“Raise Your Weapon” by Deadmau5 (ft. Greta Svabo Bech)

“Raise Your Weapon” revolves around a motif whereas various ‘weapons’ are used as symbols of what appears to be emotional/verbal abuse. And it is very much possible the person who is doing this is a romantic interest of the vocalist since she refers to him, once again symbolically, as a “king”, i.e. a male loved one. 

But the ambiguity of the lyrics allow the piece to also be interpreted more generally, potentially point to a range of relationships. For most simply put what characterizes this union is, shall we say a basic underappreciation of the vocalist on the part of the addressee. That’s why in the interlude she can rejoice in watching to him suffer as she cuts him off for good. 

So even though the majority of the lyrics focus on the simple idea that Greta is, or more accurately was the victim of this mistreatment, underneath it all a lesson can be derived.  And that is if you continually behave like an A-hole towards your loved one then one day, just like that, you may find yourself alone.

“Raise Your Weapon” Facts

Primary Artist(s): Deadmau5
Featured Artist(s): Greta Svabo Bech
Album/EP: “4×4=12” 

Was “Raise Your Weapon” a single release?

Yes. On May 23 of 2011, it was released from the album, “4×4=12”. It was the album’s final single.

Credits

Deadmau5 composed this song in collaboration with Cydney Sheffield and Sonny Moore.

In addition to co-penning “Raise Your Weapon”, Deadmau5 also solely produced it.

Genre(s)

• Progressive house
• Dubstep

Honors received by “Raise Your Weapon”

In 2012, “Raise Your Weapon” lost a Grammy award for “Best Dance Recording” to Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”. It was nominated together with the following songs:

• “Barbra Streisand” performed by Duck Sauce
• “Sunshine” performed by David Guetta and Avicii
• “Call Your Girlfriend” performed by Robyn
• “Save the World” performed by Swedish House Mafia

Furthermore, Deadmau5 performed the song at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012.

Chart Performance

• UK – 117
• US – 100

The “4×4 = 12” Album

Canadian music producer, Deadmau5 and Faroese singer Greta Svabo Bech recorded the progressive house song, “Raise Your Weapon” in 2010. The song is a Grammy-nominated song and is the last single from Deadmau5’s fifth studio album, 4×4 = 12.

4×4 = 12 was released through Virgin Records, Mau5trap, and Ultra Records on December 6, 2010. Deadmau5 gave the album its title because of a simple mistake he made on his Ustream channel.

On the channel, he said his live setup was made up of four banks of four equal to 12 instead of the right 16. The album features top musicians, including SOFI, Chris Lake, Svabo Bech, and Wolfgang Gartner.

The album is Deadmau5’s first album to appear on the Billboard 200 chart. It peaked at the forty-seventh position on the chart and stayed on the chart for over 100 weeks.

It was also ranked second on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart and forty-eighth on the UK Albums chart (OCC). 4×4 =12 appeared on the Top 100 albums charts of many European countries and spent several weeks on the charts. It was included in the nominations for a Grammy for Best Electronica Album at the 54th Grammy ceremony.

It earned a platinum certification from RIAA (USA) and Music Canada and a gold certification from BPI (UK).