Mixing 2011 post-hardcore with synth instruments and a firm message got Enter Shikari on my radar back in the day. It was probably the first decently successful band in those years that stepped up to promote the message of the Zeitgeist Movement through their music, which of course got them major respect from the chapters around the world considering Enter Shikari's steady rise to fame in the European rock scene.
In their track "Quelle Surprise" we hear about some of the core observations TZM tried to bring to the world on a larger scale from the late 2000's onwards and Enter Shikari's innovative blend of musical styles was something of a revolution at the time - maybe a bit too early for many, but still a powerful track with the potential to raise lots of eyebrows and make people aware of the system's everpresent flaws by design.
One of the movement's many proverbs I really dug back in the day reappears in this track and makes for the powerful hook of the chorus:
"If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything"
And while I had my reasons to ditch my participation in TZM eventually, I will be forever grateful for this band for having the balls to embrace such a controversial message at a critical time in their career and to spread the seeds of questioning our system far and wide through their music, exposing their fanbase to a fresh take on the conventions everybody seemed to regard as totally normal back then (and granted, most people still do).
Enjoy ;)
Quelle Surprise
Analysis of the human race in 2011 AD
We've got the technology to move forward
We've got the knowledge and the means to build upstream
We've got the technology to go faster
We've got the passion and the talent to make this real
We're so fucking adaptable, controvertible, ducking and weaving from the truth
If it adds weight to the content of our pockets
We'll sit and stagnate with banks and use rockets
To oversee that it's our bottom line that gets carried to the high seas
Well quelle fucking surprise
If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything for anything
If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything for anything
We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams
We're aware they're trying to take away our means
If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything for anything
If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything for anything
We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams
We're aware they're trying to take away our means
If you stand for nothing
If you stand for nothing
If you stand for nothing
You will fall for anything
We're so fucking adaptable, controvertible, ducking and weaving from the truth
If it adds weight to the content of our pockets
We'll sit and stagnate with banks and use--
To oversee that it's our bottom line that gets ca--
Well quelle fucking surprise
We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams
We're aware they're trying to take away our means
We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams
We're aware they're trying to take away our means
You are not gonna take away our dreams
You are not gonna take away our dreams
You are not gonna take away our dreams
You are not gonna take away our means
Images taken from Enter Shikari's music video Quelle Surprise
Come check out more conscious music you may have never heard of:
#1 | Uwe Banton - Moneyfool
#2 | Reflection Eternal - Ballad of the Black Gold
Thanks for stopping by <3