In a world where technology is quickly advancing, it can be frightening how much information there is to grasp on the internet. Schools track student activity through their computers, phones have apps where things can be monitored, and AI is becoming a normal part of society one click at a time, even on the government level. System Of A Down plunges into this topic in their song, “Spiders.”
“Spiders” is the fifth song on their debut album, “System Of A Down,” released on January 1, 1998. The album is a mixture of songs, both upbeat and melancholy, and sets the tone for the rest of their music to follow. The album’s true meaning is left up for interpretation, but the songs have an individual and distinct meaning to them.
Beginning with a solo guitar playing in the distance, main artist Serj Tankian sings, “The piercing, radiant moon / The storming of poor June / All the life running through her hair.” The “life running through her hair,” is repeated numerous times throughout the song and depicts the natural life flowing within the person.
Tankian expands on this idea in the following verses, saying, “Your lives are open wide / The V-chip gives them sight / Of all the life running through her hair.” He includes that the “spiders are all in tune,” possibly hinting at using spiders as a metaphor for computer chips and that they are operating as one and are “in tune” with one another.
The chips are used throughout the song, giving the idea that “them,” which is used to talk about the government, is closely following human activity and monitoring it through the chips, or spiders.
System Of A Down is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994, consisting of Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan. They quickly rose to fame in the nu-metal community through their album “System Of A Down,” and continued to rise to fame with their songs “Chop Suey!” and “Lonely Day.”
“Spiders” has been featured in the video game Rock Band 4 and Scream 3. It is not the band’s most well-known song, but it holds high standards as one of the first songs to put System Of A Down on the map.
When you are thinking about technological advancements, make sure to listen to this song on any streaming platform.