System of a Down: Chop Suey Meaning
Song Released: 2001
Chop Suey Lyrics
We're Rolling Suicide
Wake up(wake up)
Grab a brush and put a little makeup
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
Why’d you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable
You wanted to
Grab a brush...
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anonymous Jun 19th 2009, 10:46 report
okay listen. its about darren malakians brother that hid dad abused. by the way darren wrote the song. and his brother killed himself because he couldent take the abuse. hense "self richous suicide" "angels deserve to die". his brother was the 'angel' and he killed himself. so pretty much darren made this song for his dead brother. and "whyd you leave the keys up on the table" is another excuse to beat him
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anonymous Jun 17th 2009, 07:02 report
My interpretation is about a father who cries out to god over losing his young son and is about to commit suicide. He cries out to god "trust in my self-righteous suicide, when angels (his son) deserve to die. The father is torn why he gets to live and his son not.
I'm convinced the father feels responsible for the death of his son, but in his terms he's angry at his god for allowing him to make the mistake that indirectly lead to his son's death. When his suicide drawns near, he cries out to god: trust (condone) in my suicide, when angels (his son) deserve to die.
Furthermore, I'm utterly convinced the last phrase in this song is "WHY cry when angels deserve to die". Listen to the last phrase and you'll hear a "why" instead of an "I". By his last breath he means: "why cry (for his suicide or death) when angels (his son) deserve to die" -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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anonymous May 28th 2009, 15:45 report
I am just saying, it is really, really painstakingly obvious in my opinion, I mean I could obviously be wrong. In two of the gospels of Jesus, he says two completely different things to god: I commend my spirit and why have you forsaken me, which is one of the biggest controversies about the bible itself, because in the final draft/copy as I refer to it as, it has NEITHER gospel in it. And I think this is what that is mostly referring to. Possibly the make up and fable is about how the bible could be false? And about not trusting them goes along with what I just said. Hide the scars, (that people have begun to find out about etc.)
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anonymous Apr 27th 2009, 19:36 report
I dont really want to interprate the whole song, but I think that when he's saying "I cry when angels deserve to die" is he's saying that when you are born you are an angel, so to speak, completley innocent, never hurt anyone else. How can something that good (an angel) grow up to do anything bad? How could an angel deservr to die? they were once completley innocent!
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anonymous Apr 13th 2009, 14:48 report
Here you go to create another fable =
accusations the people made against Jesus like blasphemer
and using demonic powers to heal people -
labialust101 Apr 9th 2009, 11:53 report
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? -
martyrofhumanity Apr 6th 2009, 20:33 report
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...."
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mmx Apr 2nd 2009, 06:15 report
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. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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anonymous Mar 3rd 2009, 22:09 report
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" -
ambigu Feb 14th 2009, 03:26 report
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 Jan 14th 2009, 22:09 report
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
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anonymous Jan 10th 2009, 19:38 report
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.
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anonymous Jan 7th 2009, 19:44 report
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 Jan 6th 2009, 23:46 report
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.
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S.O.A.D. Jan 3rd 2009, 05:20 report
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!
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anonymous Jan 1st 2009, 01:57 report
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. -
anonymous Dec 29th 2008, 18:24 report
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. -
AlexU6969 Dec 28th 2008, 22:13 report
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?
More System of a Down song meanings »
Chop Suey lyrics
Chop Suey is considered:
Songs about Death
Songs about Drugs
Songs with Religious Themes
Songs about Suicide
Songs about Angels
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