Kyshera - Terrorists

'Terrorists' is an Alternative Rock song & the 1st song on the 2012 Kyshera album 'Made In China'. The words, music & production are by James Kennedy.

'Terrorists' kicks off the 'Made in China' album is it means to go on. Opening with a blast of noise similar to something you'd hear from the Japanese noise band 'Melt Banana', the song then races through several time changes & dissonant riffs before the 1st verse. As with many of the songs on 'Made In China', a lot happens before there is any repetition & Terrorists races through many musical sections, time changes & genres - from the Jeff Buckley-esque to distorted electronica, noise & metal riffs - before anything is repeated.

There is a very well defined structure to the song but it is very un-traditional & is more of a composed piece of music, rather than a 'song' in that sense. Kennedy has said that he wrote the whole album in a similar way to a classical composer in that all of the parts & instruments were 'composed' alongside the others so that the rhythms interacted in a very specific way. Kennedy can't read music so he laid all of his instrumental parts out underneath each other in a Midi column, similar to how a classical composer write on manuscript.

'Terrorists' proceeds on its Tour de force until the end, along the way featuring samples from Barack Obama & John F Kennedy, as well as sped up & reversed tape, electronics, noise & a ton of musical sections & riffs.

Lyrically the song is a very overt criticism of Western governments and Kennedy claims that the real Terrorism in the world is the Military Industrial Complex, the financial industry & the media. Kennedy has said that the lyrics were all written in one complete session where he stayed up throughout an entire night and finished the words as the sun began to rise.

LYRICS

Which came first, the Puppet or the string?
Who built the stage & now is watching?
Why is force the ultimate authority?
Who’s interest does silence feed?

When there’s not a space left on this planet
That has escaped adulteration.

Poverty’s a commodity
That subsidises the inequality
That breeds & feeds all hegemony and
Keeps society too divided to be a threat.

We live in a gangsters’ democracy
‘To Serve & Protect’ its nobility
Emperor put some clothes on.

Will it always be the same way
From our desperate race to maintain our cage
To the sweat shops, depletion & war
The damage this virus has caused is everywhere.

But those fanatical, imperial terrorists in Washington,
Are Bastions of everything evil by Dollar and Gun.
Do you think that if Jesus were alive, he’d shoot?

Wants before needs and shares before votes
Politics before justice, bombs before talks,
Pillage before trade, arms sales before peace
Deceit before truth & fear before reason.

Which ends first, blood or oil?
How can vice & virtue look identical?
In which direction does society rot?
Why does scum always rise to the top?

They can fuck with your genes and disease
What we swallow & breathe what we think & believe.
We’ve got everything that money can buy
But nothing that’s worth the price we’re paying.

Rule by a cartel of military & business & law,
A system that calls this democracy is a fraud.
Do you think that if Jesus were alive, the CIA would shoot.

Let’s start a fire in the belly of the cannibals.

There is nothing beyond expendability
Not nature, the future or society
Emperor put some clothes on.

When the well’s dry and somebody pulls the trigger,
You can guarantee that the culprits will be safe