A song doesn’t always need to be heavy to be “heavy.” And System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has just delivered an Armenian-language, piano-backed duet with acclaimed Armenian vocalist Sevak Amroyan that hits with an emotional impact as hard hitting as some of his heaviest music. The new song is titled “Amber” and serves as a nod to the divide going on in Armenia that Tankian witnessed in recent years.
The singer explains, “’Amber’ was written in 2017 after I visited Armenia along with my friends Atom & Arsinee Egoyan and Eric Nazarian as members of the coalition ‘Justice For Armenia’ to serve as election monitors for the Parliamentary elections. I was so distraught by the slick theft of the elections before ever reaching the ballot box that I wrote this song as a response.”
He adds, “The lyrics however seem to be more poignant today when Armenians are divided politically and socially following the devastating attack on Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey in 2020 and the continuous fallout over negotiations with those two dictatorial regimes. ‘Amber’s’ message is that of unity and harmony. Those are the only truly powerful weapons of the Armenian nation.”
The English translation of the lyrics can be read below, though you can also grasp plenty from the the Hrag Yedalia-directed music video featuring Tankian, Amroyan and a young boy with a sketchpad with drawings representing some of the lyrics within the song.
As the track hits its peak moments, the boys starts to crumble up the pages, tossing them to the ground, with the video bringing it all together at the end with the pages forming a map of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh (known in Armenia and the diaspora as Artsakh).
Of his duet partner, Tankian states, “Sevak’s voice has a unique strength harking back to our people’s native lands. I loved listening to his songs like ‘Yarkhushta’ so when we met I was excited to work on something with him.”
Amroyan adds, “NaturalIy, I have listened to Serj Tankian’s music since childhood and always with a sense of pride. After getting acquainted with him, I realized that in addition to being an iconic musician he’s also a very proud Armenian. I am happy about our collaboration and thankful to Serj that we’re singing ‘Amber’ together. It’s a great honor for me.”
The song will officially be released this Wednesday (June 8) and you can pre-save it here, but for now check out the video and lyrics below.
Tissue covered mountains
We miss you
We miss you
Our stabbed and wounded land
We miss you
We miss you
Agreements can be altered
We are capable
We are capable
Lost piano under my hand
We carry guns
We carry gunsHarmony
We miss youAgreements can be altered
We are capable
We are capable
Our stabbed and wounded land
We miss you
We miss youHarmony
We miss you
Harmony
We miss youI’m looking for your faces from the sky
But I do not see through the cloudsClouds
Clouds
Clouds
I seek your mountains from the sky
I seek your rivers from the sky
I’m looking for your faces from the sky
I seek your mountains from the sky
I seek your rivers from the sky
I seek from the skyI seek your mountains from the sky
I am looking for your faces from the skyTissue covered mountains
We miss you
We miss you
Agreements can be altered
We are capable
We are capable