System of a Down (also referred to as SOAD or System) is a four-piece Grammy-award winning experimental rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California. All four members are Armenian-Americans, grandsons of Armenian Genocide survivors, and are widely known for their outspoken views found in many of their songs.

"Chop Suey!" is the first single from System of a Down's second album Toxicity. The single was released in August 2001. The song's working title was "Suicide"; the band members claim the change was not caused by pressure from their record company. The words "We're rolling 'Suicide.'" can still be heard faintly in the album versions's opening seconds. (This is cut in the music video for the song; it fades in during the guitar intro.) This intro is only on certain pressings of the album.

The album it appears on, Toxicity, was #1 on the charts during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the controversy surrounding the popular single at the time led to Clear Channel Radio placing the song on a list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles. It was never actually banned completely from the air, but all Clear Channel Radio stations were advised against playing "Chop Suey!" (and the other songs on this list).

The song has been parodied and covered several times. Tenacious D, in several of their live shows, performed a gibberish version of the song and then suggested that the lyrics sound deep but mean nothing. "Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in his "Angry White Boy Polka" medley, included on his album Poodle Hat. Avril Lavigne covered the song, in a parodic way, during one of her concerts -- the 'cover' was described as "Choplicated." Richard Cheese parodied the song in his 2002 album Tuxicity (which itself is a take-off on the album's name). ApologetiX parodied the song as "Downer of a Sister" on their album "Adam Up." Parokya ni Edgar also parodied this song, along with Toxicity, another of System of a Down's songs, and amalgamated it as "The Ordertaker" in their new album "Halina sa Parokya". It is about an angry customer at a restaurant that sells nothing. The newest example can be seen (and heard) on YouTube, where a versatile polish performer Lubay or has published newly his own interpretation of the song .

Many interpretations of the lyrics exist, however the song is about how people are wrongly regarded differently depending on how they die. The song also appears to be influenced by the case of Kurt Cobain, as reflected in another SOAD song called "The Ballad of Kurt Cobain" that was sometimes played in live performances. Chop Suey! also hearkens back to a famous picture of Kurt Cobain performing during the In Utero tour with a stage prop behind him making him look as though he had an angel's "wings." In an interview, Daron Malakian is claimed to have said: "The song is about how when people die, they will be regarded differently depending on the way they pass. 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'."

In the lyrics, there are references made on the last words pronounced by Jesus of Nazareth before his death on the cross. Both Gospel of Luke (“Father into your hands I commend my spirit”) and the synoptic gospels (“Why have you forsaken me?”) are referenced.

The video, directed by the acclaimed Marcos Siega, contains footage from two live concerts, in which all of the band members except Serj are shirtless. Editing devices are used to create the effect of the band members "walking through" one another and teleporting on and off the stage. One scene briefly shows Serj eating chop suey with some fans, the only reference to the title dish in either the song or the video. The video also makes use of the SnorriCam technique, in which an actor will have a camera attached to them with a harness. This technique makes it as though the background is moving and the actor is stationary.

The track also earned the band its first Grammy nomination, which they didn't win until B.Y.O.B.

http://www.systemofadown.com/