soad interpreter August 26th, 2005 05:49PM  

This song is about Jesus on the cross. "Self-righteous suicide" is referring to him dying but having the ability to save himself. "It's a suicide" and "Angels deserve to die" is Jesus being an "angel" that must die.

"Father father into your hands i commend my spirit why have you forsaken" me was taken from the Bible its Jesus' exact words taken from the original Hebrew to English hide the scars to fade away the shake up is God's forgiveness through Jesus' death.

I've studied a lot on this song to find true meaning, I hope you enjoy the post.

anonymous September 8th, 2005 07:59PM  

This song is about comparing suicide with martyrdom. The verse "Wake up, grab a brush and put on on a little make up" and so on is talking about the hidden stories in the bible and hiding the bad things they never told about christ in the bible. Then "here you go create another fable" another religious story.

The chorus is saying the fact that Jesus could be looked at from a viewpoint of suicide. Then the thrid verse "father, into your hands, I commend my spirit" and "father, into your hands, why have you forsaken me" are two of seven last words of christ.

The direct definition of "chop suey" is a dish filled with a mix of all the leftovers (meaning the leftovers of stories in the bible never heard)

blackrapture October 20th, 2005 11:32PM  

I agree that this song is about the Armenian Genocide, alot of their work is. I think it is strictly about that and has no reference to religion, the bible, or God. When Serj Tankian screams "Father, father. Father into your hands I commend my spirit, father into your hands why have you forsaken me, In your eyes forsaken me, In your thoughts forsaken me, In your heart forsaken, me." He seems to be speaking to Turkey and it's leaders. After all, he originated here and could be considered to be "born of" turkey therefore turkey representing "father".

He gives himself to his land and is forsaken by the Armenian Genocide in which he lost all of his family expect his grandfather. And "self righteous suicide" I believe is a reference to what the "Young Turks" would see in their actions, the are justifying all their killing, saying it is "self-righteous". And "wake up, grab a brush and put on a little make up, hide the scars to fade away the shake up." Here he is talking about covering up the Genocide, all the people that do everyday.

This is what I take from it.

anonymous December 25th, 2005 04:16PM  

According to S.O.A.D the song is about how people will be treated differently when they die, depending on the way they died...thats what Daron Malakian said in one of his interviews. And it really doesn't matter how highly one thinks of himself (u know how we go like 'i didn't deserve this' and bla bla) the truth is everyone deserves to die...including angels and people who consider themselves angels. A few references have been taken from both Gospel of John (father into your hands I commend my spirit) and the synoptic gospels (why have you forsaken me)...apparently last words pronounced by Jesus of Nazareth...basically the lyrics sound deep but mean nothing!

anonymous February 3rd, 2006 03:44AM  

I think this song is about how one was driven to suicide by another's abuse. Maybe it has somehting to do with the guitarist's brother who commited suicide because he couldn't take their father's abuse.Somehow I think the entire song revolves around the abusive father and the son who has commited suicide. When the singer says "why don't you trust in my self righteous suicide, I cry when angels deserve to die" I think he's stating how the son's suicide had no affect on the father whereas the singer himself is sad for the guy's death as he describes the guy to be an angel.

At the bridge when he scream father four times, I think he is desperately trying to get the father's attention to stop and pleading for his life. When the forsaken part rolled in, I think the singer is questioning the father's actions towards him.

I think this song has been sung in 2 peoples perspective: one the person who had witnessed the abuse and the suicide and the other the person who was abused and subsequently commited suicide.

anonymous March 20th, 2006 03:52PM  

I believe the part about the leaving the keys on the table is about whoever tried to hide the scars (hide the bad things in the world, done to them, or done by them), like the Turks in the Armenian Genocide, or the Media covering certain events, or someone abused by another. They tried to hide whatever it was, but they left some kind of clue to the truth in the open, the key to the secret and truth, and that line is asking why they leave the key to the truth out if they are trying so hard to hide it.

