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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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. -
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.
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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. -
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. -
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! -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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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. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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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. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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“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
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