“Symphony Of Destruction” by Megadeth

Countdown to Destruction
Capitol
1992

“Symphony Of Destruction” describes the violent history of the United States of America. Beginning with the British Empire, which built its wealth and power on violence the song moves on to the independent USA still drenched in violence. The USA justified our violent reaction against the British and yet, in our freedom, replicated that violent cycle throughout our history.

You take a mortal man

And put him in control

Watch him become a god

Watch peoples heads a'roll

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

Acting like a robot

Its metal brain corrodes

You try to take its pulse

Before the head explodes

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

The earth starts to rumble

World powers fall

A'warring for the heavens

A peaceful man stands tall

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

Interpretation

You take a mortal man

And put him in control

Watch him become a god

Watch people’s heads a'roll

This stanza describes the British Empire led by King George III. He is the “mortal man” that is put “in control” and acquires god-like power. When leaders have unlimited power they are easily corruptible which leads to the sort of violent regime characterized by warfare abroad and capital punishment at home (where “people’s heads a’roll”). The growing dissatisfaction with a king as their leader in the American colonies is one of many causes of the rebellion against the crown.

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the symphony of destruction

Masses of people are deceived by this leader (“the Pied Piper”). We let ourselves become easily manipulated puppets compliantly “swaying to the symphony of destruction”. What is being destroyed in this symphony? Life, first of all, as a result of warfare. The nation’s economic well-being, global goodwill, and moral grounding is also eroded by deranged leaders. We who ignorantly follow the leader lose ourselves as the ship sinks and civil society is destroyed in repression and corruption. In the story of the American Revolution, people came to see themselves as being manipulated by King George III, which gave rise to the rallying cry, ‘Don’t Tread On Me’. They sought freedom from a leader consumed by the death song.

Acting like a robot

Its metal brain corrodes

You try to take its pulse

Before the head explodes

The monarchy is compared to a “robot” with a corroding “metal brain” and no pulse. The King’s savage tendency towards violence occurs like a programmed response. As leaders gain power they become corrupt and inhuman. The final two lines are a revolutionary statement. Why would we need to take the King’s pulse before “the head explodes”? This is an image of a violent demise to a violent regime. The people are rising up to destroy the violent monarchy’s hold on them. We figuratively “take its pulse” to satisfy ourselves that what we are killing is not human—it’s a machine. We want to believe we are not evil like the King and can justify our revolt.

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the symphony of destruction

We’ve stopped “swaying” to the King’s destructive tune. Instead we’ve created our own death song. This chorus makes it clear that the slavery we experience is not to human government but to something deeper and darker. Even though we’ve rid ourselves of an evil despot, we still find ourselves being led “through the streets” like rats; we’re still dancing like puppets to the music of death. The true conductor of the “symphony of destruction” is our own lust for power and violence.

The earth starts to rumble

World powers fall

A'warring for the heavens

A peaceful man stands tall

The scene flashes forward as the United States emerges from its colonial period. Rather than breaking free from the yoke of violence and tyranny, this new country is mired in an endless series of wars, conflicts, and brutality at home and abroad. The culmination of this savagery is evident when the US rises to the level of a “world power”. With our violent song pulling us forward in a trancelike dance, we begin to shake the earth—it “starts to rumble”. We exert our military might in toppling regimes that threaten our safety or corporate interests and justify much of our warfare with religious language (“a’warring for the heavens”—we’re fighting for God). And then the last line turns all of this on its head. “A peaceful man stands tall,” describes Jesus. Jesus stands for everything contrary to the “symphony of destruction”. He “stands tall” because his message is so contrary to the message of the conductors of the death song.

Just like the Pied Piper

Led rats through the streets

We dance like marionettes

Swaying to the symphony of destruction

As long as we remain ignorant and complacent we are complicit in the violence and oppression characteristic of the current US empire, the former British empire, and the long list of evil empires throughout history. The “peaceful man” that “stands tall” offers a way out. Jesus presents a new set of dreams and values in God’s kingdom that will release us from the song of the “Pied Piper” and the strings of the puppeteer. Jesus will teach us a new song that sounds nothing like the “symphony of destruction”.