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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Some interpritations are fucking stupid why not ask SERJ
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There are a couple different interpretations of this that made sense to me. The first being that this song is about covering up your issues and being angry at god for giving you such a horrible life. The second interpretation that I thought made sense was this song was about homosexuality. Seeing as the first few lines about hiding your issues/secrets it could be referring to hiding someones homosexuality or "being in the closet." The line saying "self righteous suicide" would then be about the bible saying anyone who is gay is not accepted by god, and the speaker can't fix his homosexuality and is therefore committing "self righteous suicide" and condemning himself to hell according to the church. Also, the line "why have you forsaken me, in your eyes" could be directed towards god who, according to the bible, has abandoned homosexuals. Just an idea though. I'm not sure if either of these are correct or not
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I think its about the American dish. Listen to the lyrics, you'll hear it.
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My gay brother used this song to tell me why he killed himself. He left these lyrics on my bed the night he killed himself. He did wear makeup to hide black eyes and scars from cutting himself. He "left the keys on the table" because at some point he gave up and didn't want to come home again to my father. His suicide makes sense to him, and it's apparently the right thing to do. Everyone loved him, and everyone who didn't know what was going on was shocked to hear the news. Now for the most confusing part. "In my hands I commend my spirit, why have you forsaken me?" I think my brother felt as though it was our dad's fault he killed himself, so he's given his spirit to our father, saying for him to forgive him and that he's sorry. Our dad had forsaken him, and disowned him, and beat him.
I miss you, Ricky. I understand now. -
It's about the Armenian genocide.
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One thing that's sure about Chop Suey is that it has many interpretations and most of them seem logical (well, apart from the monkeys-throwing-keys one xD). And maybe this is just another reason for its name. Well, here is my interpretation of the song.
I think it talks about a (female probably) person (let's say "A.") that has just been through a terrible misfortune or something and has given up on life. Then a friend or family or just someone (let's call him/her "S.") who cares about A. comes and tries to change her mind.
We're rolling suicide
[It's S. thoughts of what's happening to A. Even if A. is not committing suicide literaly she is in a way dying 'cause she has given up on life and stays home all day doing nothing but hoping things will magically get better.]
Wake up! (Wake up)
Grab a brush and put a little make-up
[ = Get up, spruce yourself up a bit and get out in the world. (also) Do what you do every day. Continue with your life.]
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
[ = Don't think about what happened. It's past-and-gone now. Try to forget it.]
Why’d you leave the keys upon the table?
[ = Why have you gave up on life? (Keys give you access to your home/car. "Abandoning" them on the table implies not using them. So, not leaving home.)]
Here you go create another fable
[ = You're creating fables to persuade yourself that your life's over when it's not. Believe me.]
You wanted to
Grab a brush and put a little makeup
You wanted to
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
You wanted to
Why'd you put the keys upon the table
You wanted to
[ A repetition. "You wanted to" = Some time ago you'd want to do what I'm telling you now. Don't you remember it?]
[In the "Wake up" part S. urges A. to get over what happened. S. barks 'cause he wants to provoke something from the up-to-now pathetic A. or wants to bring A. back to reallity from her delirious ravings and make her listen to him. Can be either.]
I dont think you trust in my
self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to DIE!!!
[Previous method isn't working and S. is trying another one.
= That's what you're telling me (with your silence/ravings): You want me to concent in this kind of suicide ('cause this is suicide according to S.) which you think is right. You don't have bad intentions, you want things in your life to be fine (you're an "angel"). But if you continue like this you'll "die" from the inside. And you would "deserve" that 'cause you'd have let it happen. You know that this is happening now but you do not do something to change it. You're just sad about it (crying).]
[Another repetition]
Father, father, father, father
Father into your hands, I commend my spirit
Father into your hands
[S. mocking A.'s ravings to show her how absurd she gets.
= You have left your spirit and life completely to the divine, expecting God to make your life perfect for you]
Why have you forsaken me
In your eyes forsaken me
In your thoughts forsaken me
In your heart forsaken, me oh
[ = Now you believe it's God's fault that your life has yet to get perfect on its own. (Don't you think you should try a bit, too? is implied)]
Trust in my self righteous suicide
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
In my self righteous suicide
[ = Your plea to believe that what you do is right]
Why, cry, when angels deserve to die
[ = But in the end, there is no reason to cry about it. Do something.]
