Soldier Side
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Soldier Side is a song by System of a Down. It appears in two versions: a one-minute "intro" version, which is the first track on their album Mezmerize (May 2005); and the "full" version, which is the final track of Hypnotize (November 2005). The song mainly focuses on war and its effects, which include conscription or drafts ("All young men must go"), war-related deaths and casualties ("Young men standing on the top of their own graves"), the uncertainty of war ("Wondering when Jesus comes, are they gonna be saved?"), the fact that you can trust no one in war ("Cruelty to the winner, Bishop tells the King his lies") and also the question of whether wars should be fought. The name "Soldier Side" is a clever play on the largely right-wing theory of Supply-Side economics. The song was written by Daron Malakian.
The first version begins with a soft, Middle Eastern-sounding guitar playing while guitarist Daron Malakian and singer Serj Tankian sing, "Welcome to the Soldier Side/Where there's no one here but me/People all grow up to die/There is no one here but me." It slowly fades away with a siren into the next song, B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs). These lines also appear twice in the second version, tying the two albums together. The ending riff of the "full" version is the same as the "intro", but played faster and higher up the fretboard. The same siren effect that concludes the intro is also at the end of the song Lonely Day, which immediately precedes the full version on Hypnotize.
| System of a Down |
| Serj Tankian | Daron Malakian | Shavo Odadjian | John Dolmayan |
| Andy Khachaturian | Arto Tuncboyaciyan |
| System of a Down discography |
|---|
| Albums: System of a Down | Toxicity | Steal This Album! | Mezmerize | Hypnotize |
| Demos: Untitled 1995 Demo Tape | Demo Tape 1 | Demo Tape 2 | Demo Tape 3 |
| Singles: "Sugar" | "Spiders" | "War?" | "Prison Song" | "Chop Suey!" | "Toxicity" | "Aerials" | "Innervision" | "Boom!" | "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" | "B.Y.O.B." | "Question!" | "Radio/Video" | "Hypnotize" | "Lonely Day" | "Kill Rock & Roll" |
| Related articles |
| Serart | Serjical Strike | Scars on Broadway | |EatUrMusic | Axis of Justice | Screamers (documentary) |
| Categories |
| System of a Down | System of a Down songs | System of a Down albums |
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