“Passive” was the result of an intense songwriting collaboration between APC’s Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel and Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor and Danny Lohner. “It's a song that I've been working on for a long time,” says Keenan. “Originally it came from a couple riffs that Danny had written , and it's been through 20 incarnations.” The track is one of two original compositions on “eMOTIVe,” an album that Keenan describes as “a collection of songs about war, peace, love and greed.”
The album includes legendary protest songs by John Lennon and Marvin Gaye, along with such insurgent classics as Fear’s “Let’s Have A War,” Depeche Mode’s “People Are People,” and Memphis Minnie’s blues stomper, “When The Levee Breaks” (made famous by Led Zeppelin). APC masterfully spans an array of genres – hardcore punk and heavy metal, new wave and Delta blues, folk rock and rhythm & blues -- to convey feelings of anger, rebelliousness, hope, and despair.
“The commentary on ‘Passive’ seemed very apropos for this album,” says Keenan. “The song is very much about apathy. I think a lot of the problems in this country have to do with people willingly staying asleep. They're allowing this administration to manipulate their decisions without actually getting involved in those decisions.”
The song’s message about passionately sticking up for what you believe in is a central theme of Constantine. Based on characters from the DC Comics/Vertigo “Hellblazer” graphic novels, the film tells the story of John Constantine (Reeves), a man who has literally been to hell and back. When he teams up with skeptical police detective Angela Dodson (Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beside the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost. The film also stars Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale and Peter Stormare.
“If you really believe in something, step forward” says Keenan, reiterating the ultimate meaning of “Passive.” "Voice your views, and let's help move everything forward."
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY VIRGIN RECORDS