Sorry for the long post. I hope at least it's comprehensible.
Anyway that's my interpretation. I believe other interpretations might be closer to what initially intended but I still prefer this one. -
Guys straight up a woman in a violent relationship kills herself explains it all.
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Hi this is actually an idea that I have to express the quote "when angels deserve to die". I believe that with this quote, the writer is trying to say that there are a lot of people who seem "angel" (good people) but in the inside they are bad who have perfect lives, and there it is, this person who is probably better than them and he has this miserable live. For the rest of the song I totally agree with the person who is in rank 1.
Thanks for reading =) R.C -
I honestly think that this song is about violence in advanced relationships:
Wake up!- Man forcing woman to get up.
Grab a brush, makeup to hide the shake up- Hide the proofs of the man's violence
Why’d you leave the keys upon the table?-Man speaking
Here you go create another fable-woman's thought of leaving the keys on the table to be a reason for him to beat her again(another fable)
You wanted to- Woman feeling powerless(guessing)
I don’t think you trust
In, my, self righteous suicide
I, cry, when angels deserve to die- The woman thinks that if she commited suicide the man wouldn't care and that she first saw him has an "angel" but that now has to die.
The father, father part looks like a prayer questioning: Why me? (forsaken me)and offers her self to god (Into your hands I commend my spirit)
Sorry for my english, this is just another of the multiple interpretations you can take.
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The song Is about Jesus' final hours on earth get with it. "father in to your hands i commend my spirit", Jesus' final words.
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This song is actually about 9/11.
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 and put a little makeup
You wanted to
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
you wanted to
whyd you put the keys up on the table
you wanted to
The terrorists gets up on his final evening. Doesn't grab the keys because he won't be needing them. He goes to create another fable for his people.
I don’t think you trust
In, my, self righteous suicide
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
In, my, self righteous suicide
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
Not many of his people believe it should be done nor will he accomplish the mission.
It's clearly about 9/11 and both point of views of the terrorists and the angels who just got up for another day at work.
Also if you listen really close you'll hear after why dont you put on a little make up the first time right after that is a pause and you'll hear 9/11 being whispered.
Great band. Hard lyrics to interpret -
I kinda took it as talking about an abusive relationship, and he is sad when women in an abusive relationship commit suicide to get out.. not that they actually deserve to die, but it's sad when they have no other option
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I think Chop Suey has to do with any sort of conflict and it can fit anything from abortion (angels deserve to die) to a government-enforced genocide. The central meaning of the song is controversial decisions being covered up for the mere fact that they cant b understood by other people. The band really put a lot of thought into this song and it seems really important to them. I give them props for releasing something so personal, regardless of its initial intentions.
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The beginning of the song seems to be about a woman suffering rape trauma. For the record, I'm a guy, but it's the only thing that fits imo. There are just too many feminine references. "Why'd you leave the keys on the table?" sounds like why'd you leave the door open or something like that. This is the guy talking, arguing that she meant to forget her keys. "You wanted to!" "You wanted to!" over and over... She wakes up everyday with this pain - covering the scars. The fables are her lies that it was rape. It's a horrible situation. This woman did nothing wrong - so she's an angel, but for whatever reason, her fate is suffer this pain and decide to commit suicide.
The rest of the song, I think, is about Jesus and how his death relates to other suicides such as this one. Whereas she is an angel, he is considered the angel, hence the significance. "I don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide" seems like Jesus talking to those who are observing this woman's choice to kill herself. "I cry when angels deserve to die," could be Jesus or the writer. Jesus cries out "Father!" 8 times later in the song, and a band-member is supposedly quoted as saying he recognizes he cries when angels deserve to die, but maybe not if a drug user brings it on himself.
I think the argument is that if Jesus can commit suicide and have a world following, then this poor woman can too if she so chooses. Also, at the end the question is asked: Why cry about suicides? That is to say that if Jesus willfully went to his death, and we all are going to our deaths, why cry about it?
The original name of the song was Suicide, but it was changed to Chop Suey for social reasons (see wiki). -
Truth is you can make a sequence of dark lofty sentences that are at least remotely related and people will connect them somehow.
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