{{Short description|2004 song by Gym Class Heroes}} {{Infobox song | name = Cupid's Chokehold | cover = Cupid's Chokehold.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Gym Class Heroes featuring Patrick Stump | album = The Papercut Chronicles {{noitalic|and}} As Cruel as School Children | released = 2004 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = * 4:03 (''The Papercut Chronicles'' version) * 3:58 (''As Cruel as School Children'' version) | label = * Decaydance * Fueled by Ramen | writer = * Travis McCoy * Rick Davies * Roger Hodgson | producer = S*A*M | chronology = Gym Class Heroes | prev_title = Papercuts | prev_year = 2005 | next_title = The Queen and I | next_year = 2006 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Gym Class Heroes | type = singles | prev_title = New Friend Request | prev_year = 2006 | title = Cupid's Chokehold | year = 2006 | next_title = Shoot Down the Stars | next_year = 2007 }} {{External music video|{{YouTube|eiiU-Fky18s|"Cupid's Chokehold"}}}} }}
"'''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 and Rick Davies. 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 2004 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74414/week-ending-sept-18-2011-songs-tony-sets-a-record/|title=Yahoo Music}}</ref>
UK happy hardcore producers Darren Styles and Whizzkid covered the song in 2007, this version being simply titled 'Girlfriend', which got an extended release on vinyl in 2009.
==Composition== Drummer Matt McGinley said,
{{quote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/gym-class-heroes|title=Gym Class Heroes : Songwriter Interviews|last=MacIntosh|first=Dan|date=August 11, 2011|website=Songfacts|accessdate=February 26, 2021}}</ref>}}
==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.
Musically, this version has the word "girlfriend" repeated constantly in the background not found in other versions of the song exclusive to the video. ===''As Cruel as School Children'' version=== <!--Alan Ferguson (director) links directly here.-->
[[File:Katy Perry warped tour.jpg|thumb|left|Katy Perry (pictured) starred in the music video.]] 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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/GYM_CLASS_HEROES_Cupids_Chokehold_2005|title=GYM CLASS HEROES Cupid's Chokehold (2005)}}</ref>
==Charts== {{col-start}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {|class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (2007) !Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Australia|14|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Austria|42|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Flanders Tip|7|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Canada|3|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Czech Republic|65|year=2007|week=38}} |- {{single chart|Denmark|34|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|year=2007|week=22}} |- |Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2007/BB-2007-05-19.pdf|title=Hits of the World – Eurocharts|magazine=Billboard|volume=119|issue=20|page=87|date=May 19, 2007|access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> |align="center"|11 |- {{single chart|Finland|9|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokefold}} |- {{single chart|Germany|45|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|songid=299620|access-date=January 16, 2020}} |- {{single chart|Hungary|2|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|year=2007|week=14}} |- {{single chart|Ireland2|3|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|access-date=January 16, 2020}} |- {{single chart|Italy|12|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Dutch40|9|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Dutch100|29|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|New Zealand|6|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- | Russia Airplay (TopHit)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ru/weekly/20070907-20070913|title=Top Radio Hits Russia Weekly Chart: Sep 13, 2007|publisher=TopHit|access-date=April 26, 2024}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"| 6 |- {{single chart|Scotland|5|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|date=20070512|access-date=April 20, 2021}} |- {{single chart|Slovakia|48|year=2007|week=35}} |- {{single chart|Sweden|38|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Switzerland|34|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|UK|3|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|date=20070512}} |- {{single chart|UKrandb|2|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold|date=20070512|access-date=April 20, 2021}} |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|4|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Billboardadultpopsongs|18|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Billboardpopsongs|1|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |} {|class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (2020–2021) !Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Czechdigital|68|year=2021|week=11}} |- {{singlechart|Billboardglobal200|118|artist=Gym Class Heroes|song=Cupid's Chokehold}} |- {{single chart|Poland|100|chartid=3281|year=2020|access-date=January 13, 2020}} |- |Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitparada.ifpicr.cz/index.php?hitp=D|title=ČNS IFPI|publisher=IFPI ČR|id=Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202113 into search.|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> |align=center|70 |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" ! Chart (2007) ! Position |- | Australia (ARIA)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/2007/singles-chart|title=2007 Annual ARIA Singles Chart|publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association|access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|72 |- | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/european_hot_singles.jsp|title=European Hot 100 Singles|work=Billboard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513023130/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/european_hot_singles.jsp|archive-date=May 13, 2009|access-date=January 9, 2022}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|86 |- | Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2007|title=Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2007|publisher=Mahasz|language=hu|access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|5 |- | Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/2007|title=Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2007|publisher=Dutch Top 40|access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|46 |- | New Zealand (RIANZ)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/2007-12-31|title=Top Selling Singles of 2007|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511184208/http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=2088|archive-date=May 11, 2015|access-date=May 19, 2022}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|45 |- | Russia Airplay (TopHit)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ru/annual/2007|title=Top Radio Hits Russia Annual Chart: 2007|publisher=TopHit|access-date=April 26, 2024|archive-date=April 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426131857/https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ru/annual/2007|url-status=live}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"| 39 |- | UK Singles (OCC)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-singles-chart/20070107/37501/|title=End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|27 |- | US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2007/hot-100-songs|title=Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2007|magazine=Billboard|access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|23 |} {|class="wikitable" ! Chart (2008) ! Position |- | Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2008|title=Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2008|publisher=Mahasz|language=hu|access-date=September 3, 2020}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|88 |}
===Decade-end charts=== {|class="wikitable" !Chart (2000–2009) !Position |- | Russia Airplay (TopHit)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ru/decade/2000|title=Top Radio Hits Russia Decade Chart: 00s|publisher=TopHit|access-date=May 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421192151/https://tophit.com/ru/chart/top/radio/hits/ru/decade/2000|archive-date=April 21, 2024}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|130 |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Gym Class Heroes|title=Cupid's Chokehold|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2006|certyear=2025|access-date=January 31, 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Gym Class Heroes|title=Cupid's Chokehold / Breakfast in America|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=2006|certyear=2024|source=radioscope|access-date=May 14, 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Gym Class Heroes|title=Cupid's Chokehold|award=Platinum|relyear=2006|certyear=2022|id=8971-787-1|access-date=February 1, 2022}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Gym Class Heroes|title=Cupid%s Chokehold|award=Platinum|number=5|relyear=2006|certyear=2025|access-date=May 13, 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true|nosales=true|streaming=true}}
==Release history== {|class="wikitable" !Format !Release date |- |North America {{small|(original release)}} |March 2005 |- |North America {{small|(re-release)}} |December 19, 2006 |- |France |April 30, 2007 |- |United Kingdom |April 2, 2007 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Gym Class Heroes}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Gym Class Heroes songs Category:Patrick Stump songs Category:2005 singles Category:2004 songs Category:Fueled by Ramen singles Category:Music videos directed by Alan Ferguson (director) Category:Song recordings produced by S*A*M and Sluggo Category:Songs written by Rick Davies Category:Songs written by Travie McCoy