Chords for Rick Rubin talks about System of a Down
Tempo:
68 bpm
Chords used:
G
F
Ab
E
Abm
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
I want to talk about System.
Yeah, great.
Because there's a band, and I think a lot of people listening and watching this now,
we're really interested to know what it's like [G] working with them,
because you've got four [N] characters in a band, all of them very strong characters,
and the music they make is very strong and very unique.
Just talk us through, tell us some stories about System of a Down and how it's been like to work with them.
Yeah, I remember going to see them the first time I went to see them play.
They played at the Viper Room in L.A.
It was packed, and 200 people.
Sold out.
Sold out.
And I remember watching the show and just laughing.
I laughed the whole time.
It was the funniest [Ab] thing I'd ever seen, but in a good way.
It wasn't like laughing, like what a joke.
It was just so over the top and so extreme,
[G] like Armenian folk dancing with heavy metal riffs [E] and [N] wild political lyrics and screaming.
It was just crazy music.
Usually, a lot of heavy music [F] falls into a similar thing.
[N]
I'm not going to say it's interchangeable, because it's not,
but there are certain rules of heavy metal, [G] let's say,
that [F] everyone sort of follows those [N] rules.
It's a loyal fan base.
And System of a Down were a heavy [Abm] band, you could say a heavy metal band,
who didn't follow those rules.
So they didn't have the rhythms that [F] you'd hear in a [G] typical,
you wouldn't hear a [A] Metallica rhythm,
you'd hear a System of a Down rhythm, which was different.
Like different [Ab] gallops and different
And it's rooted in their Armenian [N] heritage.
So they took elements from folk music and brought that into heavy metal.
And I remember at the time, I'd never heard anything like it.
And I can remember people, while [Eb] there were those of us who loved them fanatically,
people hated them.
[Gb] People hated them.
I can remember the big radio station in LA is K-Rock.
And Kevin Weatherly is the program director of K-Rock.
[G] And I remember him saying,
System of a Down is a band we [N] will never play on our station ever.
100%.
I don't care what happens.
That doesn't fit on our station.
And then a year later, it was the number one band on the station.
Unbelievable.
They clearly didn't fit, but they were so good that they transcended not fitting.
And those are the artists that I like the best.
Those are my favorite artists.
The ones that don't really fit anywhere.
They're not another in this mold.
Rage Against the Machine is another great example.
Rage Against the Machine, they don't sound like anyone.
No one before Rage Against the Machine sounded like Rage Against the Machine.
And a lot of people didn't like
Yeah, great.
Because there's a band, and I think a lot of people listening and watching this now,
we're really interested to know what it's like [G] working with them,
because you've got four [N] characters in a band, all of them very strong characters,
and the music they make is very strong and very unique.
Just talk us through, tell us some stories about System of a Down and how it's been like to work with them.
Yeah, I remember going to see them the first time I went to see them play.
They played at the Viper Room in L.A.
It was packed, and 200 people.
Sold out.
Sold out.
And I remember watching the show and just laughing.
I laughed the whole time.
It was the funniest [Ab] thing I'd ever seen, but in a good way.
It wasn't like laughing, like what a joke.
It was just so over the top and so extreme,
[G] like Armenian folk dancing with heavy metal riffs [E] and [N] wild political lyrics and screaming.
It was just crazy music.
Usually, a lot of heavy music [F] falls into a similar thing.
[N]
I'm not going to say it's interchangeable, because it's not,
but there are certain rules of heavy metal, [G] let's say,
that [F] everyone sort of follows those [N] rules.
It's a loyal fan base.
And System of a Down were a heavy [Abm] band, you could say a heavy metal band,
who didn't follow those rules.
So they didn't have the rhythms that [F] you'd hear in a [G] typical,
you wouldn't hear a [A] Metallica rhythm,
you'd hear a System of a Down rhythm, which was different.
Like different [Ab] gallops and different
And it's rooted in their Armenian [N] heritage.
So they took elements from folk music and brought that into heavy metal.
And I remember at the time, I'd never heard anything like it.
And I can remember people, while [Eb] there were those of us who loved them fanatically,
people hated them.
[Gb] People hated them.
I can remember the big radio station in LA is K-Rock.
And Kevin Weatherly is the program director of K-Rock.
[G] And I remember him saying,
System of a Down is a band we [N] will never play on our station ever.
100%.
I don't care what happens.
That doesn't fit on our station.
And then a year later, it was the number one band on the station.
Unbelievable.
They clearly didn't fit, but they were so good that they transcended not fitting.
And those are the artists that I like the best.
Those are my favorite artists.
The ones that don't really fit anywhere.
They're not another in this mold.
Rage Against the Machine is another great example.
Rage Against the Machine, they don't sound like anyone.
No one before Rage Against the Machine sounded like Rage Against the Machine.
