Oh, man, I just love your reaction. I remember being 16-17 when this album came out and just being blown away. As for the lyrics, the way the band explained it, it was about suicide and how people are diferently judged by the way they die. For instance, if you die by suicide or from a drug overdose you will be judged rather harshly, as are your loved ones. This is where the "angels deserve to die" bit fits in beautifuly for me. If we are all Gods children, loved and cherished by Him, then why do some of us deserve to die? The "wake up, grab a brush and put a little make up, hide the scars to fade away the shake up" part, for me is just puting on a mask for the public and hiding your pain. Why'd you leave the keys upon the table tells us the person has made his or hers chice, and is ready to die. You would not take your keys, cellphone or things like that if you are going to kill yourself. The last part, "Father into your hands i comend my spirit, why have you forsaken me...." are Jesus's last words on the cross, or an elaboration on them, and to me show the desperation of the person. They are in a lot of pain and feel forsaken by God so they make their peace with death and leave it all in His hands. Anyway, sorry for the TL-DR rant, and I really hope you rect to their song Toxicity. You will hear some amazing druming by John Dolmayan in that song.
Interesting analysis. I kinda got the "morning routine" bit but just missed the part about "putting on the mask" and totally missed anything relating to someone who contemplates suicide. Thanks for info.
@@CriticalReactions Also, the original name of the song was Suicide, but the label took issue with it hence they did name change to Chop Suey and they put the song on the record anyway.
Great analysts but I have to add the part of Self righteous suicide refers to Jesus coming down from heaven to die. It was a self righteous suicide. He had to die for our sins so I cry when Angels deserve to die. With all that when humans commit suicide it's considered a sin expect for his.
That's because none of you watched the video Rick Beato made about this song on his "What Makes This Song Great" series. There are a lot of things in this song that most people don't even suspect are there. : )
“You never heard the same thing twice” One of the most important aspects of songwriting is to make the audience feel like this is new. It’s why writing verse chorus songs well can be such a difficult prospect sometimes. Because once you’ve heard the chorus once, what are you going to do to make it few new next time? It makes initial simplicity a good plan, because you can always layer and add to an initial empty space. Planning empty space might be one of the most important parts of arranging
That’s odd, it always hit me in the finale… that part mignt be one of the most powerful piece I’ve ever listened to. Those harmonies, dude, they go right through me.
Right. System of a down were really big. They won a grammy and MTV Music Awards, and sold platinum albums. And it feels a bit strange. It's not that they tried hard to fit into mainstream. 😅 I remember when they showed up at the MTV European Music Awards 2005 and it was unreal. There were all these Popstars like Pussycat Dolls or Kanye West, saying how much they love System of a down, and that they deserve most to win an award. At the end SOAD did the closing performance. Remembering Daron Malakian (guitars, background vocals) making fun of himself, being in GQ Magazine. 😅 They even made collaborations with P Diddy, Lil' Kim, Wu Tang Clan for B-sides.
Wow, that's just insane. I mean, they get grouped into Hard Rock but started out as Nu Metal and neither of those genres are stuff you would expect to see at MTV Music Awars -- like you said, next to Pussycat Dolls and Kanye. I knew they were big in the rock world but didn't really know just how large their popularity was. Thanks for all of that info!
I can't understand why anyone would downrate this. I'm a musician myself and this is without a doubt the best reaction to this video. Not only was it engaging and thoughtful, but it was thought provoking and I walked away with new concepts and views to mull over. Thats exactly what this is for. Great job, new sub.
This reaction is killer. I love the moment when you say, "I have no idea what's going on here." SOAD is such an intensely creative band that I don't think sounds like anything else. Their rapid shifts in tempo, style, and feeling just blow me away. I think you either can recognize the genius or really hate it. For me, it's brilliant and even comedic sometimes because of the tonal shifts. Of course, a lot of their stuff is very political if you listen to other songs, so it's pretty serious stuff.
System actually started around the 90's and these guys were actually in their early 30' when they started playing in the garage before hitting it mainstream
@Aryan Mia92 "Toxicity" is the album that changed my life at 14 when it came out in 2001 and it's my favorite album of all time. That being said (and to your point), "Jet Pilot" is my least favorite song on the album, but it's still more interesting to listen to than most rock/metal songs then and today, 18+ years later. This is why SOAD have been my favorite band for almost 20 years, despite not having released a new album in almost 15 years -- the originality of their work makes it feel timeless.
