Delusion Pandemic

Album: VII: Sturm und Drang (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Randy Blythe taking aim at the Internet. He explained what irks him about the world web to Rolling Stone: "The Internet is a useful tool, and you can use it to find out things, but I think it's created a creatively stifled environment," the Lamb of God frontman said. "I do not like mash-up culture. There is nothing original about it. It's a waste of my cerebral space. Everything's getting shi--ier and shi--ier and shi--ier."

    "I mean, I'm not Ernest Hemingway or whatever, I'm not the new greatest photographer in the world, but at least I'm writing my own stuff and I'm doing my own thing," Blythe added. "Internet memes - what the f--k is an internet meme? Why are you paying attention to this? Why is there some stupid picture that you put some stupid little things on that say something dumb? This is cerebral garbage. You are clogging your mind."
  • Randy Blythe expanded on the drum-rattling track to Billboard magazine: "I'm not a Luddite, but what I see for the most part on the Internet is, like, a mash-up culture, or a remix culture," he said. "It's this endless process of regurgitation. To me, it doesn't seem to require the old cognitive gears to grind too hard."

    Blythe added: "The song also deals with the fact that people are quickly losing touch with what it's like to be a human being without having a little screen to look up the answers to all of life's questions."
  • Asked to delve further into the song's subject matter during an interview with Revolver magazine, Blythe said: "At this point I don't believe technology is changing the way people view the world — it's warping it. What people accept as normal about life these days f---ing blows my mind. If you think about the type of s--t you can talk on the Internet anonymously, this would never, ever happen 30 years ago."

    "I mean, this will sound funny, but think about Justin Bieber. I want you to think about the Bieb, okay? Now, I can't name a single Justin Bieber song. I don't really know what his music sounds like. But I'm sure it's not good. He's not writing anything life-changing. But if you Google 'I hate Justin Bieber,' or 'Kill Justin Bieber' — and I did this one time — there's thousands of hits that come up. So I went down the rabbit hole. I spent a little while looking at 'Kill Justin Bieber.' And I read all these comments from anonymous people, some of whom are probably 14-year-old kids. And they're writing stuff like, 'I hope he dies.' 'I wish he'd catch on fire.' 'Someone should murder him.' They're doing this in a public forum, and this is the norm. There are no repercussions. So, yes, Justin Bieber probably sucks. But does he deserve to die? Dude, he's a f---ing Canadian pop singer!"

    "When I was a kid, if I had a problem with someone I'd go to his f---ing face and deal with it. It's insane to me that this type of s--t is accepted now. It's f---ing nuts."
  • Blythe also takes issue with is what he calls "mob mentality." He explained to Revolver: "People are so dumbed down now that they see something is on a bazillion different news sites and they assume it's the truth. Like, when I was arrested, a lot of the stuff that was coming out online was from Czech news sites, and then it went through Google Translate. But critical nuances in words are completely lost by Google Translate. Why? Because it's a f--king computer program. But once it's out there, people start internalizing it. Then they start accepting it as fact. That's a problem."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.