Question!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Question!" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by System of a Down | ||
| from the album Mezmerize | ||
| Released | 2005 | |
| Format | Vinyl, CD | |
| Genre | Alternative Metal | |
| Length | 3:20 | |
| Label | American Recordings | |
| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| System of a Down singles chronology | ||
| "Cigaro" (2005) |
"Question!" (2005) |
"Radio/Video" (2005) |
"Question!" is a song by the band System of a Down. It is the second single of their fourth album Mezmerize, which focuses on life after death. The song was first premiered by the famous Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ on May 23, 2005 and was released to alternative and rock radio stations on July 12 of the same year.
"Question!" is written in the key of E minor - a somewhat unusual key for System of a Down, which normally relies heavily on Cm, C#m, and F#m. The song uses five different time signatures (10/8, 9/8, 6/4, 3/4, and 4/4). The acoustic guitar intro and part of the verse is in 9/8 (3+2+2+2, essentially 4/4 with an extra eighth note on beat 1). The verse briefly switches to 3/4 (when Serj sings "Are you dreaming?"). The chorus is in 6/4. The heavy intro, outro, and bridges are in 10/8. The heavy tremolo-picked section towards the end underneath the vocals is in 4/4. Serj Tankian plays acoustic guitar in the intro and deeper in the background behind lead guitarist Daron Malakian.
The song is sometimes compared to one of System of a Down's other songs "Aerials," which also deals with the nature of life in the lyrics. Both are primarily sung by Serj but seem to have Daron as back-up in the chorus. Music similarities are not as easy to spot. Aerials does not have the wide variety of time signatures that Question has (a problem that allegedly makes the song difficult for even the band to play) and the bass is used more for atmosphere in Aerials, whereas in Question it only shows up separate to the guitar for a repeated riff.
[edit] Music video
The video was released on August 5, 2005 on MTV and the band's website. The opening scene is of a boy with gray hair, clothes, and skin shooting a red bird with a slingshot, which coincides with the start of the song. At this point the video switches to a scene of the band members on a theater stage, performing music for a play. The play is based on a theme of life, death, and reincarnation, revolving around two lovers, a man in a dark suit and a woman in a red dress, who are shown both as children and adults. As the music reaches its climax, the woman collapses and the man screams in grief. The video closes with an intense scene of a woman being euthanized followed by shot of a newborn baby wrapped in red cloth. The color red is central to the video, tying together the bird, the girl, the woman, and the baby in a cycle of rebirth.
Shavo Odadjian produced the video (and co-directed it alongside Howard Greenhalgh) after allegedly having an image of the video in a nightmare. It is claimed that before the dream he had no intentions of producing the video. In fact he didn’t want any special treatment over other possible producers for being in the band so he submitted his idea anonymously. Shavo also in his dream originally saw duplicates of him and the bandmates as all of the audience during the opera scene, but decided not to do that in the music video because it reminded him of the hip-hop group Outkast's music video for their song "Hey Ya", and didn't want to make it seem anything related to that.[citation needed]
[edit] Question! (Single) Track Listing
- "Question!"
- "Sugar" (Live)
[edit] Question! (Enhanced Single) Track Listing
- "Forest" (Live @ Big Day Out 2005)
- "Prison Song" (Live @ Big Day Out 2005)
- "Question!" (Live Music Video @ Hurricane Festival 2005)
| System of a Down |
| Serj Tankian | Daron Malakian | Shavo Odadjian | John Dolmayan |
| Andy Khachaturian |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums/EPs: Sugar EP | System of a Down | Toxicity | Steal This Album! | Mezmerize | Hypnotize | Lonely Day EP |
| 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." | "Cigaro" | "Question!" | "Radio/Video" | "Hypnotize" | "Lonely Day" | "Kill Rock 'N Roll" |
| Related articles |
| Axis of Justice | Cool Gardens | Vartan Malakian | Screamers | Category:System of a Down songs
Bands: Soil | Serart | Scars on Broadway | ACHOZEN Labels: Serjical Strike Records | EatUrMusic |
