“The song is about how when people die, they will be regarded differently depending on the way they pass,” said Malakian. “Like, if I were to die from a drug overdose, everyone would say I deserved it because I abused drugs, hence the line Angels deserve to die.”

He was so disappointed his explanation was wrong that he pooped on the real explanation 😂

fun fact: the crowd you noticed was, in fact, a Californian crowd, because this was filmed in LA. but the best part is, that it was filmed during an ACTUAL concert, so the crowd is real and they're really playing it, as close to the studio version as they can so there's not much syncing. there even is an audio recording of the crowd singing the last chorus!

Following the S.O.A.D reactions! Enjoy the Journey! Actually the original name of the song was "suicide" but the record label wouldn't allow it so they thought they would cut it in half "chop - suey (suicide)". The song is about how we judge people based on how a person dies - like drug addicts, people kinda assume they deserve it because of their life style.

The part you're trying to place: "Father into your hands, I commend my spirit, etc..." is what Jesus said on the cross

Such a dope reaction! This song was supposed to be released with the title "Suicide" but they made the band change it. The song is about suicide and how people are judged based on how they die. The "Suey" in "Chop Suey" is a play on the word Suicide. They are such a talented band. With a song like that it would help to have the lyrics to read. 🔥 🔥 🔥 I should have waited as I posted my comment at the beginning of your reaction.

Random fact- they’re Armenian! I got to see them live about 12 years ago and they blew my mind!! Love that you’re stretching yourself into rock and metal! 🤘

It is alternative metal. All kinds of influences are mixed here, from Rock, Punk, metal, prog, psychedelic to folk. That's what System of a down do. It's not an extreme heavy band, it's more of a mainstream band wich had a lot of rotation on the radio and mtv, but they received a lot of respect from the metal community as well from fans other genres, because of their diversity and creativity. I see what you mean with hip hop energy, it's also part of their DNA. They did a track with the Wu Tang Clan once. The band is from LA, but all the members are from armenian descent. That's why you can hear some middle eastern influences in their music. You're right. Their producer is Rick Rubin.

Yep Serg was stuck & couldn’t finish the song, when Ric Ruben reached out and said to him look up at my library and pick up any book on the shelf . He did , Serg picked the Bible & hence the ending of the song🎉❤

I heard it the same way you did, too! This is my favorite SotD song and you did it justice. Another great PodCast!

Serge Tankian said the song is basically saying, "How can you judge someone for committing suicide resulting from extreme violent abuse when Jesus himself gave up his life for eternal paradise

Hip Hop and metal are not that far off from each other in a lot of ways. I grew up listening to both and the longer you are in it the more similarities you start to see. I think that is why bands like Linkin Park and Falling In Reverse do well because they blend the two so seamlessly. Also the whispering part he did was repeating what he just said, he is doing his own backup vocals there. The abortion line still works, people still judge off the death of the person but they also judge the parents in this particular instance. Like you said great art can be interpreted many ways.

In case you weren’t aware, the singer Serj does a song with Tech 9, and the band has one with Wu tang.

Scream like someone steps on your Jordan's!that line cracks me up😂nice reaction

Music is very open to interpretation, and it was nice to see yours, I watch a lot of reactions, and you are the only one who had interpretation. When he sings, "Father into your hands, I commend my spirit," and Why have you forsaken me? " are the last words of Jesus on the cross, so yes, they are VERY powerful lyrics. I always loved heavy music, but I am like you on this song. Those melodies are so beautiful, they stand out the most for me.

I really hope to see more of system on your channel! I’m late to this but I hope you do more.

Thanks for reacting. Love your reactions

This is literally one of my favourite songs, ever. I love your reaction lol

This was such a great reaction 👍🏾👍🏾

Serj Tankian's singing voice is so beautiful and captivating. I love when he sings.

Your enthusiasm is contagious!! Thank you for sharing and shining!

Its about how we ignore mental health, think of the symptoms of depression and it all makes sense.

Based Pegasus!!! Let's go!!

I'm 45 and the last moshpit i entered kinda tore open my leg... but the the rest of the people picked me up, we had a ball and looking out for the next pit. Live life, you only have one!😅

They have some very melodic songs it's rock but it takes roots from their Armenian heritage the melodic sounds they add

Your facial expression when he sings why gave you forsaken me is so genuine.

Awesome reaction!! This song is fire!!

Rick Rubens explains how they made this song in his last Joe Rogan interview this interview is epic for the history of music He talks about this song and the beginning of HiP Hop because he was Part of it and much more It s really worth watching For all the music lovers Peace

Thank you man, great reaction

I love how every time you put a little higher the sound, more details appears. I mean, more instruments

Your reaction is interesting to someone like me who has spent much of my life learning how to treat people’s emotional trauma, especially given the small amount of your personal life that it prompted you to share. There is an old saying that we do not see things how they are, but rather we see things how we are. This poked a couple of tender spots for you. Thank you for being open enough to share it.

