Countdown To Extinction
1992 | Metal
“You take a mortal man, and put him in control. -- Watch him become a god, watch people's heads a'roll.”
Trivia
- The song hit #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart & #29 on the Mainstream Rock chart.
- The music video by Wayne Isham after brief heavy rotation on MTV, was eventually edited to remove a controversial assassination scene that the network deemed "too harsh".
- Inspired, by a headache on a drive home Mustaine scribbled "My metal brains corroding, my head is going to explode" on the back of a sushi receipt and began the songs genesis.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
Hell yeah, Megadeth makes it back in! The central thrust of this legendary song is found in the chorus: "Just like the Pied Piper led rats through the streets; We dance like marionettes; Swaying to the symphony of destruction." We are strung along into one war after another, WILLINGINGLY sending our children to be abused, desensitized, morally crippled, and possibly killed fighting wars that we have no stake in whatsoever. If that's not brainwashing, what is? The flip side of this brainwashing is of course the ones in charge. The brainwashers. Any schmuck off the street, given godlike authority and command, will surely become a monster. Here both ideas are played out against that juicy heavy metal that I love so much. Great stuff. Horrendous subject matter.
Sherry Voluntary
This has always been one of my favorite Megadeth songs. With all the anti-authoritarian music that I have loved long before I became a libertarian. I’m surprised it took me so long to give up my neo-con ways. Yeah, I’ve been called headstrong a few times in my life. Thankfully now, I’m more tenacious than ever for the real ideals of freedom. One of those being that no one has a higher claim over you than you do. Individual autonomy is sacred to any libertarian worth a damn. It makes my blood boil when I hear fakertarians talking about limitations on freedom.. Just who in the hell do they think they are, I wonder? In order to fully embrace the non-aggression principle, and self ownership, you must understand and tolerate the fact that people are going to do things you find reprehensible, and it’s none of your damned business. Anything else, sends us swaying to the symphony of destruction.
Nicky P
The story of the Pied Piper is almost certainly the best analogy to use when describing so much about how politics works, certainly here in America. People are led to their doom by liars and peddlars of influence who sell them out at the first convenience for power. The sad truth, and what this song really makes a point about, is that it's not inherently that evil people take control. I imagine that some sociopaths are drawn to government for the power, but even the most well intentioned person will respond to the incentives in place until they are corrupted and indistinguishable from the sociopaths. This is the true lesson that libertarians and anarchist like to drive home. Power will inevitably do this to individuals so the solution is to remove that power from the equation.We want to re-establish the incentives and costs necessary to keep people in check.