"Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" | |
---|---|
Promotional single by A Perfect Circle | |
from the album eMOTIVe | |
Released | September 28, 2004 |
Genre | Industrial |
Length | 5:36 |
Label | Virgin |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) | A Perfect Circle |
"Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" is a promotional single by the American rock band A Perfect Circle, off of their third studio album Emotive . While the album primarily consists of cover songs, the track, along with the lead single "Passive", were the only two original recordings. [1] Containing many lyrical similarities with the track "Pet", from the previous album, Thirteenth Step , lead singer and lyricist Maynard James Keenan described the track as a continuation of the song. [2] While the former refers to addiction, "Counting Bodies" focuses on political agendas.
The video of "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" is animated and deals with a political topic. The video begins with a peace symbol crumbling apart and falling from view. An oil derrick starts to turn, as blood slowly drips down the screen. In the next scene, a young boy climbing down from a tree meets a man who appears to be U.S. President George W. Bush riding a horse. The horse excretes a small television, and trots away. The boy sits down and watches the TV, and slowly turns into a sheep, as a plane flies behind and drops bombs in the background. Next, Bush walks into a classroom, carrying a small television. He places it down on the teacher's desk, and destroys the student's books. The video continues on in this manner until halfway through, when we see Bush sailing on a sea of blood. He enters a city dressed as a Roman Emperor and riding a sheep-driven chariot. After a moment, he then appears in a tank. As he progresses through the city, televisions fall out of windows, forming a sort of road for Bush.
He then begins to march through the area, with a brigade of sheep following him. Televisions begin to form a high-walled corridor. As the sheep continue to march, one turns around, stands up, and begins to climb the wall of televisions. As the sheep nears the top, another sheep stands up and marks him with an 'S' at the same time the word "Sedition" is displayed on the televisions making up the wall. An arm with a Republican elephant marked on an armband appears from the clouds, picks up the branded sheep, and throws him into a meat grinder. The animal emerges as a designer coat, and is then worn by a celebrity. In the next scene, two sheep stand up, and begin to kick down the television wall. These two sheep are then marked with the 'S' sign, and are impaled by two flags, marked 'Traitor'. The rest of the brigade follow Bush to a cliff, where he directs them over the edge into a blazing fire. George Bush's face then turns towards the viewer, alluding to hypnotizing the viewer as well.
The song was used in numerous trailers and TV spots for movies, TV shows and video games including Fantastic Four , The Taking of Pelham 123 , Rage , [3] Missing , Gotham , and House of Cards , in addition to the promo for UFC 167: St-Pierre vs Hendricks PPV.
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 1990, the group consists of vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor, who replaced founding member Paul D'Amour in 1995. Tool has won four Grammy Awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping the charts in several countries.
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle released three of their four studio albums in the early 2000s: their debut Mer de Noms in 2000, a follow-up, Thirteenth Step in 2003; and an album of radically re-worked cover songs, Emotive, in 2004. Shortly after Emotive's release, the band went on hiatus; Keenan returned to Tool and started up solo work under the band name Puscifer, while Howerdel released a solo album, Keep Telling Myself It's Alright, under the moniker Ashes Divide. Band activity was sporadic in the following years; the band reformed in 2010, and played live shows on and off between 2010 and 2013, but fell into inactivity after the release of their greatest hits album, Three Sixty, and a live album box set, A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo in late 2013. The band reformed in 2017 to record a fourth album, Eat the Elephant, which was released in 2018. After spending the rest of the year touring in support of the album, the band fell into inactivity until 2024 for a brief tour and one-off song "Kindred".
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William L. Howerdel is an American musician, best known as a founding member, guitarist, backing vocalist, songwriter, and producer for the band A Perfect Circle, as well as for his former solo project, Ashes Divide. Howerdel has recorded six studio albums across his career: four with A Perfect Circle, one under the moniker Ashes Divide, and one under his own name.
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