Shadowsofsonya November 3rd, 2008 08:31PM  
Picture a little boy hiding underneath a table cloth on the kitchen table. Seeing his father yelling at the boys mother... "Why'd you leave the keys up on the table... You wanted to!" Screaming at her for everything that she's done wrong in his eyes... The boys hiding, he's scared, too scared to move. "Hide the scars that fade away the shake up" cover every mark that shows you're abuse. Ashamed.
Fade away:
Now imagine this boy is invisible in his own home, his father's too wrapped up in being the abusive fuck that he is... His mother, a walking talking zombie of abuse and neglect. So down deep in her depression, she takes her own life. "I cry when angels deserve to die"
She takes her own life, tired of the abuse, she leaves her son with this abusive fuck. She was so wrapped up in her own misery, she didn't see what it was doing to her poor son.
Now "Father, father, why have you foresaken me?" This is that little boy as his mother's funeral with his grandparents, his father of course is too much of a bastard for what he caused and doesn't show. The boy is screaming silently at the sky, then glimpsing at his mother laying in her permanent bed, then again the boy looks at the sky screaming in silence. Angry, he feels he was forgotten by his mother, his father, and God...
I cry...

baribestwonders November 15th, 2008 01:23PM  
these interpretations of of jesus dying on the cross are very good. and the members of saod my even see it that way as well if u were to tlk to them. however,i remember my friend showing me something posted by serj. my freinds also said he saw an interview with serj. in these he tells his meaning of the song. it is about how the manner in which you die determines a persons last thoughts of you.you may have lived a wonderful life and did nothing wrong.but say you have a moment of weakness and do something wrong and get killd doing so,they may not remember you as beig a great person. all bc u died doing something wrong many may remember you as a bad person no matter the good things you did before.

anonymous November 26th, 2008 07:14AM  
The line about creating another fable pertains to the protagonist shutting off his Gamecube while in the process of saving a Zelda file. He must recreate the file, losing all progress up to that point, and while grappling with the staggering ramifications of this figures, "F this. I'll just play Mega Man instead. It's more difficult, yes, but also infinitely more rewarding". Ergo, the "self-righteous suicide" referred to henceforth.

CHAD December 3rd, 2008 02:28PM  
As per an interview I read in one of my guitar magazines its about how we as a society view how people die.For example if someone dies from an overdose of drugs,one might say they deserved to die,instead of recognizing that they died from the disease of addiction.

anonymous December 8th, 2008 12:18PM  
This song DEF has something to do with religion. Jesus died to save man-kind and it is referred to as "self-righteous suicide". And if it did in fact have nothing to do with religion... why use scripture? DIRECT quotes. Esp the last words of Jesus Christ, which are often taken out of context anyway. Eh. Anyway, sounds against God and Jesus.

anonymous December 21st, 2008 12:39AM  
ive heard so many interpretations for this song some about jesus, some about suicide bombers, and other things... Christianity, Judaism (i mention this because some people think Jesus was Jewish), suicide bombers, genocides came from around Armenia and the middle east some all of these are plausible

anonymous December 26th, 2008 07:28PM  
The song is about how suicide is viewed as an end to life compared to natural death. Keys upon the table refers to leaving a suicide note which gives the reasons, or keys, for taking ones own life. Grab a brush put on a little makeup is a reference that many who commit suicide do so having first gone through some banal normalities like putting on make up, even though it is pointless to do so given the desire to die. Hide the scars is a reference to how many suicides are born of those who find it difficult to share their problems and end up resorting to suicide. Father into your hands I commend my spirit, and Why have you forsaken me, are the last thoughts of the person committing suicide, in the same way that Christs last words are to God before he dies. These thoughts are posed in phrases which ask the listener to question why the suicide victim is taking this ultimate action, when the alternative to the majority who do not have suicidal thoughts is why would you do this when you have your whole life to lead and could do so and die a natural death in later life?

