System of a Down 's lyrics are often oblique or dadaist , and have discussed topics such as drug abuse , politics and sexual intercourse . " Prison Song " criticizes the War on Drugs whereas '' Rolling Stone '' describes " Roulette " as a " scared , wounded love letter " . " Boom ! " , among the band 's most straightforward and unambiguous songs , lambasts globalization and spending on bombs and armament . Commenting on the track " I-E-A-I-A-I-O " , drummer John Dolmayan said it was inspired by an encounter he had with '' Knight Rider '' 's actor David Hasselhoff in a liquor store in Los Angeles when he was around 12 . On '' Mezmerize '' , " Cigaro " makes explicit references to phallic imagery and bureaucracy , while " Violent Pornography " harshly views television and degradation of women . System of a Down 's discontent towards the controversial Iraq War arises in " B.Y.O.B. " , which includes a double entendre reference to both beer and bombs , containing the forthright lyric " Why do n't presidents fight the war ? Why do they always send the poor ? " " Old School Hollywood " describes a celebrity baseball game . On their album " Hypnotize " , " Tentative " describes war , " Hypnotize " refers to the Tiananmen Square events and " Lonely Day " describes angst . The album title '' Steal This Album ! '' is a play on the book '' Steal This Book '' by left-wing political activist Abbie Hoffman . System of a Down 's firm commitment for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide emerges in two songs : " P.L.U.C.K. " and " Holy Mountains " , which rank among the band 's most political songs
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
System of a Down