| "B.Y.O.B" | ||||||||||||||||
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| Single by System of a Down | ||||||||||||||||
| from the album Mezmerize | ||||||||||||||||
| Released | March 1, 2005 | |||||||||||||||
| Format | 12", CD, Airplay | |||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 2005 The Mansion Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre | Alternative metal, heavy metal | |||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:17 (album version) | |||||||||||||||
| Label | American/Columbia | |||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian | |||||||||||||||
| Producer | Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian | |||||||||||||||
| Certification | Platinum (RIAA) | |||||||||||||||
| System of a Down singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||
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"B.Y.O.B." ("Bring Your Own Bomb") is the first single released from System of a Down's fourth album Mezmerize. Like their earlier song "Boom!", it was written to protest the Iraq War. B.Y.O.B. means "Bring Your Own Bombs", as opposed to the common interpretation "Bring Your Own Bottle", referring to the Iraq War as a party for the United States. It is also a playable track in the music video game Guitar Hero: World Tour, and a downloadable track in the Rock Band series.
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The video for "B.Y.O.B." was directed by Jake Nava.
The music video shows an army of drone soldiers marching through the streets, wearing masks that show words such as "DIE", "TRUTH", "OBEY", "BUY" and "GOD" like a television screen, with the members of System of a Down playing in the middle of the venue. During the chorus, the band is shown playing inside a night club. Midway through the video, Daron is shown screaming the words "Blast off! It's party time! And we don't live in a fascist nation! Blast off! It's party time! And where the fuck are you?!", when the soldiers attack the night club and force everyone to put on the drone masks, except they depict various television shows and cartoons. At the end of the video, the members of System of a Down are wearing the drone masks, which seem to be playing static.
The music video was censored for air-play reasons.
The song itself was featured in the fourth installlment of the Guitar Hero series in 2008,Guitar Hero World Tour. It is regarded as one of the most difficult songs to be performed in vocals, predominantly due to the recurrent screams of Daron Malakian, as well as in both drum and guitar.
Live, Daron Malakian switches to a reggae-style offbeat riff when singing during the chorus.
The song was performed on May 7, 2005 on Saturday Night Live, 10 days before the release of the album Mezmerize. During this performance, towards the end of the song (during the downward guitar slide, following the line "Why do they always send the poor?"), guitarist Daron Malakian screamed, "Fuck yeah!". This was missed by television censors, and it became a controversial matter for a few days thereafter. However, the rest of the song was able to be censored on time without any trouble.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "B.Y.O.B." (Explicit Album Version) | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Forest" (Live) | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 5:12 |
| 3. | "Prison Song" (Live) | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 3:32 |
| 4. | "Sugar" (Live) | S. Tankian | S. Odadjian, D. Malakian |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "B.Y.O.B." | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 4:15 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "B.Y.O.B." | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Cigaro" | S. Tankian, D. Malakian | D. Malakian | 2:11 |
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