anonymous 2008-03-02 16:19:59    

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I think that this is about someone who wakes up every day, has to hide the scars of "the shakeup" and leaves the keys on the table as a sign of not coming back, and now you can make another excuse about my marks or where I've gone "here you go create another fable" I believe this person then commits suicide o.o

anonymous 2008-03-18 23:44:00    

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In my opinion this song is about something completely different than what everyone here is talking about. It's about all the fake christians....people putting on an act to hide who they really are and how they really lead their lives...putting on make up. Jesus died for our sins and by us accepting Him as our savior we are agreeing to live our lives as he wants us to...so when we don't that makes His death/suicide self-rightious because he did it for no reason other than thinking he was doing something that would better man and the way we live our lives. And looking around the world today, Jesus's way obviously is not the way we are living. I cry...when angels deserve to die....it's very sad that Jesus (an angel) did give his life for us to live our lives the way we do.

anonymous 2008-03-26 14:58:54    

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I have To agree with saod interpreter I've often thought the same thing he said, in fact he pulled the words right out of my mouth so if you are looking for a clear meaning behind the song and the expressions in this songs this would be your answer.

anonymous 2008-03-30 14:09:16    

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Well for the whole make up thing and the beginning it could have to do with suicide bombing because maybe the people committing the things paint their faces to hide their identity from people but God knows it was them....Like with Army camo etc.
Just a though

The Keys might refer to to God as well cause God and Jesus give us the Keys to the Kingdom of God and saying why did you leave them on the table saying why didn't you take the opportunity and come with me..It could be like he is Jesus in that line

anonymous 2008-04-20 02:12:14    

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I, too, initially thought it was about religion; however, I agree with some of the above posts in that it is based on what Father Armeni said about the 1915 massacre. I read that Father Armeni was quoting Jesus when he said, "Father, why have you forsaken me? Into your hands I commend my spirit". Armeni said the land was left like a chop suey and the whole thing was a self righteous suicide. Very interesting, no?

anonymous 2008-04-23 09:56:43    

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The song's meaning is that it has no meaning. All the band members were under the influence of mushrooms and acid when writing this song.

anonymous 2008-04-30 11:23:39    

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I think this song is actually talking about Jesuses death on the cross, even though they aren't christian. It says "self-righteous-suicide" he came to earth knowing he would die, and also, in the bible Jesus said "father, why have you forsaken me?" matching the songs lyrics directly.

Also angels deserve to die, meaning he took everyones sin and all that are below god (including angels) deserve death but are saved by grace. This is just my view on this song, soad might not be a christian band, and I am not telling you to convert, but soad can still sing about Jesus if they feel like it. :]

hyperthread 2008-05-07 00:23:55    

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Talk about a manic rant.

I think that the song is the bands observance of humankind. Which for the most part puts on a false face, aka hypocrisy. The part where he's singing Jesus words as he hung on the cross sounds like a cynical mockery of the cross, and he appears to be putting words in Jesus mouth. When he says "angels deserve to die" implies that Jesus says it should be Satan and the fallen angels paying for the curse that they brought upon creation, instead of Jesus dying to correct the wrong. If I'm correct then the singer is trying to humanize Jesus, and have Jesus second guessing God the Father, and his plan for redemption for mankind in His(Jesus)substitutionary death.

anonymous 2008-05-13 01:54:22    

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The song is about Jesus dying on the cross. It is another perspective than from the biblical one. In the song's perspective, Jesus thought that what was happening to Him on the cross was not fair: "I cry, when angels deserve to die." Jesus thought that He lived a good life, and why should He be in pain? Its the angels that deserve to die! The song suggests hidden stories in the story of Christ; hence the title: Chop-suey!

"Self-righteous suicide" refers to the death on the cross. Remember, this song is a different point of view. Jesus' death was most definitely NOT self-righteous, or a suicide, but the song suggests that it was. Hiding the scars and putting on makeup, is Jesus apparently covering up the sins in his life. And of course, "Fall into your hands, I commend my Spirit. Why have you forsaken me?" Were some of Jesus' last words.

I don't agree with the song's message, but there was a lot of controversy over the meaning of it. I just thought I'd clear that up.

blahblah 2008-06-23 03:40:14    

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I agree with all the posted interpretations of this song, meanings belonging to any song are ambiguous. Personally, I believe that the verses are strictly speaking of everyday life where everything you do becomes meaningless. Having no purpose or extraordinary things in your life can be very depressing and the only way to ease this loneliness and depression is to turn to other methods such as suicide. People in general are angels, there suicidal act is done because no-one can hear them. The verse: 'father, father, father, father, father into your hands I commend my spirit,why have you forsaken me' ... refers to one's last plea for forgiveness and cry for being abandoned by God, the creator of life. And because he has not eased their pain, they have chosen to die alone.

