B.Y.O.B. (song)

"B.Y.O.B." ("Bring Your Own Bombs") is a song by Armenian-American alternative metal band System of a Down. It was released in March 2005 as the lead single from their fourth album Mezmerize. Like their earlier song "Boom!", it was written in protest against the Iraq War.[2] The song reached number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's highest peak to date on the chart.

"B.Y.O.B."
Single by System of a Down
from the album Mezmerize
ReleasedMarch 29, 2005 (2005-03-29)
Recorded
GenreAlternative metal[1]
Length4:15
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
System of a Down singles chronology
"Boom!"
(2003)		 "B.Y.O.B."
(2005)		 "Question!"
(2005)
Music video
"B.Y.O.B." on YouTube

Music video

The video for "B.Y.O.B." was directed by Jake Nava.

The music video shows an army of soldiers marching through the streets, wearing paintball masks with television screens projecting words like "DIE", "TRUTH", "OBEY", "BUY" or "GOD", with the members of System of a Down playing in the middle of the street. During the chorus, the band is shown playing inside a night club. Midway through the video, Daron is shown screaming the words "Blast off! It's party time! And we don't live in a fascist nation! Blast off! It's party time! And where the fuck are you?!", when the soldiers storm the night club and force everyone to put on the drone masks, during which the masks show images of television shows and war. At the end of the video, the members of System of a Down are shown wearing the drone masks, which are playing static.

As of June 2020, the song has over 327 million views on YouTube.

Casey Chaos claimed to have helped write the song in 2002, and Malakian gifted him a 2% royalties credit. Casey Chaos then subsequently sold a 50% interest in the song to Maxwood Music Ltd. However, in 2010 a Manhattan court ruled Malakian and Tankian to be the sole writers of the song.[3]

Accolades

Track listing
CD single
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."B.Y.O.B." (Explicit Album version)
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian4:15
2."Forest" (Explicit Live version)
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian5:12
3."Prison Song" (Explicit Live version)
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian3:32
4."Sugar" (Explicit Live version)S. Tankian
  • S. Odadjian
  • D. Malakian
4:00
  • The live tracks were recorded at the Big Day Out 2005 festival.
Digital download [First version]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."B.Y.O.B."
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian4:15
7" single • digital download [Second version]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."B.Y.O.B."
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian4:15
2."Cigaro"
  • S. Tankian
  • D. Malakian
D. Malakian2:11

Chart positions

Weekly charts
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[5] 42
Canada Rock Top 30 (Radio & Records)[6] 28
UK Singles Chart (OCC)[7] 26
US Billboard Hot 100 27
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[8] 4
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[9] 4

Year-end charts
Chart (2019) Position
Portugal (AFP)[10] 1090

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[11] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[13] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

See also

References
  1. Martens, Todd (May 14, 2005). "System of a Down is ready to 'Mezmerize' its fans". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 24.
  2. Morse, Steve (August 26, 2005). "Pounding out a blistering attack: System of a Down lashes out at Hollywood, war, and hypocrisy". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  3. "Judge Rules for Rock Band in 'B.Y.O.B.' Royalty Case". Courthouse News. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  4. "System of a Down Awards: BYOB, Question, Mezmerize". AveoftheStars.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  5. "Australian-charts.com – System of a Down – B.Y.O.B.". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  6. "RR Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF). p. 63. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. "Chart Log UK 1994-2010". Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. "System of a Down Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  9. "System of a Down Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  10. "Top AFP - Audiogest - Top 3000 Singles + EPs Digitais" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  11. "Italian single certifications – System of a Down – B.Y.O.B." (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 22, 2020. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "B.Y.O.B." in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
  12. "British single certifications – System of a Down – Byob". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  13. "American single certifications – System of a Down – B.Y.O.B." Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 22, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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