Cupid's Chokehold
Encyclopedia
Cupid's Chokehold is a single performed by Gym Class Heroes
, featuring Patrick Stump
of Fall Out Boy
. The song relies heavily on the music, chorus and famous spoken "ba ba da da" line from Supertramp
's hit song "Breakfast in America
". It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
, #4 on the Billboard Pop 100
, #3 on the UK Singles Chart
, and #3 on the Canadian Hot 100
. It was first released in 2005 on The Papercut Chronicles
, and re-recorded for their album As Cruel as School Children
(which was re-released on November 4, 2006 with "Cupid's Chokehold" as an additional track). There are two music videos for this song, one for each version. The second version includes female backing vocals which are not included in version one. The second version of the video does contain the backing vocals of the first video. However, the female voice is integrated into the chorus behind Patrick Stump's vocals. The song has been featured on Discover and Download and Total Request Live
.
Several versions were produced. The most common one features slow tempo and female backing vocals while the other one has a quicker tempo and Patrick Stump does backing vocals, along with Ookla the Mok's Rand Bellavia.
The song won an ASCAP award on April 9, 2008 for being one of the most played songs in ASCAPs repertory from the 4th Quarter 2006 through the 4th Quarter 2007.
As of September 2011, the song has sold 1,936,000 digital downloads
in the United States, making it the band's highest-selling hit.
Travis McCoy working at a toy factory. While working, he stumbles upon a "prototype toy" which turns out to be a life-size doll. The doll acts as McCoy's girlfriend in the video and fulfills his every wish.
However, she eventually becomes tired of being exploited and expresses this in a humorous scene where the two are playing Scrabble
(she spells out the words 'krush', 'kill', and 'destroy'). The doll then begins to malfunction, and McCoy has no choice but to destroy her. He pushes her off a bridge, and she appears to be dead. At the end of the video, she is awakened by Patrick Stump
, who also appears to be a robot. The two fall in love and walk down the road together.
and VH1
play this version instead of the original, and because the original does not appear on iTunes. The video begins with a dancing Cupid
, played by a young Princeton of Mindless Behavior
, who shoots McCoy with a love arrow as he passes a girl. Patrick Stump
can be seen watching from behind a newspaper as this happens. The two are madly in love at first, but as the video moves forward, the two begin fighting, and their relationship meets its end when McCoy's girlfriend walks in on him and his friends gambling. Cupid tries a second time to get McCoy into a relationship. This time, McCoy's girlfriend is more romantically involved with McCoy, but she becomes increasingly angry when he invites his friends to a party her parents are hosting. The relationship ends when McCoy comes home to find his girlfriend on top of a masked man in a compromising position. He proceeds to beat up the guy. McCoy's final relationship is with one of his fans in the audience at one of the band's performances (played by McCoy's then-girlfriend, Katy Perry
). Initially, she went up to him when they were at a bar. This time the relationship works out, and Cupid does not have to shoot McCoy with an arrow even though he attempts to at first. However, Cupid himself gets shot with an arrow by a female Cupid, and the video closes with the two of them dancing together with McCoy & Perry watching from in front. (Cupid also dances several times before the ending). Musically, this version has the word Girlfriend repeated constantly in the background not found in other versions of the song exclusive to the video.
In this version of the music video
, when McCoy and his friends are interrupting his girlfriend's party, McCoy raps a small part of "Wejusfreestylin Pt. 2" from The Papercut Chronicles
.
Gym Class Heroes
Gym Class Heroes is an American hip hop rock band from Geneva, New York. They have collaborated with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on numerous occasions, notably for providing backing vocals on the song "Cupid's Chokehold." Stump also produced the majority of their album The Quilt.The group formed...
, featuring Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump
Patrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
of Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008...
. The song relies heavily on the music, chorus and famous spoken "ba ba da da" line from Supertramp
Supertramp
Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
's hit song "Breakfast in America
Breakfast in America (song)
"Breakfast in America" is the title track from Supertramp's 1979 album Breakfast in America. The song was a minor hit on the singles charts in the US but is a staple of classic rock radio. The song's lyrics tell about a person who has never been to America...
". It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, #4 on the Billboard Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
, #3 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and #3 on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
. It was first released in 2005 on The Papercut Chronicles
The Papercut Chronicles
The Papercut Chronicles is the second album by Gym Class Heroes released in 2005 by Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance. A sequel, The Papercut Chronicles II, was released in 2011.- Track listing :# "Za Intro" – 1:40# "Papercuts" – 3:26...
