dcdabc
type
Hidden Track
 Toxicity (Music) / int_f1dcdabc
comment
Hidden Track: The album version of "Aerials" fades out into a tribal-sounding instrumental the band calls "Arto". It's named after Arto Tunçboyacıyan, an Armenian singer-songwriter who contributed to the track; Serj has since collaborated with him on numerous occasions.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_f2a167fe
type
Lamprey Mouth
 Toxicity (Music) / int_f2a167fe
comment
Lamprey Mouth: "Needles" compares a heroin syringe to the mouth of a tapeworm. Lovely.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_f68664dc
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Science Is Bad
 Toxicity (Music) / int_f68664dc
comment
Science Is Bad: "Science". Rather than outright denying it, however, the band instead compares religious wars to the more recent wars amplified by advances in science that allow for further destruction.
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 Toxicity (Music) / int_ffad4e9f
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Shown Their Work
 Toxicity (Music) / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: "Prison Song" cites facts and figures (which were current at the time) to convince people that the system of incarceration within the United States desperately needs reform:
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Toxicity (Music)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Toxicity (Music)
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Alternative Metal / int_d7566792