#Chop suey song meaning system of a down full#

“In music, that's a badge of honour,” says Daron.

The song was banned by radio in the wake of 9/11… or was it?Ĭhop Suey! featured on a list of “lyrically questionable” songs sent by US media giant Clear Channel to its 1100 radio stations following the attacks on the Twin Towers, due to its reference to suicide and the line “I cry when angels deserve to die.” All the effort I put into it… I really wouldn't do anything like that now.” “It took a long time to do, all that body paint. “I just wanted to do something that looked cool – there was no message behind it,” he says. In the Chop Suey! video, Daron is sporting a set of strikingly ornate tattoos on his torso. When we were doing that video, Shavo said, ‘I think we should make it at that seedy ass hotel.’' It's now one of rock's biggest videos ever.ĭaron’s tattoos in the video? They’re not real We used to go with our parents and we’d see all the hookers across the street. “There was a supermarket across the street where all the Armenians used to go to.

#Chop suey song meaning system of a down full#

“In the early 80s, the whole of Sunset Strip was full of prostitution, and that hotel was full of prostitutes,” says Daron. The song’s memorable video was filmed in the courtyard of the Oak Tree Inn in Hollywood, near the neighbourhood where Daron and bassist Shavo Odadjian grew up. The video was filmed in the courtyard of a hotel that Daron and Serj remembered from childhood “It was something they used to say: ‘We’ll make chop suey out of him!’ It meant, ‘We’re gonna kill him.’ It tied in with the whole death thing.” It’s partly a play on words – ‘suicide’ chopped in half – and partly a nod to the old black and white gangster movies Daron watched as a kid. He had a ready-made replacement title: Chop Suey!. We were, like, ‘It’s our first single from the album, do we want to give the radio a reason not to play it?’” Received wisdom is that that the label strong-armed the band into changing the song’s original title Suicide for fear that radio wouldn’t go near the song. Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.The band weren’t pressured into changing the title from Suicide to Chop Suey! In my attempt to gain autonomy over my own life Questioning feelings of abandonment by a higher powerīelieving in one's ability to take control of their own lifeįeeling frustrated with society's priorities Showing sadness and frustration with society's priorities In my attempt to assert control over my own life Reiterating the need to hide emotional painĪccusing someone of lying or making up stories

Reiterating the need to hide imperfections The last time the chorus repeats, it adds urgency to the narrator's earlier statements, indicating that the cries about suicide and angels dying are directly related to the narrator's feelings and not just empty lyrics. The second half of the verse then paints God as disregarding the narrator completely, forsaking them in every aspect. However, the verse then moves to question why God has forsaken him in the narrator's hour of need.

Father is a common way of addressing God, and the first of two verses begins with an acceptance of death ('into your hands I commend my spirit'). The second half of the song appears to deal with religion directly. The narrator alleges that the person doesn't trust the self-righteous suicide, something taken from one of the album's earlier tracks. Then the narrator questions why someone would leave keys behind to create a new lie, before repeating the earlier assertion to grab a brush and put on makeup, signifying the cycle of hiding from the truth. The first verse may be indicating that the narrator is preparing for a performance, putting on makeup to hide the marks left by life's more overwhelming moments. 'Chop Suey' is a complex song by System of a Down with many interpretations. Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)įather into your hands, I commend my spirit