Territory

Album: Chaos A.D. (1993)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about world leaders who use propaganda and hate to foment fear, leading to territorial conflict. Napoleon, Hitler and the Roman Empire are just a few examples of what inspired the lyric, which was written by Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser.
  • The video was shot in Israel. The song is not specifically about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but that is one of many examples of the territorial struggle evoked in this song.

    Paul Rachman, who made the film American Hardcore, was the director. In a Songfacts interview, he explained: "Max [Cavalera], the singer just identified the song with what was going on in Israel, but you could apply it to a lot of places in the world.

    So we just chose that as the backdrop for this particular song, and I tried to be very fair visually in that video, because I realize I can't take sides here. MTV was global at that point, and it's playing on televisions in people's living rooms around the world. This isn't a news thing, so I tried to balance it - if you count the amount of footage of Palestinians and Arabs and Israelis, it's almost even. It was all about the coexistence of these two cultures at odds over land and territory. That was really the idea: to show how they could coexist.

    MTV played it, but I remember MuchMusic in Canada banned it at first. There was a news show on MuchMusic where the issue was brought up and I had to call in to participate. Max and the guys were on MuchMusic live, and I called in to talk about the video and what we tried to do. After that discussion, they started playing it."

Comments: 5

  • Facts from IsrealJust notice the amount of arguments from either side. Not taking a side, just pointing out facts.
  • MatePalestinians were crated in 1967. the Territory was called ISRAEL all through the history, even when it was under occupation by the byzintins, mongols, assyrians, persians, egyptians, romans, ottomans, british empires, even when its name was changed to philistina, pilistina, philistin, falestina, palestin, palestine by every empire to conquered the land just to mock the jews.

    Palestinians are not the philistins from the bible. philistins in the bible: bunch of "sea people" who came from crete, turkey, north africa who came to conquer / business reasons.

    "Palestinians" people who used to live in the region while it was under occupation by every other empire who changed the region name from Israel to Palestine, the land community didn't like when the press or visitors called them palestinians. they prefered we are jews, we are arabs, we are christians, most of the time jews would say they are israelis.
  • Free World from UsaFree Palestine and end the zionism regime
  • GuyWhatever u say salma
  • SalmaPalestine,not Israel
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"They're Playing My Song

With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.