THE VIDEO Megadeth, "Symphony of Destruction," Countdown to Extinction, 1992, Capitol
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SAMPLE LYRIC "just like the pi-ee-ed pi-perrr / led rats through-ough-ough the streets / we dance like marion-ettttttes / swaying to the SYM-PHON-AY / of des-truc-tion"
EXCESSIVELY DETAILED DESCRIPTION Police on motorcycles ride away from the camera, superimposed in front of flames, superimposed in front of a building that's been painted with the American flag and the words "for the people" (just in case you didn't get where they were going with the rest of it). We see that the police are actually part of a motorcade leading a sedan or limo before that shot fades out. A finger pulls the trigger on a gun, then we have a close-up of an older white guy's face in black and white. When he opens his eye, the iris is bright red. Yes, Dave Mustaine is many things, but subtle is not one of them.
As the song kicks in, we see flames, and Dave's face sort of appears in them, but we quickly cut to a bunch of white good ol' boys (wait, actually there's one black dude there too, on the right) smoking cigars, drinking, laughing, and clapping each other on the shoulders in a restaurant (maybe a country club restaurant -- lots of trees are visible through the window). Feet in boots (attached to legs in jeans) march toward the camera, which is behind bars of some sort. We finally see part of Dave's face, then the camera pans past the good ol' boys to a shot of protesters outdoors by palm trees holding signs that say things like "peace now" being taken down by cops on horses and with night sticks.
We see a quick shot of lots of people approaching a barred gate carrying signs that imply that they're striking workers (guess that's what the legs shot was before), then Marty Friedman, then a close-in shot of the people (all Mexican dudes so far as I can tell) yelling and trying to bust through the gate.
We see some quick shots of stylized slo-mo headbanging, a graffitied wall (a picture of an older white dude that has tags all over it), more protesters being squashed, and the dudes at that restaurant table just having a laugh riot. As the chorus begins, Megadeth are momentarily visible, then the camera pans down past a '92 campaign sign attached to a telephone pole to a crowd of people waiting on a sidewalk to greet a limo that's pulling up. We then quickly see everyone -- Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson, Marty, and drummer Nick Menza -- before it's just all flames again.
A white haired dude and a lady in a Chanel-style suit emerge from the limo, and dorky looking white people applaud overly effusively. The politican dude makes a variety of gestures while the building with the American flag painting on it burns in the background, then the camera is above he and his wife as they shake hands with people and have their picture taken. We see many images of both Daves, then a particularly unflattering shot of the politician that's taken from beneath, so that his hearty guffaw looks a bit more sinister.
As Dave M. says "before the head explodes" a pistol fires straight at the camera, and we get more images of the band rocking out (I'm trying to think of a way to explain the way these images look, and I couldn?t figure it out until now -- "Enter Sandman." It is done exactly the same way as the shots of Metallica in "Enter Sandman." Now you get it.)
We briefly see another shot from beneath, which is sort of swirling and disorienting, then flames, then we see the politician dude lying down looking surprised while lots of people touch his face (remember the gunshot from a minute ago? Exactly). The millionth shot of Dave Mustaine sneering from a weird angle is followed by a shot of a homeless looking black man pushing a shopping cart past a store with signs that say "bankrupt" and "going out of business" in its windows, and also "for the people" campaign flyers for the politician. We then see the homeless man reflected in the shiny side of the limo, its window going up (with the politician inside it, waving mindlessly) as it reaches the man. We then see another older black man sitting as a child walks by holding an American flag.
For the guitar solo, we get Megadeth going nuts (naturally) but also the peace protesters from before really screaming too. Marty gets his hands shown a lot, if not his face, then we see a guy leaping over a heavily graffitied bench advertising the politician. Guys in construction hats turn hoses on the strikers behind the gate, and a cop on horseback jumps something as the peace protest devolves into a semi-riot, with a lot of shots of the trashed bench interspersed.