, and re-recorded for their album As Cruel as School Children
As Cruel as School Children
As Cruel as School Children is the third Gym Class Heroes album released by Fueled by Ramen. It was released on July 25, 2006. It was produced by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump...
(which was re-released on November 4, 2006 with "Cupid's Chokehold" as an additional track). There are two music videos for this song, one for each version. The second version includes female backing vocals which are not included in version one. The second version of the video does contain the backing vocals of the first video. However, the female voice is integrated into the chorus behind Patrick Stump's vocals. The song has been featured on Discover and Download and Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
.
Several versions were produced. The most common one features slow tempo and female backing vocals while the other one has a quicker tempo and Patrick Stump does backing vocals, along with Ookla the Mok's Rand Bellavia.
The song won an ASCAP award on April 9, 2008 for being one of the most played songs in ASCAPs repertory from the 4th Quarter 2006 through the 4th Quarter 2007.
As of September 2011, the song has sold 1,936,000 digital downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
in the United States, making it the band's highest-selling hit.
Chart positions
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|
The Papercut Chronicles version
The first version of the "Cupid's Chokehold" video directed by Andrew Paul Bowser for the album The Papercut Chronicles features MCMaster of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
Travis McCoy working at a toy factory. While working, he stumbles upon a "prototype toy" which turns out to be a life-size doll. The doll acts as McCoy's girlfriend in the video and fulfills his every wish.
However, she eventually becomes tired of being exploited and expresses this in a humorous scene where the two are playing Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
(she spells out the words 'krush', 'kill', and 'destroy'). The doll then begins to malfunction, and McCoy has no choice but to destroy her. He pushes her off a bridge, and she appears to be dead. At the end of the video, she is awakened by Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump
Patrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
, who also appears to be a robot. The two fall in love and walk down the road together.
As Cruel as School Children version
The second version of the "Cupid's Chokehold" is the official video directed by Alan Ferguson for the album As Cruel as School Children and is a more literal interpretation of the lyrics of the song. The second version is more widely recognized because music networks such as MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
play this version instead of the original, and because the original does not appear on iTunes. The video begins with a dancing Cupid
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
, played by a young Princeton of Mindless Behavior
Mindless Behavior
Mindless Behavior is an American boy band, best known for the singles "My Girl" and "Mrs. Right", produced by Walter Millsap. The band was put together in Los Angeles in 2008, by Keisha Gamble, Walter Millsap and Vincent Herbert , and the band trained in dance and singing for two years before...
, who shoots McCoy with a love arrow as he passes a girl. Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump
Patrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
can be seen watching from behind a newspaper as this happens. The two are madly in love at first, but as the video moves forward, the two begin fighting, and their relationship meets its end when McCoy's girlfriend walks in on him and his friends gambling. Cupid tries a second time to get McCoy into a relationship. This time, McCoy's girlfriend is more romantically involved with McCoy, but she becomes increasingly angry when he invites his friends to a party her parents are hosting. The relationship ends when McCoy comes home to find his girlfriend on top of a masked man in a compromising position. He proceeds to beat up the guy. McCoy's final relationship is with one of his fans in the audience at one of the band's performances (played by McCoy's then-girlfriend, Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
). Initially, she went up to him when they were at a bar. This time the relationship works out, and Cupid does not have to shoot McCoy with an arrow even though he attempts to at first. However, Cupid himself gets shot with an arrow by a female Cupid, and the video closes with the two of them dancing together with McCoy & Perry watching from in front. (Cupid also dances several times before the ending). Musically, this version has the word Girlfriend repeated constantly in the background not found in other versions of the song exclusive to the video.
In this version of the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, when McCoy and his friends are interrupting his girlfriend's party, McCoy raps a small part of "Wejusfreestylin Pt. 2" from The Papercut Chronicles
The Papercut Chronicles
The Papercut Chronicles is the second album by Gym Class Heroes released in 2005 by Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance. A sequel, The Papercut Chronicles II, was released in 2011.- Track listing :# "Za Intro" – 1:40# "Papercuts" – 3:26...
.
Release history
| Format | Release date |
|---|---|
| North America (original release) | March 2005 |
| North America (re-release) | November 7, 2006 |
| United Kingdom | May 7, 2007 |