AshtonAction 2008-06-25 14:11:33    

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The key in this song is where the lyrics go:

"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 oh
Trust in my self righteous suicide"

Everything else revolves around this. What is this?
These are the words Jesus said on the cross before dying for our sins - He was righteous yet died for US (the sinners), the jewish priests were people of law and did not want to accept Jesus as the Messiah for many reasons (mainly pride). In this song "When angels deserve to die" - System of a down are referring to Jesus Himself as He didn't deserve to die but the jews put him up on the cross and killed Him anyway. Although they couldn't find a reasonable charge, they did it to keep their status as "Holy high priests; unchallenged".

"I, cry, when angels deserve to die" - System of a down are known to be also politicially focussed and hate the idea of innocent citizens dying for power and greed of the government; the death of Jesus is another example of this.

"Wake up
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup)"
This is repeated a whole bunch of times in the song and I believe it's to show how the jews would try and fulfill the law every single day, doing "good works" instead of loving God as they were meant to.

anonymous 2008-07-04 22:16:28    

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From the Armeniapedia (http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=System_Of_A_Down ):
Their first big hit was the controversial "Chop Suey!", released in the late summer of 2001. The title comes from a poem of Father Armeni, who wrote about Armenia after the genocide of 1915. He asked God why have you forsaken me in your eyes. Father Armeni also said that in Armenia a self righteous suicide has taken place.

anonymous 2008-07-06 16:02:36    

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God damn you are ALLLLL fucking idiots... The song is about heroin you fucking KIDSSSSS!!

anonymous 2008-07-09 12:56:45    

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This song is about an abused woman. It starts with her putting on makeup to hide the scars. Then she leaves the keys on the table as a sign of struggle. Then she creates a fable to hide her shame.

That is why the second verse has the backup lyrics you wanted to behind it. This is the fable that she creates. She puts on makeup because she wanted to, hides the scars because she wanted to.

I don't think you trust in my self righteous suicide is her refusing to speak out about what is happening to her. So she would rather die than tell people. Then she calls out to god not understanding that God does not forsake us, but sometimes he disciplines us to get us ready for the next (and real) world.

anonymous 2008-07-11 08:19:35    

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I totally agree on the top rated interpretation... Its correct but the part "when angels deserve to die" is actually what Jesus would think or say if he was a normal human a.k.a. layman... This is true as God did not send angels to take him off the cross when he was dying, because it was a destiny that had to be fulfilled by the Son of Man...He had to die... What does this have anything in common with the words I was trying to explain? The angels had to die because they couldn't or weren't allowed to help Jesus...

anonymous 2008-07-18 03:55:16    

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I cracked the code... Why'd you leave the keys on the table would directly mean that how can Jesus(Keys and Our Saviour) be the son of a simple woman(Mary) and A Carpenter(hence the word table is used).

anonymous 2008-07-29 15:30:26    

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"I cry when angels deserve to die"
lets break it down angels-good people "clean" people perfect people
"why cry when angels deserve to die"
why cry when goody goodys deserve to die and don't care when say drug heads die it is still a human's life.

anonymous 2008-08-22 06:57:09    

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This song is about domestic abuse. That is the only interpretation that fits for all of the lines. The lyrics in parentheses are the victim speaking in her own mind (she can't talk out loud to the abuser for fear of reprisal). The tone of voice that is angry is the abuser abusing her verbally in the morning (after a beating the night before). Line by line, here goes:

CHOP SUEY
[Name of the song means "a mess of whatever is left over" or "a bit of shit" as in the asian american dish. Also connotations from "chop" of violence and "suey" sounds like "sui" part of the word suicide. Together violence and suicide. Violence as a result of self-destruction/martyrdom. The abuser believes he is a martyr sacrificing his soul, by abusing, for the self-riteous purpose of setting his victim straight about what she did wrong. Like a personal crusade to set her straight. Like all crusades -- kill the infidel so that we can "save" him/her. Or perhaps more simply, he believes he abuses because he is tired/overworked/underappreciated for the "self-sacrifices" he is making for the victim. Of course, none of that is true -- he abuses because he has a need to abuse to feel powerful. I think in the 70s there was some cartoon where the "hero" a cartoon/fake hero cries out "chop suey!" when he does a karate chop. This also suggests faux power -- the kind one gets by beating up people half your size who "love" you so aren't expecting you to hit them and/or don't kill you even if they are expecting it.]

"Wake up"
[abuser demanding the victim wake up]

"(wake up)"
[victim hearing the abuser and saying to herself wake up, also -- internally echoing his command almost like "here we go again"]

"Grab a brush and put a little makeup"
[abuser commanding victim to do as he says - make herself presentable with hair and makeup]

"Hide the scars to fade away the shake up"
[abuser demanding that the make-up cover up the injuries from the "shake up" -- i.e. The abuse]

"(Hide the scars to fade away the shake )"
[victim echoing his words in her mind, still not fully awake, in a daze/survival mode, simply following orders -- she's done this many times before]

"Why'd you leave the keys up on the table?"
[abuser, not satisfied that she's already following 2 of his orders, to brush her hair and cover scars with makeup, demands to know why she did something -- inconsequential -- that he has told her previously is important; or just not what *he* would have done.]

