Destroyah

Album: Danger Days: True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds frontman Gerard Way declaring his lack of faith in religion, especially Hinduism and the caste system that developed from it. He told Billboard magazine: "To me, 'Destroya' is the other really strong art piece on the record. Again, much like 'Summertime,' it really started with drums. There's a lot of songs linked by the drum on this album, and 'Destroya' was really inspired by [Hindu] Holi festival in India because it was relevant to the project. I watched a lot of video of people on YouTube of people performing in the street during the Holi Festival. What you're hearing in the beginning of the song is about 10 seconds of these street performers that I had heard and tried to recreate. It's a song that everybody got to play the drums on, and it's probably the hardest song the band has ever done. The song treats religion almost as a superstition, or questions its existence. I paid close attention to organized religion and the caste system - and any religion that would put its foot down on people to keep them at a lower level."

    It should be noted that there is a debate amongst Hindus and scholars whether the caste system is an integral part of Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or an outdated social custom.
  • Way expanded in an interview with Artist Direct on how the celebrations at the Holi Festival influenced this song: "Because of the colorful nature of the record, I had become very interested in this festival in India called Holi Festival. It's literally the celebration of color. They take all of this pigment powder, and they throw it everywhere. By the end of the day, everybody is just covered in all of this color. I started to think a lot about religion and the caste system. Then, I went and watched a couple videos of Holi Festival, and there were a couple of street performers. I just heard this drum, but it was really hard to hear. It was like 15-seconds long, but it was 15 seconds that I latched onto and kept repeating in my head. I said, "I want this 15 seconds." Then we all recreated that 15 seconds and stretched it out so there's that wall of drums coming from nowhere. We never had a song like that. Then there's this tough-ass riff coming in and probably some of the bolder lyrics I've gotten to write. I'm proud of that one."
  • The Holi Festival of Colors is a spring religious festival celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs. The festive season of Holi, can last up to sixteen days and the main day, Holi, is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. The festival was also a major influence on the visual style of Linkin Park's music video for their 2010 single, "The Catalyst," which incorporated scenes of band members throwing powdered color at one another.

Comments: 3

  • Ghost from New Yorklove this song but every mcr fan knows why you cant play this around anyone lol
  • Ryden from Somewhere In The Usathe one song that you can't play anywhere lol
    No but like I really like this song?? And not just because of ~that one part~
    plus trans anthem :)
  • Anonymous from AzThe title has an extra h at the end(it’s Destroya instead of Destroyah) but it’s okay. Anyway, this is also known as “the song you can’t play around anyone else” because of the um, er, moans. There’s actually another part to this song which is pretty cool, in the context of the album, some of it refers to these robots living in one of the zones(sorry I don’t know enough about it to explain), and perhaps even cooler, it’s started to become a trans anthem because of a motion Gerard has made during it at three shows : ) Twice in 2010, and at their return show in 2019, during the lyric “with duct tape scars on my honey” Gerard has motioned across his chest, trans fans have assumed that this may refer to scars from binding with duct tape, an unfortunate thing which has hurt many trans youth who are unable to buy binders. While it may not have originally been about this, fans have taken its meaning to be to embrace and accept yourself no matter what your environment.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Rock Stars of Horror

Rock Stars of HorrorMusic Quiz

Rock Stars - especially those in the metal realm - are often enlisted for horror movies. See if you know can match the rocker to the role.

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Dave Mason

Dave MasonSongwriter Interviews

Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.