I think this song is left open for interpretation on many levels. I think it has a basic theme of fakeness, or lying to cover something up. This could refer to the Genocide, Media, or someone abused by another or themselves. Chop Suey is a fake chinese dish, as it was created in the US, and it represents that basic theme. I also beleive it relates to religion in covering up certain things that make them look bad, and how religion plays in the world today. If someone commits a self rightious suicide, in whichever way you wish to take that, they can either be considered as a maryter to some, or a statistic to others. Their death could be used to prove the point of others, making it self rightious in a sense.

But that's just my opinion. This has very open possibilities for interpretation as I said before, and that's what SOAD tries to do. They don't want to explain everything to you, it's more important to them what the song means to you then what it means to them.

anonymous April 3rd, 2006 08:45PM  

I think the song has to do with suicide bombings. The whole "wake up ..." is this person getting ready for their final day, how people look nice for their final day. "why'd you leave the keys up on the table?" - because they aren't coming back home. The whole "self-righteous suicide" is him trying to convince god and himself it's what he has to do (maybe for his country; he could have even been forced into it). And perhaps the "angels deserve to die" isn't himself, but all the innocent he has to kill. and the whole "why have you forsaken me" part is that he knows what he has done is wrong but he wants god to understand why he is doing this. That's why he sings about "trusting in his self-righteous suicide". all-in-all this person is going to do a suicide bombing, and is trying to convince god that he shouldn't be judged, its what he has to do. its confusing maybe, but it matches everyline

Jake_D_diabetic May 2nd, 2006 11:03PM  

I thought this song had two meanings. First was about how Jesus died for our sins and we still make stories (fables) and hide ourselves from past pain (grab a brush and put a little makeup, hide the scars to fade away the shakeup). In the chorus Jesus is saying how people didn't trust in his self righteous suicide to save them. Of coarse Jesus wouldn't call it a self righteous because that would be basically saying he's full of himself and he's smug. Jesus cries because people didn't take this big act serious and they didn't learn a thing. The second meaning may be how no matter how you die if you lived a noble life a good after life should come to you. I'm guessing on of the band member's brother commited suicide from what I've read. So they think that he should not be punished because Jesus commited a self righteous suicide of his own.

anonymous January 6th, 2007 01:22PM  

Guys some of you have it right and some have it wrong and some of you have it right and wrong

The first verse shows an abusing partner/parent most like male dictating to child/wife, telling them that they can go and put on some make up, hide the scars, make up stories of how they may have got the scars, the idea of "Why'd you put the key upon the table?" seems to show how this child/woman can do no right in the abusers eyes, As normal as putting key and a table when you come in (where most of us would), he decides to make an issue out of it. "Here you go create another fable" is the moment where may have hit them, at the same time, saying make up a story how you got this one!

The second verse is the victim, taking the same abuse over and over, but SOAD add in the "I wanted to", and if the victim was answering back to the abuser, but only in thir own head! - You all following??

The Chorus -
They are saying to their abuser that you don't think that I am strong enough to commit suicide, but not just suicide Self-rightous suicide, as if they wanted the suicide to show everything, no more cover-ups - (like the perfect family had a kid/wife that killed themselves) - so done for selfish reasons (if you like).
When he says "I Cry when angels deserve to die, Die". I think here the abuser is saying I will never cry (not the victim sobbing or crying type of cry) but a love for the abuser cry. He will cry, when angels deserve to die, And shouts "Die". Meaning literally die, to the abuser.

They Next verse, again to show that the abuse continues and continues and continues.

The next chorus show the victim getting closer and closer to suicide, he even sings the "In my, self righteous suicide, I, cry, when angels deserve to die" twice...

Next he says father, I am guessing to his abuser - possibly his father, not god, but SOAD are using a very clever well known biblical quote, and it fit perfect.

He saying Father, this is what you've done (thru the abuse), and I commends his spirt to him. In other words, you had my life when I was alive, you can have it when I am dead too...

And just before the end in one last effort to find out why the abuser has abused him, her cries:
Why have you forsaken me, (why have you abandon me?)
In your eyes forsaken me, (you won't even look at me properly)
In your thoughts forsaken me, (you don't even think about how I feel)
In your heart forsaken, me oh, (You have not love for me)

He starts off with "Thrust" for the last chorus, not "Why", this is a committment to suicide...