And a lot of people didn't like
Key:
G
F
Ab
E
Abm
G
F
Ab
I want to talk about System.
Yeah, great.
Because there's a band, and I think a lot of people listening and watching this now,
we're really interested to know what it's like [G] working with them,
because you've got four [N] characters in a band, all of them very strong characters,
and the music they make is very strong and very unique.
Just talk us through, tell us some stories about System of a Down and how it's been like to work with them.
Yeah, I remember going to see them the first time I went to see them play.
They played at the Viper Room in L.A.
It was packed, and 200 people.
Sold out.
Sold out.
And I remember watching the show and just laughing.
I laughed the whole time.
It was the funniest [Ab] thing I'd ever seen, but in a good way.
It wasn't like laughing, like what a joke.
It was just so over the top and so extreme,
[G] like Armenian folk dancing with heavy metal riffs [E] and [N] _ wild political lyrics and screaming.
It was just crazy music. _ _ _
Usually, a lot of heavy music [F] falls into a similar thing.
_ [N] _
I'm not going to say it's interchangeable, because it's not,
but there are certain rules of heavy metal, [G] let's say,
that [F] everyone sort of follows those [N] rules.
It's a loyal fan base.
And System of a Down were a heavy [Abm] band, you could say a heavy metal band,
who didn't follow those rules.
So they didn't have the rhythms that [F] you'd hear in a [G] typical,
you wouldn't hear a [A] Metallica rhythm,
you'd hear a System of a Down rhythm, which was different.
Like different [Ab] gallops and different_
And it's rooted in their Armenian [N] heritage.
So they took elements from folk music and brought that into heavy metal.
And I remember at the time, I'd never heard anything like it.
And I can remember people, while [Eb] there were those of us who loved them fanatically,
people hated them.
[Gb] People hated them.
I can remember the big radio station in LA is K-Rock.
And Kevin Weatherly is the program director of K-Rock.
[G] And I remember him saying,
System of a Down is a band we [N] will never play on our station ever.
100%.
I don't care what happens.
That doesn't fit on our station.
And then a year later, it was the number one band on the station.
Unbelievable. _
_ They clearly didn't fit, but they were so good that they transcended not fitting.
And those are the artists that I like the best.
Those are my favorite artists.
The ones that don't really fit anywhere.
They're not another in this mold.
Rage Against the Machine is another great example.
Rage Against the Machine, they don't sound like anyone.
No one before Rage Against the Machine sounded like Rage Against the Machine.
And a lot of people didn't like
Yeah, great.
Because there's a band, and I think a lot of people listening and watching this now,
we're really interested to know what it's like [G] working with them,
because you've got four [N] characters in a band, all of them very strong characters,
and the music they make is very strong and very unique.
Just talk us through, tell us some stories about System of a Down and how it's been like to work with them.
Yeah, I remember going to see them the first time I went to see them play.
They played at the Viper Room in L.A.
It was packed, and 200 people.
Sold out.
Sold out.
And I remember watching the show and just laughing.
I laughed the whole time.
It was the funniest [Ab] thing I'd ever seen, but in a good way.
It wasn't like laughing, like what a joke.
It was just so over the top and so extreme,
[G] like Armenian folk dancing with heavy metal riffs [E] and [N] _ wild political lyrics and screaming.
It was just crazy music. _ _ _
Usually, a lot of heavy music [F] falls into a similar thing.
_ [N] _
I'm not going to say it's interchangeable, because it's not,
but there are certain rules of heavy metal, [G] let's say,
that [F] everyone sort of follows those [N] rules.
It's a loyal fan base.
And System of a Down were a heavy [Abm] band, you could say a heavy metal band,
who didn't follow those rules.
So they didn't have the rhythms that [F] you'd hear in a [G] typical,
you wouldn't hear a [A] Metallica rhythm,
you'd hear a System of a Down rhythm, which was different.
Like different [Ab] gallops and different_
And it's rooted in their Armenian [N] heritage.
So they took elements from folk music and brought that into heavy metal.
And I remember at the time, I'd never heard anything like it.
And I can remember people, while [Eb] there were those of us who loved them fanatically,
people hated them.
[Gb] People hated them.
I can remember the big radio station in LA is K-Rock.
And Kevin Weatherly is the program director of K-Rock.
[G] And I remember him saying,
System of a Down is a band we [N] will never play on our station ever.
100%.
I don't care what happens.
That doesn't fit on our station.
And then a year later, it was the number one band on the station.
Unbelievable. _
_ They clearly didn't fit, but they were so good that they transcended not fitting.
And those are the artists that I like the best.
Those are my favorite artists.
The ones that don't really fit anywhere.
They're not another in this mold.
Rage Against the Machine is another great example.
Rage Against the Machine, they don't sound like anyone.
No one before Rage Against the Machine sounded like Rage Against the Machine.
And a lot of people didn't like