In a new interview with the Broken Record podcast, System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian revealed finding some metal songs funny.
The singer compared metal to horror music and acknowledged that there’s a point where extreme brutality stops being scary and starts being funny instead. He explained:
“For me, metal, if it gets too hard, it gets so funny. It’s kind of like horror movies, right? If it gets too crazy, [if] it’s so over the top, I start laughing. And the same is with metal.”
He then revealed the name of the song he wanted to write with funny lyrics but heavy sound:
“I remember one time, when we wrote the song ‘Bounce,’ the lyrics were completely different. I wanted to write a very heavy metal song about pajamas, silk pajamas, which is totally Dadaesque, like something Zappa would do.”
Tankian ‘F*cked With Metal Enough’
In the same interview, the rocker talked more about writing funny lyrics and said he ‘f*cked with metal’ enough to make people say otherwise:
“I was like, ‘Could you imagine writing a really heavy song about pajamas, like, the Dalai Lama’s pajamas, and Elton John’s pajamas?’ You just keep on going, and it becomes this funny thing. [My bandmates] looked at me with scorn. They’re like, ‘No, bro, you’re not gonna make us look like that.’ So, there was always this attitude of ‘Don’t f**k with the metal.’ But I f**ked with it enough, you know?”
Tankian Means Everything He Writes
SOAD has written plenty of songs with both funny lyrics and heavy, deep lyrics. However, even with the funny lyrics, the frontman knows that everything he’s ever created reflects his career.
In another interview, the frontman admitted he doesn’t care about others’ opinions and will keep making art regardless of how it might affect his ‘legacy.’
“When I listen to hip-hop, I either like an MC or I don’t like an MC immediately, because I either believe them or not, the intentions behind the words are more important than the words, and you can feel that, especially as an artist. I mean every word that I say, I mean every lyric that I sing, I mean every noise that I make. Every joke that I’ve made, I mean it. I was in that moment for me to have done it.”
You can listen to the interview down below.