And there goes the song...

anonymous April 11th, 2007 04:27AM  

Let me know what you think of this interpretation.

This song is about a man who has found out his wife or girlfriend has been cheating him. He found out she's living a double life or having a different relationship with someone else.

"Grab a brush and put on a little make up
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup"

Essentially he's saying go ahead put on your makeup(new persona) for whoever your about to see. He's metaphorically saying her makeup makes her think she's someone else and allows her to live a duplicist's lifestyle. Probably by going to her other boyfriend's residence when she leaves their house.

He also says the line "There you go create another fable" speaking about the lies that she's telling him.

In the line "I cry when angels deserve to die", he's saying that he thought she was perfect (an angel) until he found out that she is scum (because she is cheating on him).

He talks about "self righteous suicide". Self righteous means "confident of one's own righteousness, esp. when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others". So he's saying he wants to die for the right reasons. He has done nothing wrong and god has punished him. "God why have you forsaken me?". So he feels his suicide would be just.

anonymous April 25th, 2007 04:06PM  

“Wake up, grab a brush and put a little makeup, hide the scars to fade away the shakeup” We tend to hurry quickly to hide ourselves.
“Why’d you leave the keys upon the table, here you go create another fable”
He’s asking us why we left our true identities behind. And saying that we create stories to hide ourselves.
“you wanted to…….”
We want to forget ourselves.
“I don’t think you trust in my self righteous suicide”
We don’t trust in being ourselves or like trusting him. Suicide as in sociable suicide.
“I cry when angels deserve to die”
He feels bad when behind closed doors we are ourselves with no fear but once in the public eye we act “normal” we as angels deserve to die as in we should just be ourselves.
“Father into your hands I commend my spirit”
Someone is giving themselves to him for help.
“Father into your hands why have you forsaken me”
They gave themselves to him and are let down.
“In your eyes forsaken me in your thoughts forsaken me in your heart forsaken me”
The person who gave themselves away to change feels as if he let them down by him having his own way of changing that person.

MORAL: We have such a hard time being different even if we aren’t sociably acceptable we still sometimes have standards to live up to. There’s like a clique for everyone and it’s hard to not share qualities.
I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE

anonymous June 15th, 2007 12:01AM  

I think the song on a whole is talking on how SOAD thought Jesus was a good man,a role model, maybe even the Son of God, but along with that they believe that many Bible stories are just stories "...there you go creating another fable".
SOAD could be telling how Jesus was preparing himself to go the cross in,"Wake up, grab a brush and put on a little make up, hide the scars....". "Why'd you leave the keys up on the table,(you wanted to)" is Jesus's decision to except the cross. Then "Why have you forsaken me" and "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" are direct words from the Jesus pleading to God to use another way to save the world, but then excepting his fate with a good heart.
I also think they're leaving it up to you to decide if Jesus was the Son of God or not in the chorus "...SELF-RIGHTEOUS SUICIDE...when angels DESERVE to die". Whichever SOAD really believes, I think they are sad that such an influential man was killed(for which I believe there is no reason other than it was the only way to save the world from sin) from the words,"I cry when angels deserve to die...". That's what I think the words mean.

anonymous July 11th, 2007 10:57PM  

It's amazing how much religion you can find in SOAD's lyrics. Even though I wouldn't classify them as 'good christians' its pretty cool that they put their views out there about everything they personally believe in.

anonymous July 13th, 2007 05:59AM  

The beginning of the song depicts morning with someone who has been abused, battered by her husband or boyfriend
"Grab a brush and put a little make up
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup"
Put on some make up so you can hide the fact that she's been abused
"Oh here we go create another fable, You wanted to"
Create a story to cover up the event
"I cry when angels deserve to die"
She's an angel, but she deserves to die for allowing this to happen to her, striking an emotional key in the musician and any other moral human being with self control.

I Don't think jesus was an angel.. So his self righteous suicide might not fit the description, I'm not sure though.

YourFan August 2nd, 2007 02:38PM  

I'm pretty sure it's a song about suicide but Daron Malakian said this in an interview.

