2001Released
1:50

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Shimmy. By Songfacts®.

Running 1:50, this relentless song is a look at how the American education system indoctrinates children into a corrupt society where they'll be placated by mindless entertainment in exchange for their compliance. You can "shimmy-shimmy-shimmy to the break of dawn," just don't look behind the curtain.

In the main verse: "Education Fornication in you are go! and Education subjugation now your out go!": Fornication is sexual intercourse between an unmarried couple. the word originated from the bible. Subjugation means to enslave, master, conquer.

Lead singer Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian wrote this song and co-produced with their label boss, Rick Rubin. It was released on Toxicity, the second System Of A Down album, but the band had been playing it live for about a year before the album was issued on September 4, 2001. 9/11 threw everything into a blender, but the album kept selling, eventually moving over 3 million copies in America along. It showed that there was still a market for songs that question government and society, even in times of crisis.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Shimmy.
DKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
119BPM

Album

The album Shimmy is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Shimmy.
American/Columbia
(P) 2001 Sony Music Entertainment. With American Recordings, LLC.

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