This song broke my music brain! When this came out I only listen to rock music and the way that they take the heavy and mix it with the melodic and the harmonies and the guitar riffs and the singing and the rapping!! This combined different types of music in one song for the first time that I had heard! To this day it's still one of the most mind-blowing songs!

When you mention it's Christmastime, you quote a bit of the song "Do You Hear What I Hear". The song has a veeerrrrry interesting, unexpected history (which you may or may not already know). BTW, some dude named Rob Dixon has a metal cover of Do You Hear What I Hear? (I didn't know this until a few minutes ago, but since we're in the metal neighborhood, I thought I'd check. Google and ye shall find) (of course, no one will ever read this comment. But that's fine by me)

My man, the mosh pit is a little rough but people look out for you. It's nothing but love out there.

Great take on a awesome song 1999 S.O.D. opened up Oz Fest Atlanta and they crushed it

A classic 💃🏼

Love this lol. I grew up on heavy music. It’s about suicide but you can’t have a hit song called suicide so they had to chop suicide. And honestly if you went to the right show you could participate in the mosh pit. It’s a lot more friendly than you think. People will pick you up if you fall etc. Also Attila is a great modern mix up of rapping and metal if you want to give one of their songs a try. You’d prob get a kick out of what he says in Callout. But you’ll need lyrics to understand some of it. It’s a lot heavier.

I love it when people who aren't usually into rock are able to enjoy and appreciate it! 😄This is a very moving song. I feel like System of a Down has a lot of emotion and passion in their music. I also tend toward bands that have feature social commentary in their music. System of a Down, The Offspring, and Bad Religion are some of my favorite bands of all time. Rock, metal, alternative, and punk are my mainly preferred genres of music, but other than that I like a little bit of everything. Also, I don't know the intended meaning behind the song, but their lyrics tend to feature a lot of social commentary, so your interpretation is quite possibly correct. And even if it isn't, we can all take our own meaning from the song. That's one of the many beautiful things about music, subjectivity. The artist can intend a specific meaning for a song, but the listener can take their own meaning from the song. If you enjoyed this, I'd love to see you react to more songs by this band, as well as other rock bands. Some songs I can particularly recommend from System of a Down include: Toxicity, Hypnotize, BYOB (which usually stands for "bring your own beer" but in this case stands for "bring your own bombs"), Aerials, Lonely Day, Violent Pornography, and Sugar. Note that this list is in no particular order, and they have many more great songs, these are just my personal favorites and are in general well regarded by fans. Serj Tankian, the main singer, also went solo after the band broke up, and my personal favorite song from his solo career is Empty Walls. Again, it's got a theme of social commentary, but is also just an awesome and compelling song. Sorry for the wall of text, I'm just very passionate about music. 😅

I was thinking it's about self Loathing. I like your interpretation of it. They're one of them bands that let's you perceive how you want it to be.

You're definitely far off on the meeting but I'm enjoying watching you try to get the answer that's the enjoyment of music😊

Father quote is from the bible. When Jesus was crucified right before he dies, Jesus cries out to the heavens before given up his spirit.

🤣 🤣 🤣 LMAO I Love this reaction!

You're right about feeling like it's about abortion too. If the songwriter says it's about being judged by how we die. Those babies are mourned by people who never even knew them, and the mother's are judged by people who never knew them. It applies.... that's the beauty in art it's how it touches you, and your heart heard the mourning, but it was for the unborn children yours mourned for.. anyway, art is wonderful and speaks to the heart. ❤

love this vid your eyes are open brother! these guys are from Iran i think the whole band too

It's all the pain and torment of suicide... in a song.

I like your interpretation very much. It makes complete sense and I would imagine that SOAD could appreciate your take. The beauty of great music written well.

I never thought about it the you did, but i can see how it fits

The info you found about the title, “Chop Suey”, being suicide chopped in half is ‘reportedly’ correct as well, as “the studio didn’t want to green light the song with that title”. This was on the heels of a peak time when artists, songs, and lyrics had been blamed for all kinds of crimes and other tragedies in society. In discussing changing the title, (allegedly) someone said something to the effect of chop it (suicide) in half, etc., to which someone else quipped, “chop sui (suey)”.

Well, actually that is a good interpretation even when the real meaning is different. Is like you said about how art hits different depending on each person.

