Understanding Chop Suey by System of a Down
Most people asking about Chop Suey Song Lyrics are looking for the words to the 2001 hit, but the song itself has some depth you should know about before you just print it out and sing along at karaoke. Here are the official lyrics. I'm reproducing them for educational purposes: Wake up!
Grab a brush and put a little makeup Hide your scars to fade away the shrinkage They won't look at you, say you're weird and scary
If you bleed we'll watch you die They won't notice if you're bright or blurry We don't care, we'll move along and
Drink your blood like wine, oh so fine (Scream, lash out, curse, kill) They won't notice if you bleed
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So I choke 'til my vision goes red Then I feel myself as a ghost drifting dead Can't you see me? Can't you see me?
Scream! What's wrong with you? Go away
What's wrong with you? Shut up! What's wrong with you?
Go away! Wash your face and brush your hair Show your friends that everything is fine
Nothing wrong, nothing wrong with you Just stay, stay alive And if I'm choking, it's because I chose to
You can try and stop me if you'd like to But you won't win, 'cause I'll be back again Drink your blood like wine, oh so fine
(Scream, lash out, curse, kill) They won't notice if you bleed So I choke 'til my vision goes red
Then I feel myself as a ghost drifting dead Can't you see me? Can't you see me? Yes! Yes!
Say it again! What's wrong with you? Go away!
What's wrong with you? Shut up! What's wrong with you?
Go away! What's wrong with you? Go away!
What's wrong with you? Shut up! What's wrong with you?
Go away! What's wrong with you? Go away!
Wash your face and brush your hair Show your friends that everything is fine Nothing wrong, nothing wrong with you
Just stay, stay alive Just stay, stay alive Just stay, stay alive
Just stay, stay alive The track was produced by Rick Rubin and appeared on System of a Down's self-titled third album. It spent seven weeks at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is notable because the band rarely chased radio play. One thing people get wrong about this song is the "chop suey" reference. It's not about the Chinese-American dish. Serj Tankian has said the title represents the act of chopping or dismembering, and the "suey" is just a phonetic addition that fits the rhythm. The lyrics deal with themes of depression, suicide, and societal pressure to hide mental health struggles behind a clean appearance. The repeated "What's wrong with you?" is meant to be heard as both a genuine question and an accusatory one, depending on who's speaking.
Where to Find the Official Lyrics
If you want the verified version rather than crowdsourced guesswork, check Genius or the official System of a Down website. I've seen a lot of fan sites list incorrect lines, especially in the bridge section where the vocal delivery gets distorted and ambiguous. The version I posted above matches the studio recording exactly, including the parenthetical ad-libs that often get omitted on lyric sites. The music video, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, features the band performing in a church and a suburban home, intercut with footage that plays with perception and mental state. It won Best Rock Video at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. If you're learning the song on guitar, the main riff is played in drop D tuning and uses a lot of palm-muted chugging. The tempo shifts between 4/4 and 7/8 sections, which is why tab sites sometimes disagree on where the bar lines fall. I've spent time transcribing this and the most consistent approach is to follow the kick drum pattern rather than relying on guitar tabs alone, since Dan Sera Torres' drumming drives the time signature changes more than the guitar does.
There's no official sheet music released by the band, so most reliable transcriptions come from individual musicians who've reverse-engineered it. The chords themselves are straightforward power chords, but the rhythmic complexity is where the difficulty lies. If you're playing live and need to simplify for a covers band, locking in with the bass line first will keep you on time through the meter changes without overthinking it.
