“ ‘Self-righteous suicide’, ‘Aerials in the sky’, Jet Pilot.’ I was, like, ‘Wow, that’s cool they think that.
“Our fans were starting to say, ‘Hey, these guys are prophets, they’re saying things that hadn’t happened yet,’” says Malakian. Frontman Serg Tankian’s energy on the verses comes out in righteous anger before slowing down to the half-time lines that would ignite the controversy. The song begins with an iconic, driving chord progression before the rapid-fire chaos of the verses unfolds. As bold a move as it was to release this as a single, it solidified the group’s breakout hit. “Chop Suey!” comes from the band’s second album, Toxicity. I just started playing that acoustic guitar, and that’s when I started writing Chop Suey!” The Controversy “There was an acoustic guitar I used to take around with me. “I was just hanging out by myself on a bed at the back,” said Malakian. Guitarist Daron Malakian always had an acoustic guitar on-hand and picked it up to entertain himself on the long drive on some random, unnamed highway.
The song was born in the back of an RV between stop-offs on the tour for System’s debut album. Despite the busyness of the song, the way it came into being was actually quite… calm. The driving strums of the guitar and frontman Serj Tankian’s rapid-fire verses make for an overstimulating experience that takes a second for the brain to catch up. “Chop Suey!” is very busy both lyrically and musically. How did such a strange song make so many waves? The calm before the storm: the making of the song. Take that and turn it up to 11 with System of a Down’s “ Chop Suey!” Released just a month before the 9/11 attack, the strangely named song incited controversy, fueling a rumor that the group were psychics and prophets. From Big Mama Thornton to AC/DC, rock music offers the grit and intensity to say something bold. Rock music has always been about making a statement.
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