I'm so glad you talked about them killing the momentum because I laughed and then had a moment to think and realized SOAD is a band with really really high acceleration. I realized that to a degree but that thought is probably going to change how I appreciate them when I listen in the future. One of my favorite bands and you just gave me a fun new way to enjoy them. Have a sub.
This is a classic for fans of every genre during it's hayday. Rap fans, pop fans, classic rock fans, and metal fans all loved this song. It was fun to relive my youth. Thanks!
Watched all of your SOAD reactions today, really enjoy your breakdowns from an elevated musical perspective. System fucking rocks, solidly 90%+ of their music I'm a fan of - which is unheard of for any given artist! Need more of these reactions!! 👌👍
I'm pretty sure every single one of their songs have been requested, which says a lot to me about their consistency. For most bands I'll see a lot of requests for the same handful of popular songs but I have at least 30 unique requests for SOAD so far. I have no idea how I'll get around to all of them without dedicated an entire month or two to this band 😂
Wake up Grab a brush and put a little (makeup) Grab a brush and put a little Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup) Hide the scars to fade away the 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 Why'd you leave the keys upon the table? You wanted to I don't think you trust In, my, self righteous suicide I, cry, when angels deserve to die, die Wake up Grab a brush and put a little (makeup) Grab a brush and put a little Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup) Hide the scars to fade away the 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 Why'd you leave the keys upon the table? You wanted to 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 Father, father, father, father Father into your hands, I commend my spirit Father into your hands why have you forsaken me In your eyes forsaken me In your thoughts forsaken me In your heart forsaken, me oh 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
I think the song is about domestic abuse leading to suicide. There are two characters in the lyrics. The abusive husband is doing the angry verses, shaking his wife awake and telling her to put on her make-up to "hide away the shake-up" (bruises from beatings) and so on. The mellow parts are from the perspective of the victim.
I know this is an old video, but I appreciate you checking them out! To me, they are like RATM, Ra, and Mr. Bungle thrown into a blender with 4 shots of espresso.
You should definitely react to more System of a Down, they have so much backlog you won't run out. I also would like to hear your reaction to Serj Tankarian's solo stuff (lead singer).
Holy mountains by SOAD is really great and I think you would appreciate, dealing with the band members' Armenian heritage. And if you want to go into heavier death metal, flesh and the power it holds by death is a great track by the godfathers of death metal
I like the piece in the middle-ish where they just go fast as hell. Just SOAD showing their heaviness off lol. Great tune start to finish, deep lyrics. Insightful review!
I am a musician myself, i though never think as you do musically, i dont focus as much on every note i usually just listen to the feeling every note/part gives.
The lyrics just feel like the desperation of everyday life ("wake up, grab a brush etc.") leading to suicidal thoughts. Some of them more abstract, following a loose train of thought expressing a general feeling of distress ("I cry when angels deserve to die"), others more direct ("Father, why have you forsaken me"). And the chorus feels like the "protagonist" is frustrated by the people around them, who quite obviously do not approve/understand his thoughts ("I don't think you trust in my self righteous suicide"). So yeah while the lyrics are chaotic it also feels genuine, considering this whirlwind of self-destructive thoughts that probably characterize self-harming behaviour.
1:42 I love the fact that you ramble just like I do. I like the free-form style because it's more genuine and we end up relating to you. Overly-edited vids come across as being corporation-driven.
There are strings, and there's piano in it. The lead singer does also the keyboards. They also use sitars sometimes. You should react to System of a down - Toxicity. Would be nice If you do more of these. There are many RU-vidrs reacting to System of a down, but not so many analyzing them musically.
Man i love your breakdown, i would love to see what you think of Fair to Midland, they were on Serg Tankian, System of a Downs Singer's Label. Try their Tracks Dance of the Manatee, Musical Chairs, Copper Plate Island, Riki Tiki Tavi
This level of intricacy is precisely why I take issue with some people labeling this band's sound as "nu metal". Granted, it's a minority that does it and most people rightfully label it as alternative metal, but it still sounds like selling the song short.
