Choke

"**Choke**" is the second single first released by iDKHOW on October 26th, 2017, with a lyric video to accompany it; the song would later be featured on *1981 Extended Play* as a transition from "Introduction." There was no music video until 2019. That same year, an acoustic version of "Choke" was released. The release date for the track was inspired by *Back to the Future*. The song was certified gold in Canada and the United States in 2021. The track was written by Dallon Weekes. It is one of the duo's most well known songs.

## Background

The song was teased on Instagram when the duo uploaded their fourth and final Q&A related to "Modern Day Cain."

## About

### Lyrics

The song covers Weekes' feelings about not fitting in with Los Angeles:

> "'I wrote ‘Choke’ to sort through how disenchanted I had become with living in Los Angeles,' Weekes says. 'I still love L.A. a lot, but it’s never felt like home for me. It can be a difficult culture to navigate if you don’t have any desire to fit in.'"
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iDKHOW's official Twitter has posted on more than one occasion that "Nyeah nyeah" is the correct way to spell said lyrics. Weekes' wife, Breezy, has also hinted that a lyric or two may be pointed at the entertainment industry on Instagram.

### Music

Weekes talked about the process of recording "Choke" in a track by track review:

> "This song was pieced together in several different spots, but done mostly at my kitchen table as I was learning to record on my own."
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To add on to this, there was yet another track by track. In this one, Weekes had recalled that "Choke" was the easiest to write, but the hardest to record.

### Music Video

The music video for "Choke" was released on January 11th, 2019.

#### Lore

> "‘Pop Time Live’ was a short-lived music television program that aired briefly in Eastern Europe in the early 1980s. The show, and its producers, had hoped to capitalize on the then popular ‘Italo Disco’ movement, but audiences found its lack of authenticity objectionable. Labeled ‘NOT FOR BROADCAST,’ it is believed that this particular iDKHOW performance never made it to air due to the band’s refusal to properly pantomime to their own song."
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## Acoustic

An acoustic version of "Choke" was released on April 25th, 2019.

Weekes talked about the reason why this cabaret-styled song exists:

> “'We started playing acoustically on some radio promo tours we’ve been doing for ‘Choke,’ and it was a lot of fun doing it this way,' says Weekes, who was with Panic! from 2009-2017, when he started iDKHOW with drummer Ryan Seaman (Falling in Reverse, the Brobecks). 'When we were home we started to make tracks for an acoustic version of the song, and it turned into this. It’s just a way of having some fun with it.'"
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## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.altpress.com/i\_dont\_know\_how\_but\_they\_found\_me\_choke\_song/
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvJjmWTg7Qo
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v64-DpcLEvI
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nUHKduzero
5. ↑ https://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?\_gp\_search=Choke%20I+Dont+Know+How+But+They+Found+Me
6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211201232157/https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab\_active=default-award&ar=I+Don%27t+Know+How+But+They+Found+Me&ti=Choke&format=Single&type=
7. ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/performer/i%20dont%20know%20how%20but%20they%20found%20me/title/choke?at=false&searchFilter=SVW&page=1
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/idkhow/status/1105209912051658752?lang=en
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/idkhow/status/1105245459159834624
10. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BfeIMwhlSEv/?taken-by=breezyweekes
11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181112181749/https://rocksound.tv/features/read/dallon-weekes-takes-us-through-idkhows-debut-ep-1981-extended-play-track-by
12. ↑ https://v13.net/2019/04/idkhow-tells-us-how-they-fashioned-their-1981-extended-play-exclusive-track-by-track/
13. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/idkhow-choke-acoustic-8508659/