AlexU6969 December 28th, 2008 10:13PM  
Ok I have been quite confused by this song but I think I have it. The song is about a womans life and her husband abuses her and treats her like shit . She wants to commit suicide because she fells that is the only way to escape the pain. Let me break it down.

Wake up (Wake up)- Here the husband is telling her to get out of bed and do as he pleases.

Grab a brush and put a little makeup
Hide the scars to fade away the shake up- Here he is telling her to fix herself up and hide the bruises on her face that were caused by him.

Why'd you leave the keys up on the table?
Here you go create another fable- this is showing that the husband looks for any excuse to yell at her and beat her, and that she is trying to make up a story to protect herself

I don't think you trust, in, my,
Self-righteous suicide,- Here I think she is talking to god(or to someone close to her) and telling him that this is her decision and you just don't understand.

I cry, when angels deserve to die-Suicide is obvioulsy a moral sin and she understands that and the effect it will have to the angels and to God.

Father (father)
Father (father)
Father (father)
Father (father)
Father Into your hands I commit my spirit
Father Into your hands, why have you forsaken me- Here she is saying to God, I have been so faithful, put my trust in you, how can you let this happen to me how can you let me down.

This was my interpretation of one of the greatest songs ever written and I think my interpretation is pretty legit. Tell me what you think?

anonymous December 29th, 2008 06:24PM  
the reason why it is called chop suey is because it was going to be called suicide, but they changed it to chop suey. SUEY-cide.

anonymous January 1st, 2009 01:57AM  
I thought it was about suicide. But, as many people have said, this song could be about anything. I'm not good at interpreting though. I like to read other people's interpretations. But I guess we should remember that music is music and it's made solely for the purpose of being listened to and enjoyed, so don't think too hard on it or the enjoyment on the music is gone. If you have to think or research too hard on a song then it tends to go away a little. If a song is meant to be interpretated then when you lie down and listen to the music, then it should come to you. Sometimes we have to research just a little but you shouldn't try too hard so that when you listen you think 'interpret'. I just wanted to say that. Sorry if I went on and on.

S.O.A.D. January 3rd, 2009 05:20AM  
I think this song has multiple meanings.It talks about christianity,system of a down and many problems of nowday;s society.with "wake up" it means be born."grab a brush and put a little make up hide the scars to fade away the shakw up"I think it talks about a way of changing yourself so that you will get away.why you leave th keys up on the table talks about the keys of your live and anyone can take advantage of them.create another fable to disguise yourself.i don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide talks about children who suffer from system of a down because they are killed whan they are born cause of their "meaningless lives" but they have a right to suicide.it angels deserve to die talks about them too.angels are those who committed no sins so those kids are like angels!and finally, in tne part where serj screams father into your hands I commend my spirit father why have you forsaken me it talks about his father didn't defend him when the doctors said ht should be killed!Also this song might be a tottaly religious song with parts from gospels and the Christ's crucifixion.the name chop suey refers to it's complicated melody and lyrics.that is my opinion!

anonymous January 6th, 2009 11:46PM  
This song is about his girlfriend getting in a bad car wreck. Makeup to hide her scars. The keys are him blaming himself. The religious stuff is him blaming god for what happened to her. I cry when angels deserve to die, the angel is his girlfriend.

anonymous January 7th, 2009 07:44PM  
This song is not fuckin about god. System of a down is an extremely politically active band and wouldn't waste their time attacking god. Its us who've fucked up our society not god!

and the "blackrapture" guy on page one is 100% right about it. He explained it perfectly so I'm not gonna waste my time explaining it.

just stop trying to make this song out to be hating on god and jesus.

anonymous January 10th, 2009 07:38PM  
I think personally the song is brillant and sad. I think it's about someone getting ready for a day and hearing about innocent people dying (angels). I also think he accidently killed someone and at the time he thought that someone deserved to die. Now he regrets it. I don't think he gets on with his father and so he screams father to be loved. He thinks committing suicide will put things right. I think but thats my opinion.

