Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums

"Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums"
Front Cover of the single
Single by A Perfect Circle
from the album eMOTIVe
Released	September 28, 2004
Format	CD
Genre	Industrial
Length	5:36
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Maynard James Keenan, Billy Howerdel
Producer	A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle singles chronology
"Blue" (2004) "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" (2004) "Imagine" (2004)

"Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" is the tenth track on the album eMOTIVe by alternative rock band A Perfect Circle. While the rest of the album is filled with covers of songs by earlier artists such as John Lennon, "War Drums" is often regarded as a remix of "Pet", from the previous album, Thirteenth Step. However, on the aMOTION DVD commentary, Maynard James Keenan states that it is a second part of "Pet", a continuation. While the former refers to addiction, "War Drums" focuses on a political agenda. Mixed by Danny Lohner, the music is completely electronic and without any guitars, unlike "Pet."^[1] The song was used in trailers for the films Fantastic Four (2005) and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) and in the launch trailer for the video game Rage (2011)^[2].

Music video

The video of "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" is an animated video, which deals with a political topic.

The video begins with the classic peace symbol shaking and falling apart, and eventually 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, waits for a moment, and 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 buildings. As the sheep nears the top, another sheep stands up and marks him with an 'S' sign, which may indicate the lyric "Sedition" used in the song. An arm with a Republican elephant marked on it 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 W. Bush's face then appears, with his eyes in a slow, hypnotizing fashion, apparently attempting to bring the viewer 'under his control'.

Track listing

1. "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" - 5:36

References

1. ^ "Political perfect-ion!". NME. 2004-10-21. http://www.nme.com/news/perfect-circle/18327. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 
2. ^ Rage: Launch Trailer - IGN.com

External links

• Official Video