The reason the forsaken part sounds so familiar is because it was Jesus' words to God just before he died. It's a contrast of Jesus' allowing himself to die and other people who commit suicide. Basically the song is about how we tend judge people who commit suicide, like death is tragic, but we tend to gloss over people who kill themselves, even though they had their own lives and struggles. The song brings attention to the fact that these "angels" are no less valuable. 🙂 **On the abortion thought, those angels are just as valuable too.** ***Made this comment before I watched the whole video and saw you had looked into it.***

Serj Tankian (the singer from this song) once said that the music doesn't come straight from the artist, but it comes from the universe and public consciousness (of the humanity?), which makes your interpretation not only valid, but also heavily related to the public consciousness I think. Though Daron (the guitarist and writer) has already said what the song means to him and what he kind of intended it to mean.

The ultimate goal of an artist is making the Viewer think and make up his own story! I write songs for a Rock&roll band and i always hate when they ask me if their "interpretation" is correct... No... Yes? Dunno how to answer that! Just.... Make it your Own!!! That would be a good compliment to me! It means whatever the fuck u want it to mean!!!

one of the things about Nu Metal is that it typically had Hip Hop vibes or elements

I think this was about the indirect suicide of Jesus on the cross when he said out loud "Father why have you forsaken me?". Jesus knew he was going to die long before he did. He could have escaped his destiny and ran away but he didn't, instead he allowed things to proceed when Jews, (specifically the Pharisees who were the bankers during his time), to convince the Romans to crucify him for claiming he was the son of God. "I cry when angles deserve to die". So indirectly Jesus committed suicide because he refused to run away from his own death.

Such a great song!!!

This song is about our depression 😢

My tajano brothers were way more in to hard rock than i was ever into anything. Love those guys, love you too.

subbed bro, dig what you do and your all around style and stance. hope to see you dive into more songs, you should check out gate 21 by the lead singer of this band, he sings opera and has performed on broadway, it's dope. cheers

i love SOAD, phenomenal band to see live too 😎🤘 Respect & Peace ☘

Between the video being copyright covered and you stopping it every 20 seconds I couldn't hang

Yeah Man at the 'biblical part' "Father in your hand, I commend my spirit...why have you forsaken me" they didn't know what the verse should be (writers block). So yes Rick Ruben told Serj (lead singer) to pull a book of his shelf, open it and what ever line your eyes see first insert it in the song.

Yo your interpretation fits perfectly anyway. Nothing wrong with that!

Instead of saying that it could be about abortion, why not ask what abortion is? Abortion is one example of the same existential question: “Why have you forsaken me?” This question is in a husband/wife argument, it is in a good preacher’s Sunday Sermon, it is in a rape victims pain, it is at a funeral, it is from the mouth of an atheist, it is from an unborn child, it is the center of our existence as humanity. Examples: audioslave: nail in my head, from my creator; ren: “all his music”; dax: dear god, and the list goes on. So this is from the cross: this is the center of human history and all time itself. Time is wrapped around this question. Time literally stands still when we truly ask this question. As a Christian, when I first heard this song, I knew that they didn’t know what the heck they were writing about(none of us know it all), BUT they were definitely tapping into some timeless depths with the lyrics.

You should react to some "Tool" or "A Perfect Circle" that'd be awesome.

Even though that's not what it's about, i find that to be a very interesting and plausible interpretation of the song and REALLY changes the meaning of a lot of things, but you can tell a very clear story with it.

Please do Toxcity video

Sorry to hear about your own babies. That must have been heartbreaking. 😢

Honestly right now is an amzing time because all the genres are all moving towards each other and are Uniting the woods to the hoods the streets to the sticks coast to coast proving we all struggle we all fight and now its time we unite the American tribe and rise up as #ONEPEOPLE.

I thought that the whole song was totally biblical. It's like angels want to be mortal, against the will of their father, the God. So they chop off their wings and cry, because living is harder than they expected. No wings - need a car, need make-up to look human and hide the scars .. but - "you wanted to" - they think to themselves.

It’s progressive metal 🤘🏻 ❤️🔥🔥🔥

Rick Rubin produced that song btw look into the documentry about it that will blow your mind - trust

Something far less serious that you might enjoy is the band Green Jelly, 3 little pigs or Cereal Killer are my favorites for them. 3 little pigs video is claymation!

Yes..... 🖤

I'm amazed to find no comments about the part that interested you the most. Jesus crying from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is most certainly related.

Omgggg yesss!!! YOU HAVEEEE TO REACT TO METALLICA LIVE VERSIONS & LINKIN PARK LIVE VERSIONS!!!! Omggggg whole new world of nirvana waiting for you!!! 🔥🔥🔥 🎸 🥁 Guns & Roses, led zeppelin and aerosmith of course!!! 🔥👑❤️‍🔥🧨🫡 LEGENDS!

