Bodies by Drowning Pool

 

VIOLENCE IS COOL

THIS SONG IS ABOUT VIOLENCE

THIS SONG IS COOL

That is the maximum amount of artistic sophistication that Drowning Pool is capable of. Feed into the aggression fantasies of dumb young men...profit.

The official story is that the song is about moshing, but in the sparse verses we are introduced to the idea of somebody who has reached the end of their cool, and is about to blow their lid. And then the choruses make their eventual explosion of violence sound like something cool enough to write a nu metal anthem about. The band have tried to sell the mosh story, but also claimed it is innocuous enough for listener interpretation, which is to say, they really want you to interpret it for exactly what it is, an idiotic celebration of machismo aggression.

Musically it is nothing but rhythm and sound effects. There is no melody. The hooks are not about musical expression, but only about serving the goofy high five to violent tendencies. In some sense it is incredibly successful in sounding like what it is about. But what it is about is the most juvenile admiration of aggressive self indulgence.

This song is Limp Bizkit on testosterone and bath salts.