Aerials

System, Of A Down. "Aerials." Toxicity. Zoomstar International Corp., 2002. Web. 24 Apr. 2010.

The struggle with identity is a theme present in “System of a Down’s” Grammy nominated single “Aerials.” This theme is resonated not only in the song’s lyrics but in the video as well. The pictures playing in the video feature an abnormal looking young boy, who is – with his small mouth and stretched out eyes – an alien. Being unlike anyone else, this boy is clearly an outsider.

The video follows the boy from his first appearance in a tent listening to the band. The scene cuts to the boy dancing in the presence of a large group of people. He is then seen walking outside the Hollywood walk of fame with two women in red dresses. While exiting a building, the boy is swarmed with paparazzi and journalists snapping their cameras and questions endlessly. But the boy is never seen responding. The video then cuts to a photo shoot where the boy is being examined with different clothes that are not fitting to him. He is then seen reaching for money that is falling above him and the two women that have been his backdrop throughout the video. In the last scene the boy walks alone to the center of the tent lies down and closes his eyes.

There may be many interpretations, but overall, this song is about human’s natural tendency to be a paradox. As individuals we generally tend to be different people at different times, as the lyric says, “Life is a waterfall, we’re one in the river, [and] one again after the fall.” The lyric goes on to emphasize this tendency by stating right after, “Swimming through the void […] we lose ourselves.” Here, we ‘lose’ our personal identity in the ‘void’ – an ambiguous situation ranging from society, expectations, or even peer pressure. “Aerials” shows the struggle that humans face over their identity, by further stating “Cause we are the ones that want to play, always want to go, but never want to stay […] but we never want to lose.” This means that humans are always after something else when it comes to their personal identity; “playing” would be acting as something else; we want to ‘go’, away from our background; and we never want to ‘lose’ – we fear the loss of our personal identity. To recover our personal identity the lyric says “When you free your eyes, and eternal prize.” Simply, meaning we should free ourselves from the ‘void’ so that we may gain the ‘eternal prize’ – our identity.

Life is a waterfall,
we're one in the river,
and one again after the fall.

Swimming through the void
we hear the word,
we lose ourselves,
but we find it all...

Cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay.

And we are the ones that want to choose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Life is a waterfall,
we drink from the river,
then we turn around and put up our walls.

Swimming through the void,
we hear the word,
we lose ourselves,
but we find it all...

Cause we are the ones that want to play,
always want to go,
but you never want to stay.

And we are the ones that want to choose,
always want to play,
but you never want to lose, ooooo.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Aerials, so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize.

Aerials, in the sky,
when you lose small mind,
you free your life.

Aerials,so up high,
when you free your eyes,
eternal prize