System of a Down: Sugar Meaning
Song Released: 1998
Sugar Lyrics
Sitting around all day,
Who can believe you,
Who can believe you,
Let your mother pray, (sugar)
(sugar)
I’m not there all the time you know
Some people, some people, some people,
Call it insane, yeah they...
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Aspartame. Duh
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well if u've seen the music video the begining has a man saying he's working for the system so the Kambucha mushroom people are the business corporations and people that work for the government and by them sitting around all day they don't do anything to help out America.
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Maybe they made the song like this so they could have trolls post a bunch of bullshut conspiracies.
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Guys, this song is about aspartame.... Which can cause tumors, homicidal thoughts, DEATH, and cancer as well....it's mostly found in diet sodas and sugar free items..
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Regarding this post from a long time ago:
"Sako's is the gun brand that sold the guns to the kids that commited columbine."
It might just be a coincidence but it's definitely not a reference to Columbine. "Sugar" was released on System of a Down's self-titled CD on June 30, 1998. The Columbine shooting happened on April 20, 1999 — the better part of a year later. Of course, both things happened on a Tuesday. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The meaning of the song Sugar is revealed in the beginning of the music video. We see a newsman telling us that we believe whatever the "Kabucha mushroom people" tell us about anything, symbolically drugging our minds. There are clever references to Columbine, domestic violence, and drugs, and the implication is that all of us blindly believe what the news media is telling us about the dangers of these things
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1) "The kombucha mushroom people sitting around all day. Who can believe you? Who can believe you? Let your mother pray..."
The kombucha mushroom effects and definition have already been given to anyone who is currently reading this post, so there's no need to be redundant. The "kombucha mushroom people" are the people who partake in viewing mainstream media, and suck it in like it's the truth. Since all this false information affects the average American citizen's perspectives and thoughts (mass media), like the quotes say, who can believe them? Who can believe someone whose opinions are biased and based upon corrupt/false information? This relates to my 1st reason of why they included Kombucha mushrooms in their lyrics. What SOAD is basically saying is that believing someone who actually believes in the B.S. you see on the news is almost the same as believing someone on drugs, or specifically kombucha mushrooms. Although kombucha mushrooms don't have the side effects of delusionalness, I think you see my point, however that is not my only interpretation of why they used kombucha mushrooms in the lyrics. "Let your mother pray" is pretty straightforward.
2) "SUGAR!"
Sugar is what is used to grow and feed the kombucha mushroom. If you have not watched the video, it flashes an ad that says: "Aspartame rules!" Aspartame is the artificial, non saccharide sweetener that is used in beverages and foods, such as diet soda. Of course, you know that "artificial sweetener" means fake sugar. The reason it is used in diet soda is because you're drinking a dietetic form of a soft drink that normally uses sugar, but aspartame is advertised as more healthy and that is helps with weight loss, etc. The funny thing is that aspartame is very unhealthy for you. Aspartame's hidden dangers include INCREASING your appetite (ironic, huh?), brain cancer, birth defects, diabetes, epilepsy, emotional disorders and death. There are countless other products used that contain aspartame besides diet soda; shake mixes, sugar-free gum, cereal, chocolate milk, coffee mixes, Sweet n' Low, wine coolers and yogurt. If consumed over a good length of time, you have a high chance of obtaining the disorders/diseases listed above. There are a huge number of people who consume the above products, which are only a very small amount of the countless ones. All of this will be explained later, but first, I must make my next point.
3) "Russian roulete" reference
As for the people who do not know, russian roulette is a game played where six people have a handgun, that is loaded with one bullet. There are normally 6 bullet slots for a handgun in a clip. The gun goes around and each person must put the gun to their mouth and pull the trigger once for their turn. The game is played until one is left standing, and he who is left standing receives his money. This basically means one has a 1/6 or 16.6% chance of being killed by the bullet, and then down to 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, and then finally, 1/2.
4) The rest of the lyrics
The rest of the lyrics are pretty self explanatory and help build up my point, so there is no need to make this interpretation any longer, you people have lives, as so do I :).
