![]() Of course they wouldn't understand, they just see his outside, not his cold, troubled inside. ![]() Now, the speaker states that others don't understand his self-righteous suiside. We see that the person is trying to hide it on the outside (grab a brush and put on a little make-up, hide the scars.)but, of course, the problems, whatever they may happen to be, won't go away. We know that the person is going through hard times because they talk about how he wants to hide "scars" to fade away the "shake up" (fight). The beginning of this song talks about a person who is trying to cover up their problems so that everyone else thinks that they are totally fine. I tried to take the song very directly and make conclusions on what I heard. ![]() Tankian and Malakian also produced the track, teaming up with legendary producer Rick Rubin in the process.I have read a lot of interpretations on this song, and many off them are deep and logical, but I have yet to find a single explanation that covers every aspect of the lyrics. And their names are as follows:įYI, their unique names are due to the crew being of Armenian ancestry. “Chop Suey!” was written by the members of System of a Down. And the song was also parodied by none other than Weird Al Yankovic himself. Cover VersionsĪmong the many artists who have covered “Chop Suey!” is Avril Lavigne. You may have noticed that “Chop Suey!” was released shortly before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States which rattled the known world. And logically, given the stated rationale of the terrorists who perpetrated this act, the song’s reference to “self-righteous suicide” bothered some American listeners in the wake of this event. Indeed Clear Channel Communications (currently known as iHeartMedia), which owns more radio stations in America than any other entity, actually deemed this track, along with over 150 other songs, as “lyrical questionable”, once again in the aftermath of 9/11. And accordingly they advised their program directors not to play it. Is “Chop Suey!” really “Lyrical Questionable”? Accomplishments of “Chop Suey!”Īmongst the accomplishments and accolades this tune has achieved is charting in the countries below:Īnd whereas it only managed to peaked at number 76 on System of a Down’s native America, it is still considered by many to be the band’s signature song.Ĭritical acclamation of “Chop Suey!” also resulted in it being System of a Down’s first nomination at the Grammys. The band brought it out as the lead single from their famed second album, “Toxicity”. “Chop Suey!” was released on 13 August 2001. ![]() It is considered to be Chinese in origin. But what really is the meaning of the phrase “chop suey”?Ĭhop suey itself is actually a popular traditional dish, dating back to at least the 19 th century. Marcos Siega, the director of the video, also directed the visual for the title track from the “Toxicity” album. And the “Chop Suey!” video is obviously a masterpiece in and of itself, having garnered well over four-million likes on YouTube as of 2019. Indeed concerning the explanation of the unusual title of the track, this song originally went by the unconventional title of “Self-Righteous Suicide”. But the band’s management reportedly did not approve the aforementioned title. So it was renamed to “Chop Suey!” And this is actually a parody of the original title, as it is derived from the mock statement “Self-Right-chop Suey-cide”.Īnd the term “self-righteous suicide”, whether it be pertaining to a drug addict or a martyr, would logically be based on the notion of someone willingly – so to speak – giving their life for what they believe in. But that being said, going back to the first sentence of this article, it has been speculated even by fans of System of a Down that this song actually has multiple meanings. Or that’s another way of saying that it can be interpreted from various angles, ranging from domestic violence to substance abuse to a critique of popular religious beliefs, if you will. We think perhaps it is meant to point to the idea of how Jesus, based on the way he died, is perceived differently from say a drug addict. Also in a way, since based on the Biblical tale, Jesus willingly went to his own death, perhaps such is what System of a Down is referring to when they mention “self-righteous suicide” in the chorus. The bridge of the track also references a couple of lines from the Bible, specifically those uttered by Jesus while he was being crucified. It is not abundantly clear how exactly this ties into the overall theme as detailed above. ![]()
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