Earliest I e hewed to pick up the piano, congrats. The change ups and vocals in this are totally unique for the mainstream. The Armenian aspect comes in heavy
I keep watching reactions to this song and I've finally heard somebody who comes close to something I say (which people tend to be violently negative toward). More or less there's a lot going on here. In such a way where it's hard to follow at first and (this is the part that people hate) thanks to that it's a bit surprising that it was ever popular as a song on the radio despite how amazing it is. Radio songs are generally straightforward. This is not straightforward at all. There's so much going on that it's a little inaccessible at first, yet somehow it was still popular.
the tremolo was in the first chorus (I had to check haha). I think it's a credit to the song that you don't necess notice though. you're too busy noticing how much that "momentum" drops off in the chorus. 🤟🤟👍👍
The best explanation lyrically was done by Vin and Sori (another RU-vid reactors), their shtick is “Christians react to metal and rock”. Their knowledge of scripture really opened this song up for me. Highly recommend to check them out for this song specifically. Great reaction! I never picked up on a piano, was quite a revelation
Loving your reactions, especially Jinjer and SOAD. See you love the bass, react to their hit "Aerials". Amazing piece of music with a prominient bass line.
i can remember the first live performances ... there they screwed everything up there was no harmony and nothing was right, over time it got better - especially the interaction between the two singers ^^
Dude you absolutely need to hear Shadows of Intent - Melancholy. This is a weird mix of Classic and Metal but this guys bring it together like bread and butter
If we analyze the Title "Chosuey" if we know the dish itself, it is a mixture of vegetables, meat, seafood especially squid and shrimp and species, and sometimes fishball is put in there and cornstarch as stew thickener. The song's transition in melodies and the lyrics are all mixed up.
The original name of the song was 'suicide' but was forced to be changed. When serj sings 'self-righteous suicide' it sounds fairly like 'self-rightchopsueyside'
Probably. It all about time at this point. There are so many requests coming through and as much as I want to revisit bands there are tons of new ones to listen to as well.
Yeah, that's all taken care of. This was very early in my youtube journey and I was making all sort of mistakes regarding audio and video. Thanks though.
Saw SOAD live just after this album dropped, a few months before being deployed to Iraq. Amazing live! They are excellent. Look for more from them brother
I've only heard Bleed and it wasn't my cup of tea so I never pursued anymore music from them. I guess this is a perfect time to give them a second shot. Clockworks is now on my to-react list.
@@CriticalReactions It is polyrhythmic, so a lot of people are fascinated by its complexity and how it "matches without matching." It's the closest I get to jazz, although from my understanding this is composed with much effort. I think the music is clearly designed to draw the listener in and be slightly overwhelmed and carried along, for the music to be observed as a whole, if that makes sense. It is possible to hear two different songs on two different listens of the same song if you focus on different instruments and rhythms. On a side note, I've yet to see anyone react to electronic music despite some sub-genres being rather beautifully layered. There are many great songs to react to and I appreciate your particular angle of analysis, so I settled on a suggestion that might be particularly worthy of a compositional breakdown.
This ages me by quite a bit but back in my 20s I was fascinated with Mudvayne. I'd love to see your reaction to death blooms but the commercially made video chops the song up and censors the crap out of it. So if you ever do a reaction, maybe just do the song, not the video. Love your reactions!
It's called Chop Suey because of all the different mash-up sounds you hear, they display all types of musical tones, beats, etc. They've been one of my most favourite bands for nearly 20 years.
Dude, you kept rambling about only the guitars and tremolos and shit while the real thing was both singers singing their hearts out. To me you really missed the core of the track while listening by trying to analyze it. SoaD is meant to be FELT. Also, what you called "killing the momentum" is totally essential to SoaD - switching from fast & hard & in your face to very melancholic and melodic and then back and all over again.
I have no way of putting this nicely, but I will try. Can you maybe perk up a bit? It just seems like your always- iffy about everything. I’m serious, no offence, I’m sorry if I’m being offencticve, but I’m just asking. Edit: what’s nice about you is you don’t pause the video, or interrupt it with loud talking.
