Self Destructor by Chevelle

Album: Niratias (2021)

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

The lead single from Chevelle's Niratias album finds frontman Pete Loeffler taking on science deniers, who he believes are risking forward progress.

Well, it's too much to lose
Oh, it's time, or self-destruct
They don't care what the science says
They don't want to talk

Though the lyrics seem to reference the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-vaxxers, Loeffler penned the song well before the coronavirus era. "It stems from a conversation I had with someone, and they were just largely a huge science-denier," Loeffler told ABC Audio. "It's funny how that works, because it was written in 2019, way before any of us saw COVID being a possibility."
Released on January 8, 2021, the song climbed to #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart. It gives the Loeffler brothers their sixth leader on the listing, following "Send the Pain Below," "Vitamin R," "Face to the Floor," "Take Out The Gunman," and "Joyride (Omen)."
The aggressive song involves plenty of finger work on the fretboard for Loeffler. Because of the long gap between writing and releasing it, the Chevelle guitarist had to learn how to play the track all over again during lockdown with his drummer brother, Sam Loeffler.
Unlike Chevelle's previous albums, Niratias is a concept record dealing with themes such as science and interstellar travel (the title is an acronym for "Nothing Is Real and This Is a Simulation). "This album talks about simulation theory, space travel, and all this wild technology," Pete Loeffler explained to Apple Music. "But the title is also a reference to basically losing your job overnight because the music industry stopped."
Chevelle's longtime producer Joe Barresi helmed the album. They first teamed up with Barresi for their 2011 record Hats Off to the Bull and have stuck with him since.

Comments: 5

Mike from UsI listen to the song and think how so many experts were wrong during the pandemic. The government was the science deniers and now the truth has all come out showing how wrong they were all along. Makes me think of standing in a doctor room screaming at a parent to stop being brainwashed by pharma and to rescue the mind before it's gone. read the vaccine package inserts. do your own research.
Primeevil1 from FloridaDeniers… just sayin. Is just as relevant as any music any of you listen to. People often dislike things that make them uncomfortable. Why it makes anyone feel that way is something to be contemplated.
Tony from UsGreat song and excellent topic. Well said, and succinctly put. It's shocking how many 'alternative' this and that believers have cropped up out of the woodwork with little or no sense or sensibility. Pete is saying what a lot of us are experiencing, but with awesome music to go with it. :)
April from UsWhat the other commenter said. If this is what chevelle is pushing, I’m no longer interested in checking out this album or really even listening to them as I don’t find it intelligent at al and dont need those frequencies.
Matt from UsFunny how you bring up "science deniers" or "anti-vaxxers". Since you want to go that route. How about we talk about restricting alternative treatments that do work, vaccine patents and no liability protection for these companies for illness. I'm flabbergasted at how all of a sudden people are so pro government now days, but kinda expected when you have song "interpretation", media brainwashing, movies ("celebrities") all pushing the same crap. People who have the most to lose by not obeying the powers that be are selling themselves out to be walking billboards for government propaganda. There are no science deniers, it's just incredibly evident that the big wigs are pulling strings in the FDA, CDC, Media, Hollywood and Music. It's all intertwined and a lot of it is propaganda.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Thinking Out LoudEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran wrote the 2014 love song "Thinking Out Loud" about his girlfriend at the time, Athina Andrelos. They split the following year, and Ed started seeing Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2019; songs like "Perfect" and "No Strings" are about her.

When I'm With YouSheriff

Sheriff had been disbanded for years when "When I'm With You" hit #1 in America thanks to rediscovery by radio stations. The group never re-formed and never made a video for the song.