anonymous January 14th, 2009 10:09PM  
It definately has to do with the singer and his wife. She "left the kids on the table" something happened to his kids, and the wifes to blame shes the "angel that deserves to die" his parents now forsake him for the accident or for his wife. He wants to kill himself "Self rightous suicide" because he cant bear whats going on

ambigu February 14th, 2009 03:26AM  
It's about someone good that change himself to a bad person ,,when angels deserve to die'' He does something rong and he tries to cover the scars (,,put a litle makeup''),but there are rumors(,,here you go create another fable''). It's about good people going bad(,,I CRY WHEN AGELS DESERVE TO DIE,IN MY SELFRAGTHIOUS SUICIDE'')

anonymous March 3rd, 2009 10:09PM  
They beat up and kidnapped a girl and made her hide the scars when they get pulled over "We're Rolling

Wake up
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup)
Grab a brush and put a little
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the"

mmx April 2nd, 2009 06:15AM  
At the beginning you hear Serj say, "Let's roll suicide". I belive this was the original name of the song. Chop Suey is a cultural mix of dishes (essentially to keep Western palattes happy with Eastern cooking, look up on Wiki).

For me it's about suicide/euthanasia. The correlation between Jesus' last words ("Father into Your hands I commend my spirit why have You forsaken me") represents the duality between his death on the cross and the suicide rate in the modern world. Jesus could have saved himself - so the Bible says - but sacrificed himself for the greater good. It seems the song uses this as a metaphor to question our lack of control over our lives - indeed suicide and euthanasia are illegal in many countries. Some people may want to die, and if it was for Jesus to do so, then why do prominently Christain countries view suicide as a crime? I think this is what the title is getting at - different cultures/religions/communities/people view suicide in many different ways; from criminal to martyr. Much like the title the differences from East to West are widely different... Though I'm poised wondering whether this has any relevance to the lyrics or not.

I don't think it's an attack on religion nor suicide itself, more an open ended question. The difference in the way that people pass perhaps and how that's regarded by the greater community depending on where you're from.

By the way, I'm not at all religious, but this is how I see things from an outside perspective.

martyrofhumanity April 6th, 2009 08:33PM  
The guy hiding his wounds is Paul from the Bible and the guy scolding him for doing so is Jesus. The Keys represent freedom. "WAKE UP" means get real! Paul says to himself WAKE UP and hide evidence of your partaking in the fight for freedom(the shake up). He leaves the keys on the table, relinquishing freedom because he's given up the cause to save his hide. "You wanted to!" in the second time around is Jesus scolding him because he did't HAVE to give up but he'd rather save himself from and jesus is PISSED about his selfishness. Jesus says "I CRY! when angels deserve to die" like don't you whats wrong with you dont you even care that i'm about to die for YOUR sins! "Whyd you leave the keys upon the table? Here you go, create another fable" is jesus telling paul go preach! Paul hides his association with jesus and the cause 3 times in the bible. "I cry when angels deserve to die" also refers to Jesus crying blood in the garden of gasename. Then as many would he asks why ME? why must i die for the sake of everyone? father why have you forsaken me! Then finally after his own doubts are gone he's more confident than ever and screams it out his word "TRUUUUST, INNNNNNN, MYYYYY...."

labialust101 April 9th, 2009 11:53AM  
There was a question raised regarding "the keys". What comes to mind is a part in the bible where Jesus Christ says to Peter, one his disciples: "I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven....", an awesome responsibility to bestow someone. Shortly thereafter Peter commits his infamous sin of denying Christ three times, possibly begging the question in the song? The song mentions the word "angels" as opposed to the singular "angel". Could this maybe in some way refer also to the fallen angels or demons for whom Christ did not die and are now hopeless and doomed to an eternal hell, supposedly?