Empty Walls

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"Empty Walls"
Single by Serj Tankian
from the album Elect the Dead
ReleasedSeptember 10, 2007 (Internet)
October 15,[1] 2007 (CD)
GenreAlternative metal
Length3:49
LabelSerjical Strike/Reprise
Songwriter(s)Serj Tankian
Producer(s)Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian singles chronology
"Empty Walls"
(2007) 		"Lie Lie Lie"
(2007)

"Empty Walls" is a song by Armenian American musician Serj Tankian. It is Tankian's debut solo single and the opening track off of his first solo album, Elect the Dead.[2][3] The song has been described as a "traditionally pummeling rocker".[4]

"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 4, 2007[5] as well as in edited form on promotional copies that have been sent out to radio stations.[citation needed]

An acoustic version of the song also appears on the limited edition of Elect the Dead.[6] The "Victorious Club Mix", as featured on the single, was produced by DJ LethalRush.[citation needed]

The music video for the single was released onto Serj Tankian's official YouTube link on October 26, 2009. The video, which shows activity in a children's playroom that echoes the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Iraq, contains an amended version of the last verse where it repeats "empty walls" instead of "fucking walls" and "goddamn walls".[7]

Music video[edit]

Serj released one of the videos on September 11, 2007, matching the video's War on Terrorism theme. The music video was directed by Tony Petrossian[8] and was uploaded to YouTube on September 12, 2007. The video shows young children playing in a daycare center with their play imitating the War on Terrorism.

The video opens with a felt Homeland Security Advisory System scale (accompanied by a seal reading "U.S. Department of Playground Sekcureity"), followed by a young girl building two towers of blocks. A boy launches a toy airplane into the towers, knocking them down and upsetting the girl, and she is shown to want revenge.

Various scenes in the video refer to the War in Iraq: the children preparing for play war, a teddy bear being pulled down (referring to the symbolic pulling down of Saddam Hussein's statue), a presidential figure with a sign declaring "Mission Accomplished", a child in a cage reminiscent of one of the Kenneth Bigley hostage videos, the aforementioned collapse of the block towers, a child dressed and positioned in imitation of a published picture of Satar Jabar from the Abu Ghraib prison, and several children pulling another from a toy house to play execute him with a can of silly string (in reference to the Hamdania incident). A boy inside a toy car puts on goggles and is driven into a plastic ball pit wall to cause a burst of confetti, symbolic of the many suicide bombings at US Army checkpoints. The children performing acts similar to those of the US military are clearly distinguished by wearing helmets reminiscent of soldiers' helmets.

Meanwhile Serj, dressed in a top hat and suit, sings as they play. The video concludes as the children all look out the daycare window and solemnly watch a Marine Corps detail load a flag-draped casket into a hearse. Meanwhile, the dead Marine's grief-stricken parents are looking in horror and disbelief at the day care, after seeing what the children have done.

The video has also appeared on Much Music's Video on Trial.

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Serj Tankian

CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Empty Walls"3:51
2."Gratefully Disappeared"1:41
Two-track promo
No.TitleLength
1."Empty Walls"3:49
2."The Unthinking Majority"3:47
Radio edit promo single
No.TitleLength
1."Empty Walls" (radio edit)3:52
7" single
No.TitleLength
1."Empty Walls"3:51
2."Empty Walls (Victorious Club Mix)"5:45

All tracks are written by Serj Tankian

UK digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Empty Walls"3:49
2."Gratefully Disappeared"1:41
3."Empty Walls (Victorious Club Mix)"5:45

Chart positions[edit]

Chart (2008) Peak

position

Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[9] 72
UK Singles (OCC)[10] 78
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 97
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[12] 3
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[13] 4

References[edit]

  1. ^ Serj Tankian – Empty Walls (Reprise) – Single reviews
  2. ^ Serj Tankian Archived February 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Tuned. July 18, 2007. Accessed September 7, 2007.
  3. ^ Harris, Chris and Yasmine Richard. (July 20, 2007). System Of A Down Frontman Serj Tankian On Intimate Solo LP MTV. Accessed September 7, 2007.
  4. ^ Brown, August. (July 15, 2007). Tankian works outside the system[dead link]. Los Angeles Times. (Free registration required.) Accessed September 7, 2007.
  5. ^ "Elect The Dead 2 track promo". Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
  6. ^ Warner Bros. Records online store Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (September 27, 2007)
  7. ^ Official video
  8. ^ System Of a Down singer to make album videos Archived September 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, by Metal Hammer, August 28, 2007. Accessed September 7, 2007.
  9. ^ "Serj Tankian Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  10. ^ "Serj Tankian: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  11. ^ "Serj Tankian Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  12. ^ "Serj Tankian Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  13. ^ "Serj Tankian Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
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