"Here you go create another fable"
[abuser saying this to victim, anticipating that victim's response -- not given -- will be a lie even before she says anything. Abusers never believe the victim's reasons because that would make the abuser/accuser wrong for having doubted the victim in the first place. And abusers can't stand being wrong.]

"(You wanted to)"
[the victim's Higher Self or God or Guardian Angel answering on her behalf -- the real answer is because she wanted to, nothing more, nothing less. As her own person she has a right to do as she chooses. She was given free will by God, just like every other human being was give. The abuser, of course has fogotten that she is a human being.]

"I don't think you trust, in, my, self-righteous suicide"
[ this is actually what the abuser would say if he was telling the truth in an obvious way. In other words, this is what "God" would say to the victim if He wanted her to understand why this was happening to her. The abuser believes that he is the victim (as they always do)of his victim. In order to abuse someone you have to believe that they are wrong and you are right. In order to justify the magnitude of harm that domestic abuse is, beating the one you supposedly love you have to convince both yourself AND the victim that it is the victim's fault for being beaten. In this case, he abused her because she doesn't trust In his self-sacrifice (self-riteous suicide, as God would call it) -- whatever he claims that is. The most common reason given by abusers for perpetuating abuse is that the victim doesn't "help" the abuser or doesn't help enough. He claims she is "killing him" or "letting him die". The abuser claims to be trying to get the victim to "listen" or "believe in" him -- if she only did that more or better, or didn't make things "hard" for him, like leaving keys on the table, he wouldn't be "dying" or "suffering" so much (yeah right). Also abusers believe they are "killing themselves" to make the victim happy or to give the victim and/or the family material goods. Or believe they are sacrificing their lives in some extremely important way, perhaps for humanity -- the abuser almost always has false ideas of grandeur/the importance of his sacrifice cannot be underestimated. After all, if the abuser is suffering so much that he has to hurt people he cares about to complete his mission, then he must REALLY be doing something riteous. Believe me this is exactly how an abuser thinks.]

"I, cry, when angels deserve to die!"
[again, this is the abuser speaking if he was telling the truth. It "hurts the abuser so much" to have to hurt his victim. The victim is the angel -- often she believes that the abuser really is suffering and that if she could only do better and he would not suffer so much. She buys into the abuser's reasons for beating her so that she can reconcile the cognitive dissonance of the person "loving her" AND "hurting her." She is an angel of mercy -- forgiving him over and over again, trying to make his life better by following his every instruction and responding to every demand. Often the victim of her own nurturing. The abuser in his rage actually does believe she deserves everything he has coming to her -- and at it's worse, he believes she deserves to die; once again for not believing in him or for putting the keys on the table -- annoying him, etc.]

"Father (father)
Into your hands, I commend my spirit
Into your hands, why have you forsaken me?
In your eyes, forsaken me
In your thoughts, forsaken me
In your heart, forsaken me"
[This whole verse -- the bridge -- actually could be spoken by either the abuser or the victim; or by both at the same time but for different reasons]
[Spoken by the abuser, this could be about a fundamental extremist who really believes he is the one who has been wronged by his "unhelpful" wife who doesn't believe in his cause. Or the abuser could be having a moment of guilt in which he realizes that his soul has been forsaken by God the Father because he has sinned so badly. Either of these intentions could be stated for the benefit of the victim rather than to God (a form of manipulation) -- to make the victim believe he has remorse in the case of confessing to his loss of soul, or to make the victim feel guilty for having "caused" him to beat her, to make a point about how "hard" his life is (Christ-like proportions of suffering) and he's implying through guilt tripping that it's really important that she behave even better in the future or he'll really suffer, and of course have to beat her again even worse.]
[If this verse is spoken by the victim, it is her plea to God to help her -- wondering what she ever did to deserve such pain at the hands of someone who supposedly loves her]
[If both the abuser and the victim are saying this simultaneously in their own separate realities, it is a comment for all mankind about how we are all forsaken on some level, whether victim or perpetrator -- the victim for being betrayed by a loved one, for being in pain; perpetrator for having lost his soul already -- the greatest pain of all]

anonymous 2008-09-06 11:03:20    

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I think he says "why do you leave the keys upon the table" because if you're going to commit suicide you're not going back to your house forever.... just a thought.

xcarelesslyxbrokenx 2008-09-16 15:33:24    

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Well.. I'm not exactly sure.. but I think it could be about a person that's getting abused.. That would explain the make up & scars part:

"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 "

Maybe the only way out the person being abused can see is death.

I don't know.. but it kinda makes sense if you think about it.