"The song is about how when people die, they will be regarded differently depending on the way they pass. Like, if I were to die from a drug overdose, everyone would say I deserved it because I abused drugs, hence the line 'Angels deserve to die'."

anonymous August 17th, 2007 02:16PM  

ATTENTION I FOUND THIS ON ANOTHER FORUM THIS IS NOT MINE

The meaning of Chop Suey!...
Hi! I've finally got round to reading an
article that a magazine published on SOAD a
while ago, in which there is a quote from
Daron explaining the meaning behind
"Chop Suey!". I find this
pretty interesting, because while I've
always loved the lyrics for their sheer
eeriness, I've never really been able to
interpret or understand them.

Daron says: "(Chop Suey) is about how
people view death. For example, if I died of
a drug overdose everyone would say I deserved
to die because I took drugs. Hence the line
'...angels deserve to die'. It's not
a song that's anti or for anything, but
more of an observation or an attempt to
capture these strange feelings people
have."

And suddenly it all makes sense!

anonymous September 1st, 2007 09:43AM  

I think that most songs can have more than one interpretation- this is the purpose of poetry, to let everyone find their meanings.

To me I just heard the song yesterday for the first time and it somehow attracted me, reflecting my own feelings.

I really love the interpretation of Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-12-31 21:36:07, that it reflects the feelings of a desperate hurt person, whether over physical abuse, or injustice in the world.

This person is on the verge of suicide and is reaching out in despair to God "Into your hands I commend my spirit", maybe finding parallels with Jesus, if the person feels he/she does not deserve to die, but is driven to it.

I know confusing, but still wanted to thank Submitted by: anonymous Added: 2006-12-31 21:36:07 for interpretation.

anonymous September 5th, 2007 08:07PM  

This song is about a mixture of things as Serj has a very poetic and complicated soul. He is relating the Armenian genocide to Jesus dying on the cross and kind of tying them togather.

I think "Why'd you leave the keys up on the table." is a question to Jesus, wondering why he gave himself up so suddenly. Leaving the keys on the table is a dramatic way of showing how unfinished his mortal life was.

"Father into your hads I commend my spirit. Why have you forsaken me." are the words that Jesus called to the heavens as he was on the cross.

"I cry when angels deserve to die." is the best tyiing line which is why they put it in the chorus. Both in Jesus's sacrifice and in the Armenian Genocide many innocents were killed, and Serj is saddened by this greatly. When he says "Trust in my self righteous suicide" he is voicing Jesus's hopes that his followers will believe that he is doing the right thing in offering himself to the Romans that our sins are forgiven and to trust that he will come back. In the plural use of angel "When ANGELS deserve to die." is him portraying his feelings about all those lost in the genocide.

anonymous September 5th, 2007 11:04PM  

I think the whole song is comparing "martyrdom" to "suicide" such as suicide pilots, people like joan of arc, or most famously, Jesus Christ. Using biblical references to reflect that, the song challenges dying for your religious beleifs, thus being an "angel" who deserves to die. In the bible "father into your..." goes AFTER "why have you.." the song reverses the order of those two phrases to suggest that perhaps you may be giving your spirit at first, but in the end, you are forsaken after all.

anonymous September 17th, 2007 09:44PM  

The basis of this song is dedicated to Civilians being caught in the crossfire of wars and confrentations. At the beginning of the song, if you listen close, you can hear, "Rolling suicide." Then the music starts. This is in reference to suicide bombers and their attack on the civilians.
A lot of the people on here put, "When angels deserve to die," as a basis for their interpritation. While respecting their thoughts on the matter, you have to take the verse as a whole, not just a piece at a time for interpritation. It is like the Bible. You have to use the context that it is given in. The verse says, "I cry, when angels deserve to die." Thus backing up the helpless civilians being caught in the crossfire.
At another part of the song, SOAD sings, "Father into your hands I commend my sprit, father into you hand [...] Why have you forsaken me [..]" This is the main part of the song that backs up my interpritation. If you think actually look at it most of the people who do suicide bombings are extreamist wanting to go to heaven or where ever they believe. They believe, in giving your life up for Allah you will be rewarded with eternal life, heaven, ladies, and what not.