"System" is the third track on the soundtrack album Queen Of The Damned. The song was created by Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs and is sung by Chester Bennington.
Background
Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs wrote score and 8 original songs for the film "Queen Of The Damned", 5 of which would be heard on the soundtrack, however, Davis' record label contract with Sony prohibited his voice from appearing on the soundtrack.
Jeff Scott Soto was originally set to replace Davis on the soundtrack, but the organizers of the project later decided otherwise. To make the album more commercially viable, Marilyn Manson, Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), David Draiman (Disturbed), Jay Gordon (Orgy) and Wayne Static (Static-X) were then selected by Tom Whalley and Jonathan Davis himself to sing Davis' songs.[1]
The song Chester was chosen to sing was "System". He told Launch, "One of the things I noticed when I was listening to the versions that he had sang over was the lyrical content of the songs that he co-wrote," he said. "I thought it was really fitting to the actual book because he does become, you know, a rock star in the book and he does perform and he sings about being a vampire and hunting upon people. So, Jonathan incorporated those things into the lyrics, which I thought was very important. And since I'm such a big fan, I have read all the books, I think I can kind of relate to Lestat a little bit more than someone who doesn't know the film or the books."[2]
In the November 04, 2017 edition of Kerrang!, Jonathan Davis said, "I collaborated with him a couple of times. When I wrote those songs for the [2002] film Queen Of The Damned, my record label wouldn't let me sing them, and said we had to use Warner Bros. artists, so I picked all the ones I wanted. Chester got to do my favourite song [System]. He really made the track his own. He just went in and killed it."
The songs are performed in the film by the main character's, Lestat, band, Satan's Night Out.[3] Lestat’s vocal performances were sung by Lakshminarayana Shankar, also known as L. Shankar and Shenkar, who trained with Jonathan Davis to get all of Davis’ vocal inflections down.[1] Two extended concert sequences from the film ("Slept So Long" and "Not Meant For Me") and 3 music videos of Lestat's band ("Forsaken", "Redeemer", and "System") were included as special features on the DVD release.
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System | Queen Of The Damned: Music From The Motion Picture | 5:03 | 2002 | February 19, 2002 |
|
| System | Queen Of The Damned: Music From The Motion Picture (Clean) | 5:03 | 2002 | February 19, 2002 |
|
| System | Queen Of The Damned (DVD) | 4:44 | 2002 | August 27, 2002 |
|
Live
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System | Alone I Play | 4:52 | November 7, 2007 | November 10, 2007 |
|
| System (Live) | Korn Digital EP #2 | 4:41 | May 18, 2010 | July 26, 2010 |
|
| System | Live At The Union Chapel | 4:54 | June 16, 2008 | August 16, 2011 |
|
Live
While the song has never been performed live by Chester Bennington, it was performed regularly by Jonathan Davis during his Alone I Play tour, from 2007 to 2008.
Korn have also played the song live at Fargo, North Dakota, on May 18, 2010.
Personnel
- Chester Bennington - Vocals
- Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums
- Jonathan Davis - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Producer, Songwritter
- Richard Gibbs - Keyboards, Producer, Songwritter
Lyrics
System
System, God
System
System, God
You fell away / what more can I say?
The feeling's evolved / I won't let it out
I can't replace / your screaming face
Feeling the sickness inside
Why won't you die?
Your blood and mine
We'll be fine
Then, your body / will be mine
So many words / can't describe my face
This feeling's evolved / so soon to break out
I can't relate / to a happy state
Feeling the blood run inside
Why won't you die?
Your blood and mine
We'll be fine
Then, your body / will be mine
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
Keep me down to what you think I should be
Must you tempt me and provoke the ministry?
Keep on trying / I'm not dying so easily
I will not die / (why is everything so fucking hard for me?)
I will not die / (why is everything so fucking hard for me?)
I will not die
Why won't you die?
Your blood and mine
We'll be fine
Then, your body / will be mine
Why won't you die?
Your blood and mine
We'll be fine
Then, your body / will be mine
In Other Media
- "System" is featured in the 2002 film Queen Of The Damned and was included in its soundtrack album.
External Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Soundtrack Saturday • Queen Of The Damned – kilScene, September 28, 2013
- ↑ LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience, February 13, 2002
- ↑ Various Artists - Queen of the Damned - Amazon.com Music