Love this reaction, I'd love to see you react to Motley Crue,kickstart my heart. Or Live Wire..or...😊

The song is about the stigma and shame associated with suicide, hence "hide the scars to fit in with the shake up" (Hiding a failed suicide attempt to fit in with their peers) and that's also why they use the line "trust in my self-righteous suicide" to infer that the person wanting to attempt suicide feels they are right to do so, also the line that stuck with you "father into your hands I commend my spirit" and the following lines about being forsaken are about the religious taboo of suicide and the teachings that suicide is sinful and will result in the spirit being damned into hell. It's a powerful song and way ahead of it's time in trying to do the same thing you see in some of Ren's songs and remove the shame of suicide and trying to make it easier for those suffering with suicidal thoughts to talk about it and get the support they need to move past the impossible feeling times in life. Great reaction and I love seeing people branching off into genres they wouldn't typically listen to. If you enjoy system of a down then try listening to Serj Tankian's solo work such as Empty walls and Scars on Broadway's They say to hear Damian Malakian's (back up vocalist) other band where he does the lead vocals.

They worked with Tech 9 too man, called Straight Out The Gate

It's funny that you say you are a hip hop head but you liked this, because when this came out hip hop heads loved this song. When I was in HS and this came out hip hop heads jammed to this, down with the sickness by disturbed and freak on a leash by korn. Some rock jams just cross all boundaries and cultures. This may have been said but the song is about suicide with some religious references to Jesus on the cross (Jesus dying for peoples sins being a self righteous suicide and him questioning God forsaking him on the cross). System as a band touches on all kinds of topics from religion to consumerism to the prison system in America. Unfortunately they have been split for awhile and it doesn't seem bridges between certain members will be mended anytime soon. They do on occasion preform as a band but no new albums. Also, the leader singer serj is ridiculously talented vocally and does crazy different things that you may wanna dive into different things from him.

I always connect this song with the movie Constantine where Keanu Reeves committed suicide in an attempt to save humanity. The movie ends with God sentenceing an angel to death for it's part in the plot.

The part where he sings "father in my hands, I commend my spirit" I read that they wanted a bible verse in the song so they literally did the close your eyes and point thing to get that line lol

System of the down has me dead 😂 💀

Rick rubin also produced the legendary thrash masterpiece reign in blood from Slayer!rock on

system has collaborated with cyprus hill, might want to check that out.

Violent Femmes "Blister in The Sun," folk punk for ya.

That line is from the Bible. He couldn’t think of what he wanted there, and grabbed The Book from the shelf and it’s the first line he saw. And it was perfect

The tattoo looking thing on Daron (Guitarist) is just drawn on. Because they're quirky like that

SOAD lyrics are really deep and the change in tonality is often to represent a change in emotion. I recommend listening to B.Y.O.B

System of a down are amazing artist. Spiders is my favorite song also Deer Dance and Question!

Father father, your hands, I commend my spirit. Why forsaken me why have you forsaken me “Jesus Christ on the cross”

This song has nothing to do with this, but for me, this song has always made me think of 9/11. It came out about a month before it happened. I was a rocker and loved this song but I could never separate the two. If you see the lyrics from the perspective of the highjackers, it's a self-righteous suicide indeed. Angels deserving to die were the innocent people on the planes, in the towers, that passed in all the aftermath... they did it for religious beliefs which is what I think of with the whole Father into your hands part of the song. And of course we (people) will forsake them for what they did. Even though the song came out before the tragedy, it will always be about 9/11 to me.

5:27 he whispers "hide the scars to fade away the shake up"

It's about suicide. They called the song suicide but the record company said no so they called it chop suey

You would be fine in a mosh pit, btw. They look violent, can be sometimes, the main thing is letting out that pent-up energy. The crazy shit that causes people to actually hurt others. Well, that's what I was taught. Rock shows are honestly more loving than people give them credit for. Every time someone falls, there's 2 or more that will help you up! I fall every time, it's all good, all about the music and being safe! And not every rock band can create a mosh pit...

Second comment to say, Rick Rubin has actually commented on the writing of this song, apparently the band were struggling to find the lyrics to finish the song out, and he apparently told one of the band members to turn to a random page in a book, and the lines father, why have you...were taken almost straight out of the line that surjs finger landed on in the book

Hey BP Serj(the lead singer) has a song with your boy Tech N9ne

when you started singing as if you were a dying baby it beyond broke my heart.

They titled the song "Suicide" but the label would'nt allow it. So the first half of suicide would be sui (sounds like suey) the title was chopped in half so "Chop Suey", which is why Serj is ironically eating Chop Suey in the video to make fun of his label's concerns. Don't take my word for it, you can find interviews where the band talks about the name and the meaning. A lot of the comments were obvious trolls.

Your abortion take on this is really interesting and deep. I can totally see how you interpret it this way on a first listen. Music is always open to interpretation.

(26:40) Chop Sui_cide, therefore Chop Suey