Following some shots of the strikers screaming while being drenched with water, one of the cops on horseback jumps his horse sort of through the bench, destroying it. Dave E. and Marty headbang in unison, and the limo slides by the camera again, this time reflecting bright orange flames on its side as the window goes down revealing the smiling and waving politician.
After lots of flames, we see the gun shooting at the camera again, and a clearer version of that earlier shot (the camera in front of some kind of municipal building tipping up then falling back, basically the pol's p.o.v as he reacts to being shot), then more soaked strikers. The shots zoom back and forth between the utterly wild protesters, the strikers, fire, and Dave M. making faces.
We then see the guys at the table again, and the people clapping, but then suddenly, within the crowd, we see the shooter. It is a black priest (huh?) raising the pistol toward the camera. Wait, then it's a fat older white guy doing it. And then an army guy. Ohhh-kay. It's the other three good ol' boys from the restaurant before, now all assassinating the one guy. Hm.
These are interspersed with images of the American flag painting burning and of course, Megadeth rocking out. Then the politician is grinning and kissing a disinterested baby in front of the burning building. The video ends with a much clearer version of the first image -- just a normal shot of police on motorcycles escorting the limo past the burning building as we hear JFK intoning, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
THE VERDICT As previously mentioned, neither subtlety nor restraint are included in Megadeth's repetoire. That said, I must say that I watch this video and just think, "man, those were the good old days." I mean, if Dave thought the country was going to shit then... well, none of us knew what was coming. Bush I was, in retrospect, a cakewalk -- and we even got great songs out of it, from Ministry's "N.W.O." to the Geto Boys' "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster." Sigh... 1992? Headbanger's Ball (the real one!) was still on, a democrat was in the White House, flannel had not yet completely overtaken spandex... those were the days.
But I digress. What the hell happens in this video? We've got two worlds at work which never quite meet: The world of the people (the strikers, the rioters, etc.) and the world of the politicians (the country club, the limo, the handshaking and adulation). Even when the pols are close to the people -- driving by the homeless, symbolically burning buildings, and so on -- they remain oblivious, the car window providing a shield. All of it seems pretty obvious till we reach the denouement: What to make of the politician's assassination by any one of his comrades? Are we not to worry, for those in power will continuously undermine each other? Or is hope for change worthless, because another crappy leader will always rise to usurp the power of the last one? (Like in Heathers. Or uh, 1984.) After all, when the video ends, the building may be mostly burned down but the motorcade is still rolling.
One would think the lyrics might provide a clue, but one would be wrong. The song begins with the whole "you take a mortal man / and put him in control" thing, again sort of a 1984-style analysis, so you think to yourself, "Ok, I guess humans make for crap leaders." But then in the next verse you've got "acting like a robot / it?s metal brain corrodes." Apparently, robots (or computers) are not fit to lead either. With the final verse, however, you've got "a peaceful man stands tall." So maybe it's just all about being anti-war. Or maybe it's not about being a human or a robot or whatever, but about being the right kind of human. Oh oh, I've got it -- maybe it's about getting a democrat into the white house! Maybe I should listen to this song more....
Just when I thought it was safe to interpret this video: Alternate version alert! The original edit of this video features (toward the middle, when the pol is first shot) footage of an actual, random gunman firing multiple bullets at the politician. The gunman is seen from straight on and then from overhead, followed by much more graphic reaction shots of the politician (there's no blood, but his agony is much more obvious). In the version shown on MTV etc., this sequence is mostly replaced by the more suggestive point of view shots and footage of a handgun being fired straight at the camera. Anyway, with the addition of that, it's a much more straightforward assassination, and the other dudes with guns at the end are, I suppose, meant to be taken as completely symbolic -- sort of like, none of these people are actually allied with each other.
I also tracked down yet another version that keeps almost none of this footage -- the strikers still appear, and the gun firing, and the band footage is the same, but that's it. The rest of the video is footage of a conductor and orchestra interspersed with film of stuff blowing up -- a totally literal "Symphony of Destruction."