B.Y.O.B. (song)

"B.Y.O.B." ("Bring Your Own Bombs") is a song by American heavy 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. The song reached number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's only top 40 hit.

Music video
Directed by Jake Nava, the music video for "B.Y.O.B." shows an army of soldiers marching through the streets, wearing paintball masks with television screens projecting words like "Die", "Truth", "Obey", or "Buy". The band members are playing in the middle of the street. During the chorus, the band is shown playing inside a night club. Midway through the video, co-lead vocalist Daron Malakian is screaming the lyrics when the soldiers storm the night club and force everyone to put on the masks, during which the masks show images of television shows and war. At the end of the video, the band members are shown wearing the masks which are displaying static.

Songwriting legal case
Casey Chaos claimed to have helped write the song in 2002, and Malakian offered to gift him a 2% royalties credit. When Chaos asked for more, the offer was rescinded. 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.

Accolades

 * B.Y.O.B. won the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category in the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Track listing

 * CD single


 * The live tracks were recorded at the Big Day Out 2005 festival.


 * Digital download [First version]


 * 7" single • digital download [Second version]

Personnel
System of a Down
 * Serj Tankian – vocals, keyboards
 * Daron Malakian – vocals, guitars, bass (uncredited)
 * Shavo Odadjian – bass (credited but does not perform)
 * John Dolmayan – drums, percussion

Production
 * Rick Rubin – production
 * Andy Wallace – mixing
 * David Schiffman – engineering
 * Jason Lader – editing
 * Dana Neilsen – editing
 * Phillip Broussard – engineering assistance
 * John O'Mahony – Pro Tools engineering
 * Steve Sisco – mixing assistance
 * Joe Peluso – mixing assistance

Additional personnel
 * Marc Mann – string arrangements
 * Vartan Malakian – artwork
 * Brandy Flower – graphic design