Empty Walls

Single infobox
Name = Empty Walls


Artist = Serj Tankian
from Album = Elect the Dead
Released = September 10 2007 (Internet) October 15 [ [http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/single_reviews/s/1020596_serj_tankian__empty_walls_reprise Serj Tankian - Empty Walls (Reprise) - Single reviews] ] , 2007 (CD)
Format = Digital download, CD, Airplay
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative metal Art rock
Length =
Label = Serjical Strike/Reprise
Writer = Serj Tankian
Producer = Serj Tankian
Last single = "The Unthinking Majority" (2007)
This single = ""Empty Walls" (2007)
Next single = "Lie Lie Lie" (2007)
Misc =

"Empty Walls" is the first official single and first track off Serj Tankian's debut album "Elect the Dead". [ [http://www.tunedmagazine.co.uk/viewfull.html?article=46 Serj Tankian] "Tuned". July 18 2007. Accessed September 7 2007.] [Harris, Chris and Yasmine Richard. (July 20 2007). [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1565133/20070719/tankian_serj.jhtml System Of A Down Frontman Serj Tankian On Intimate Solo LP] MTV. Accessed September 7 2007.] The song has been described as a "traditionally pummeling rocker". [Brown, August. (July 15 2007). [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-fasttracksa15jul15,1,7208136.story?ctrack=1&cset=true Tankian works outside the system] . "LA Times". (Free registration required.) Accessed September 7 2007.]

"Empty Walls" was released on September 10 2007 as a digital download and September 25 as a CD single. It can also be found on a 2 track Reprise promo issue dated September 04 , 2007 [ [http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/39663/2005146322238914811_rs.jpgElect The Dead 2 track promo] ] as well as in edited form on promotional copies that have been sent out to radio stations.

An acoustic version of the song also appears on the limited edition of "Elect the Dead". [ [http://store.warnerbrosrecordsstore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=1548612&sid=1479ECED7AED407595DA87981915D5FD Warner Bros. Records online store] (September 27, 2007)]

The "Victorious Club Mix", as featured on the single, was produced by DJ LethalRush.

Track listing

*All songs written by Tankian.

CD single

tracklist
title1 = Empty Walls
length1 = 3:51
title2 = Gratefully Disappeared
note2 = Non-Album Track
length2 = 1:41

2 track promo

tracklist
title1 = Empty Walls
length1 = 3:49
title2 = The Unthinking Majority
length2 = 3:47

Radio Edit promo single

tracklist
title1 = Empty Walls
note1 = Radio edit
length1 = 3:52

7" single

tracklist
title1 = Empty Walls
length1 = 3:51
title2 = Empty Walls
note2 = Victorious Club Mix
length2 = 5:45

Music video

Serj released one of the videos on September 11, 2007, which fits the theme of the video. The music video was directed by Tony Petrossian [ [http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/article/?id=46989 System Of a Down singer to make album videos] , by Metal Hammer, "August 28 2007". Accessed September 7 2007.] and was uploaded onto YouTube on September 12, 2007. It shows young children playing in a daycare center, with their playing imitating the War on Terror in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It shows HSAS made out of felt in a tongue-in-cheek manner. In the beginning of the video there is a little girl playing with blocks in the shape of the World Trade Center, both of which are knocked over by a toy airplane thrown by a boy, clearly making the girl upset. There are various different images displayed in the coming scenes that are symbolic of or related to the War in Iraq (such as the children preparing for "war", a teddy bear being pulled down like the statue of Saddam Hussein, [or Hitler, but only vaguely.] a presidential figure declaring "Mission Accomplished", imitation of the capture of Saddam Hussein, a child in a cage reminiscent of one of the Kenneth Bigley hostage videos, a toy plane being thrown into the blocks (the Twin Towers) mentioned above, and a child dressed and positioned in an imitation of a noted picture from the Abu Ghraib prison, and several children pulling out their friend from a toy house, only to "execute" him outside with a can of silly string, in reference to the Hamdania incident, or, again, vaguely like Kristallnacht). A boy inside a play car puts on goggles and is driven into a plastic ball pit wall to cause a burst of confetti fly out symbolic of the many suicide bombings at US Army checkpoints. The children performing acts similar to that of the US military are clearly distinguished by wearing helmets reminiscent of a soldiers helmet. All the while Serj, dressed in a top hat and suit imitating the notable American army recruitment advertisement, Uncle Sam, sings as they play. The video concludes as the children all look out the window of the daycare they are in and solemnly watch a Marine Corps detail load a flag draped casket into a hearse.

Chart positions

References

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=WqoQkTQqi8o Official Music Video]