5) Final summary
I explained the meaning of aspartame and its main dangers, and I explained what Russian Roulette is. Now to connect these two interpretations and make my final point. The companies who advertise their products and repeatedly say they help your health, are lying to us. I have now told you the dangers of aspartame, and I hope you agree with it, because it could save your life, believe it or not. What the companies are, in a broad sense, saying, is "BULLSHIT RULES!". The "health benefits" and "safety" of aspartame are total bullshit. The quote, "Russian roulette" is basically saying the more you consume aspartame, the more of a chance (1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2)you have of acquiring the above disorders/diseases, and most likely leading to your death. Now, in essence, the meaning behind all of this is that the more lies and BS people, specifically American citizens, believe and let destroy your overall clarity and perspective of our country's current situations, it will lead to our (citizens) downfall. Serj Tankian wants us American citizens to stop believing all the mass media's BULLSHIT, and form our own opinions, and find our own truthful facts, and research things before we start using them regularly (a lot of people who will read this interpretation probably had no clue what consuming products containing aspartame could do to you until now, thank me later :D). Live your life your own way, Serj is saying. Don't let the government and mass media consume your rationality and thinking, do everything the way you're content, and don't believe their cover-ups of what is actually happening. The pointless war in Iraq/Afghanistan is more horrible than most citizens know, in fact. Yet the government still feeds us more bullshit, and morons begin to believe it and live like there's nothing bad going on. To help clarify this point, watch the first part of the music video, where they show the newscaster having a nervous breakdown.
By the way, the title "Sugar" is most likely referring to the way the government "sugarcoats" things. It could also refer to the fact that sugar isolates kombucha mushrooms and lets them grow in extremely large amounts in short amounts of time, meaning bullshit the government tells us can really change one's perspectives, mind, and rationality in a short period of time, by destroying it, or calming it, corruptively.
Thanks to everyone who has read my interpretation, really appreciate it :).
P.S: STAY OFF THE FUCKING DIET SODA xD. -
I think it's about government conspiracy on how aspartame (fake SUGAR) has been shown to cause cancer yet the government still approves its use in almost every food there is. I think this because in the video it flashes aspartame a couple times and of course the guy in the beginning talking about government conspiracy. mostly I think it's about corrupted society and how the government does not give a fuck that we are fucked up
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THE VIDEO CLEARLY SAYS ASPARTAME...not Aspartine....aspartame is the Sweetener used in Diet Drinks and Equal Artificial Sugar...Sweetener 951 search it and you will find what the song is about...and Kombucha is a Medicinal Drink.. Wiki it..
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It means that drugs overtake the society and todays youth. The song is mainly saying drug overuse is a problem in society today. It is not good but a quality in life that will have to be dealt with, unfortunately.
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-Eh... The war in the Middle East and/or the one that was in Vietnam (the two are pretty similar). That's what I think it is. I'm surprised no one else got this, since the lyrics seem to support it perfectly.
-"Kombucha mushroom people sitting around all day" could be referring to PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), they're sitting around all day doing nothing, they're shell-shocked, or whatever word you care to use. If you listen to this song with the theme "war" in your mind, then "Let your mother pray" makes perfect sense. "Who can believe you" could be referring to how the Vietcong (and Al-Quaeda or whoever we're fighting) used hit and run tactics, hid among the allied Vietnamese/ Middle-Eastern people, and ambushed the troops when they were least prepared, and the U.S. couldn't trust anyone because of this.
-"I'm not there all the time" not being home with family and risking your life
-"Some people call it insane" Many Americans were against both wars
-"Russian Roulette everyday" Troops did not know when they would be ambushed and killed
-The next paragraph I'm not so sure, but SOAD always throws in a bunch of nonsense to trip up people attempting to decipher their songs
-The "Gun from Sako," could be saying how Troops needed to constantly have protection from the enemy so they carried some sort of gun with them at all times, hence why it fits in his pocket
-His girl who lashes out at him...well, he's home now I guess, and the PTSD he's suffering with is too much and his GF gets fed up and vents/leaves, and he, not being in his right mind, gets angry and hits her, possibly killing her. He then says she is okay as a sort of defense mechanism to stop the guilt from hitting him (If anyone here has ever read "Of Mice and Men" Lenny does the same thing with people and animals he kills)
-"People are always chasing me down" that paragraph, he's back in the war and the enemy found him and he's running away, scared for his life (This may have been when he acquired PTSD), or it could also be back home the citizens he fought to protect are blaming him for helping fuel the war, as the ignorant masses do.
-"I sit in my desolate room/no lights/ no music/just anger" PTSD again
-"I've killed everyone" the wars over, and his PTSD is in full force
-"I'm away forever" he's gone from the war and/or he's transcended above being mere human, having seen more than what he wanted to see.
-"But I'm feeling better" even with PTSD and everything, the war was way worse.
-"how do I feel/ what do I say" He's trying to tell his story, but he doesn't make sense. He's trying to gather his thoughts but his mind has been irreparably damaged.
-"f*** you/in the end it all goes away" Once his life ends he will no longer feel the pain and remember the horror of the war
-"Sugar" the title itself... I think they produce "Sugar"(cocaine) in Vietnam, don't they? There ya go :) -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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