Serj Tankian for Prez

What. is. up.

I haven't posted in some weeks. You know; the usual. But I did want to mention something Thomas and I went to see on Saturday. We dropped off the kids at Jo Ann's at 4 pm ish and then went downtown because the University of Louisville's Student Film Committee was showing a film called This Is England (which we didn't see) with a screening of some of Serj Tankian's new music videos first. It was a "viewing party" instead of a "listening party" to mark the upcoming release of his new album, Elect the Dead.

So we listened to the first 5 tracks before the movie began, and it was inCREDible. A lot of fantastic political stuff, along with some other themes (love stinks, etc). The video for the song "Empty Walls" was easily my favourite. The conflation of the idea of "No Child Left Behind" with the war in Iraq was so very powerful. Some really intuitive and distubring imagery is imbedded in the video, the icons of our folly in Iraq jarring against the thematic of "child's play."

Below is the video. And below that are the lyrics.

Serj Tankian - Empty Walls

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"Empty Walls" by Serj Tankian

Your empty walls...
Your empty walls...
Pretentious attention
Dismissive aprehension
Don't waste your time, on coffins today
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Don't
You see
From behind those empty walls

Those empty walls
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Don't
You see
From behind those empty walls
Want you to be
Left behind those empty walls
Don't
You see
From behind those empty walls

From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
The walls
From behind those empty walls

I loved you, yes
Though they be
For you killed my family

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning?
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication

I want you
To be
Left behind those empty walls
Told you
To see
From behind those empty walls
Want you to be, left behind those empty walls
Told you
To see
From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
From behind those empty walls
Those walls...
Those walls...

Here is a news piece about the new CD's release (comes out tomorrow): http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-serjtankian_1022gl.ART.State.Edition1.425fc19.html