At age five, Serj Tankian moved with his parents to Los Angeles, California. After high school, he studied marketing. He took singing lessons for four years and also took guitar lessons as a young child. In 1993, he founded the band Soil (not to be confused with SOiL) with Daron Malakian, which later went on hiatus, and later changed to System of a Down. Tankian is not only a member of the band System of a Down, but also has his own record label which is called Serjical Strike Records, a sub-division of Columbia Records. He also performed guest vocals on songs such as Mushroom Cult by Dog Fashion Disco, and Mein by Deftones. He produced "Enter The Chicken" by Buckethead, and provided vocals to the Buckethead songs "We are One," "Coma" and "Waiting Here." With Serjical Strike Records, he endeavors to offer those musicians often ignored by the mainstream a possibility to release their music and be heard. The first release of Serj's new label was Serart, a project consisting of Tankian, himself, and Arto Tunçboyaçiyan, an Armenian friend of Tankian's.
Tankian is also very involved politically. Together with Tom Morello (ex-Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, The Nightwatchman), he founded the organization Axis Of Justice. Tankian often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world.
Serj is a vegetarian and likes to read poetry but other than that, few details are known about Tankian's private life. He is especially interested in Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and Edgar Allan Poe. Serj hates celebrity gossip. He believes it is a waste of time and due to the spreading of rumors, can destroy close relationships .
Two days after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Serj posted a highly controversial essay on the band's website. It was promptly taken down by Sony, the band's record label. Sony's opinion was that Tankian had tried to justify the terrorist attacks and that his claims were unfounded.
Tankian's first poetry book, Cool Gardens, was published by MTV Books and released on October 1st, 2002. It is a collection of seven to eight years of Tankian's reflections on life, and features artwork by fellow Armenian, Sako Shahinian. The book has received much praise in the artistic community.
In late 2007, Serj released his first solo album "Elect the Dead" Serj later went on to perform live around the world on a tour to promote his solo album, backed by another band on his label, the FCC (Flying Cunts of Chaos). In 2010, Serj released a live album "Elect the Dead Symphony" during which he performed with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra. Afterwords, they embarked on a worldwide tour with the orchestra.
In September of 2010, Serj released another solo album "Imperfect Harmonies" through Serjical Strike Records, his record label. In December of 2010, it was announced by fellow members of his band System of a Down that they would be reuniting for a world tour in 2011. Fellow bandmate Shavo Odadjian released through his Twitter account that they would reunite. In May of 2011, they began their worldwide tour in Canada, with stops in America, England, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Austria, and Russia. They will also be heading to South America to play in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
The Figure It Out Songfacts reports that Serj's third solo album, "Harakiri" will be released on July 10, 2012. The lead single, "Figure it Out," was released on May 1, 2012.
Figure It Out
Serj Tankian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
CEOs are the disease
Freedom is raped by war like whore
Like technology, technology, technology of materialism
Personal freedom only an obstruction
Freedom is raped by war like whore
Personal freedom only an obstruction
Why pretend that we don't know?
CEOs are the disease
Fuck, let's figure it out
No bullshit
Fuck, let's figure it out
No bullshit
Fuck, let's figure it out
Fuck, let's figure it out
Freedom is raped by war like whore
Like technology, technology, technology of materialism
Personal freedom only an obstruction
Fuck, let's figure it out
No bullshit
Fuck, let's figure it out
No bullshit
Fuck, let's figure it out
Fuck, let's figure it out
Freedom is raped by war like whore
Like technology, technology, technology of materialism
Personal freedom only an obstruction
Why pretend that we don't know?
CEOs are the disease
Why pretend that we don't know?
CEOs are the disease
Control ordinary behavior through political extremism
Industrial society is the arch enemy nature
Including human nature
The unthinking majority should just not be condemned, condemned
CEOs are the disease
CEOs are the disease
Why pretend that we don't know?
CEOs are the disease
CEOs are the disease
CEOs are the disease
Fuck, let's figure it out
The lyrics to Serj Tankian's song "Figure It Out" express the artist's desire to break through the political and social hypocrisy that he sees in society. He questions why people pretend not to know about the negative impact of greed and corporate control, represented by CEOs as the disease. Freedom is constantly being destroyed by the endless war machine and the obsession with materialism, which obstructs our personal freedom. In the second verse, Tankian points out how the ruling class manipulates and controls ordinary behavior through political extremism and industrial society is the enemy of nature, including human nature. The unthinking majority should not be condemned but can be informed and empowered to make a difference. The song's refrain powerfully repeats the call for people to take action and figure it out, with a no bullshit approach.
Overall, "Figure It Out" is a message that empowers listeners to resist the control of corporate greed and social oppression. Tankian encourages listeners to recognize the reality of the world and be proactive in creating change. In this sense, the song is a call to action for people to take control of their lives and their community.
Line by Line Meaning
Why pretend that we don't know?
There is a problem that needs addressing, so why act like it doesn't exist?
CEOs are the disease
The corrupt leaders of corporations are the cause of the issues at hand.
Freedom is raped by war like whore
The impact of war on personal freedom is likened to the traumatic nature of sexual assault.
Like technology, technology, technology of materialism
The obsession with technology and material goods drives society towards an unhealthy and unsustainable path.
Personal freedom only an obstruction
The desire for personal freedom often conflicts with the profit-driven motives of those in power.
Fuck, let's figure it out
A call to action, encouraging people to work towards solving the problem.
No bullshit
A plea for honesty and sincerity, without any deception or games.
Control ordinary behavior through political extremism
The restrictive effects of extremist politics on individual behavior is criticized.
Industrial society is the arch enemy nature, Including human nature
Humanity's destructive impact on the environment is identified, and a criticism is made of the societal norms and systems that contribute to this issue.
The unthinking majority should just not be condemned, condemned
While criticising the effects of societal systems, there is a recognition that the blame should not lie solely with the ordinary people who are subject to them.
CEOs are the disease
Repetition of the earlier point, emphasizing the cause of the issue as being the greed-driven CEOs of corporations.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Serj Tankian
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ZombieRoca
FINALLY! After nearly a year, the music video is back on YouTube!
@fedora997
Loved this song and video, glad its back
@mercurialthrills9011
Yeah! I didn't know there was a video for this song so it was a pleasant surprise to search for the song and find this.
@fjavierpt
I didn't realize it had been dropped but if that happened maybe it was because the YT C305 are the D1seas3 🤔
@Pawsiewarrior
I miss SOAD wow but I still love him as a solo artist
@samkaplan9562
System is said to be working on a new album after their tour this year!
@DE-bj7nm
Sam Kaplan omg that would be super great !!!hope its going to be as good as the old ones!!
@eyekeyze43
+Sam Kaplan Don't You think Serj's voice might be gone? Just wondering...
I mean, He IS old...
@samkaplan9562
+Ignas Kardas yeah I see what you mean. However, it's not that he has completely lost his voice, though he is old so it's not what it used to be. The reason why his voice seems gone when it comes to System, is that they've started doing a lot more of their old songs that they haven't done in a while (i.e. Chic 'N' Stu) and those songs involve a lot of screaming/singing as well as plain old screaming, and recently he hasn't done much of that with his solo project, so I'm addition to him being old and his voice not being in its prime, he's also probably out of practice when it comes to his old style of yelling and singing and screaming.
@eyekeyze43
No. Im not saying he lost his voice. Im just curious u kno :/.