"Cupid's Chokehold"
Single by Gym Class Heroes featuring Patrick Stump
from the album The Papercut Chronicles and As Cruel as School Children
ReleasedMarch 2005
Length
  • 4:03 (The Papercut Chronicles version)
  • 3:58 (As Cruel as School Children version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)S*A*M
Gym Class Heroes singles chronology
"Papercuts"
(2005)		 "Cupid's Chokehold"
(2005)		 "The Queen and I"
(2006)
Gym Class Heroes singles chronology
"New Friend Request"
(2006)		 "Cupid's Chokehold"
(2006)		 "Shoot Down the Stars"
(2007)

"Cupid's Chokehold" is a song by American rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, featuring the vocals of Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. The song relies heavily on the music and chorus from Supertramp's hit song "Breakfast in America" written by Roger Hodgson. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 radio chart, number three on the UK Singles Chart, and number three 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 a slow tempo and female backing vocals while the other one has a quicker tempo and Patrick Stump doing backing vocals, along with Rand Bellavia (of Ookla the Mok). The song won an ASCAP award on April 9, 2008, for being one of the most-played songs in the ASCAPs repertory from the end of 2006 through the end of 2007. As of September 2011, the song has sold 1,936,000 digital downloads.[1]

Composition

Drummer Matt McGinley said,

That song was kind of an accident that it even happened. We wrote it in our old bass player's bedroom one afternoon, and it was really unintentional. We were just going to rehearse for our show. We didn't sit down and say, "Okay, let's write a song." That song just sort of happened. Our friend Sie One had the Supertramp Breakfast in America record. And so he put that on and he would play that line, "Take a look at my girlfriend, she's the only one I got." Then drop it, and we would try to keep playing. So we sort of wrote our own verses and our own bridge and stuff, and every time the chorus would come around we would just drop that as the chorus. So that song happened really, really quickly. And then we went and recorded it for under $300 in probably 3 or 4 hours.[2]

Music videos

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 MC Travie 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.

As Cruel as School Children version

The second version of "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 MTV 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 (portrayed by Princetón), who shoots McCoy with a love arrow as he passes a girl, portrayed by actress and singer Porscha Coleman. 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 is prepared 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). 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.

In the UK, some music channels had a re-edited version of the video with the party scene cut to a minimum (The party scene ends with the girlfriend closing the door). [3]

Musically, this version has the word Girlfriend repeated constantly in the background not found in other versions of the song exclusive to the video.

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[41] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Format Release date
North America (original release) March 2005
North America (re-release) December 19, 2006
France April 30, 2007
United Kingdom April 2, 2007

References

  1. ↑ "Yahoo Music".
  2. ↑ MacIntosh, Dan (August 11, 2011). "Gym Class Heroes : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  3. ↑ "GYM CLASS HEROES Cupid's Chokehold (2005)".
  4. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  5. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  6. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  7. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200738 into search.
  9. ↑ "Hitlisten.NU – Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold" (in Danish). Tracklisten.
  10. ↑ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 20. May 19, 2007. p. 87. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes: Cupid's Chokefold" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  12. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Cupid's Chokehold". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". Top Digital Download.
  16. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Gym Class Heroes" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  17. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". Top 40 Singles.
  19. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  20. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200735 into search.
  21. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". Singles Top 100.
  22. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". Swiss Singles Chart.
  23. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  24. ↑ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  26. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  27. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  28. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202111 into search.
  29. ↑ "Gym Class Heroes Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard.
  30. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  31. ↑ "ČNS IFPI". IFPI ČR. Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202113 into search. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  32. ↑ "2007 Annual ARIA Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  33. ↑ "European Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2007" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  35. ↑ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2007". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  36. ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 2007". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  37. ↑ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  38. ↑ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  39. ↑ "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2008" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  40. ↑ "British single certifications – Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  41. ↑ "American single certifications – Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
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