All About Their Singles
Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us
Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" is the first single released by the band My Chemical Romance off their début album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.
The song deals with drug use, foreshadowing frontman Gerard Way's past problems with alcohol. It is mainly based on a previous girlfriend of brother Mikey Way's, with lines such as "You won't ******** my friends" and "We're not working out". In the concept story, the two protagonists' relationship is broken and they split apart, leaving their hometown.
The song managed to reach #182 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]
Music video
The music video mimicks the movie Audition (directed by Takashi Miike). It is about a man looking for a spouse. In a series of interviews, he finds a woman. After their first date he tries to find where she lives and apparently cannot find her address. When he returns to his house, he pours himself a drink and after drinking it collapses on the floor. The woman comes out of a doorway. She then proceeds to torture the paralyzed man.
The video was not officially released until 2005 when the album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was re-released. The album included the music video along with the video for "Vampires Will Never Hurt You". The re-release and included an extra Eyeball Records bonus CD with songs by other artists.
One flaw in the video versus the actual "Audition" was that in Audition, the woman gets pushed down the stairs and doesn't get the chance to put the man in a sack. However, in the video, the woman is alive and the man is in the sack.
Vampires Will Never Hurt You
"Vampires Will Never Hurt You" was the second single from New Jersey rock band My Chemical Romance's 2002 debut album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". This song in particular is regarded as a classic by many fans. In the story, it is when vampires take over the "Demolition Lovers"' town.
Music Video
The music video consists of the band tightly packed into a room where they play their instruments in very little color and they look like vampires. The room was painted by Gerard Way (lead vocals) and Frank Iero (guitar). Shortly after they got unintentionally high from the fumes, the two of them became sick. The video was officially released when the album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was re-released in 2005. The re-release included this music video, as well as the one for "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us". The re-release also had an Eyeball Records CD.Eyeball records is now owned by Mikey Way.
Meaning
The meaning of the song's lyrics was explained by the band as a metaphoric critique to the society. The "vampires" represent the greedy and ambitious human beings. In the concept story, though, this song is the part where vampires take over the town that the two main characters live in. Gerard has said that he used vampires as a metaphor for people who want to use others for their own gain. He went on to say that there is always something about the living dead which will draw people in.
Headfirst for Halos
"Headfirst For Halos" is a single from the New Jersey band, My Chemical Romance. It appears on their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.
Meaning
The song is about a person that is so depressed, that he is considering suicide. The lyrics “The red ones make me fly and the blue ones help me fall” refers to the anti-depressants or other drugs that he is taking. The song repeats the line “think happy thoughts” several times. The song is an ironic ode to suicide, considering that it has an upbeat feel.
This song also has some hints to "The Matrix" and "Peter Pan". This song hints at "The Matrix" in that he says "the red ones... the blue ones..." like the pills in "The Matrix". The song hints at "Peter Pan" when it says "... Fall on your tongue like pixie dust," which could be like Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan", and, "Just think happy thoughts and we'll fly home" could be about flying home from "neverland".
Our Lady of Sorrows
"Our Lady of Sorrows" is the fourth single from My Chemical Romance's debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. This song is about friendship and the will to do anything for your friends. It also speaks of how standing by your friends can help you get through everything and overcome anyone who tries to put you down. On the band's original demo, this song was titled "Bring More Knives."
Thank You for the Venom
Thank You for the Venom" is a 2004 song by My Chemical Romance. It was released as an airplay single in Europe and is also track 9 on the 2004 album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.
One view of this song is that it is about missionaries who come to your door attempting to convert you to their religion. The speaker complains and explains trying to brush off the missionaries since they won't succeed.
Sister, I'm not much a poet, but a criminal/ and you never had a chance/ Love it or leave it, you cant understand/ a pretty face but you do so carry on and on and on and on
Preach all you want but who's gonna save me? I keep a gun on the book you gave me! Hallelujah, lock and load!
"Merci Pour Le Venin", which is on the inside cover of their first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, means "Thank you for the Venom" in French.
The line "Sister, I'm not much a poet, but a criminal" can be seen as a reference to the Morrissey song "Sister, I'm a Poet." Gerard Way has stated that Morrissey was one of his inspirations.
This song was also featured in EA Games' Need For Speed Underground Rivals for the PSP
At one of MCRs first shows, Gerard was wearing a shirt saying 'Thank You For The Venom'.
A CD of the single was released that also featured a poor quality live version of the band playing Morrissey's song "Jack the Ripper".
I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" was a 2004 single by American band My Chemical Romance, lifted from the same year's album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. It reached #86 in the US singles chart the Billboard Hot 100, and #19 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also helped expand the band's fan base. The song was re-released in November of 2005. The song is also included in the EA Trax listing for racing game Burnout 3: Takedown.
Meaning
The song's lyrics deal with emotional issues relating to relationship break-ups, in particular, those of lead singer Gerard Way and his high school experiences of adolescent loneliness and angst. The song's overtly sentimental lyrics ushered people to label the band as "emo".
Music videos
The first music video of the song futures the band's life in New Jersey and them going on tour as well as a montage of video segments. It was produced by Rafaela Monfradini and Greg Kaplan, who was also the director.
The second music video depicts life inside a fictional American high school in the form of a fake movie trailer. The band appears as a group of students who are repeatedly harassed by another group who are portrayed as jocks. The band members then take their revenge on the jocks and ultimately have a showdown in a hallway, with the band members armed with croquet mallets and the jocks with lacrosse sticks.
Helena
"Helena" is the second single from My Chemical Romance's 2004 album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. The lyrics describe lead singer Gerard Way's feelings for his late grandmother, Elena Lee Rush (friends called her 'Helen', and because of this, Way always thought of her as "Helena"). The single has become a best-selling hit, both in the US and internationally. This song has been used as the credits song for House of Wax. Way said in an interview with Channel [V] the band got influences for Helena from the song "Aces High" by Iron Maiden and tracks from The Misfits.
Music video
The video was shot on-location in a Presbyterian church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, directed by Marc Webb, and choreographed by Michael Rooney. The video has a simple plot, with Gerard Way as a priest/entertainer (and also the boyfriend of the departed Helena) at a funeral where the band is performing. There are also mourners who dance and mourn the death of Helena. Near the end, the dead body of Helena (played by burlesque dancer Tracy Phillips) rises and dances down the nave representing crossing over into the afterlife. After she falls back into the casket, the pallbearers (also played by My Chemical Romance) carry the casket to the hearse (in the pouring rain), surrounded by a phalanx of dancers.
Though the song in general is about the band members Gerard Way and Mikey Way's late grandmother, it was stated in an interview that the video told a different story. The music video shows the funeral of a young, beautiful, twenty-something year old girl named Helena, who, according to Gerard Way, died tragically. There is speculation that she could be the female of the "Demolition Lovers" that chronicle some of the band's songs, but evidence from the song leads most to believe that the video Helena died in a fatal car accident.
The video was nominated for four Moonmen at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Rock Video, Best Choreography, Best New Artist, and the MTV2 and Viewer's Choice Awards (both of which are chosen by viewers). Though the band did not win any awards, they did do a surprise performance of the song towards the end of the show. They also won an MTV Video Music Awards Latin America "tongue" for the Best New Artist-International. They also won a Best Video award in the 2005 Kerrang! Awards. In November of 2005, the video was nominated for two MTVU Woodie Awards (voted on by college students) and won the Woodie of the Year. In the Philippines, Helena has reached a cult-like status because of the popularity of Alternative music.
The video was also voted #1 by viewers of MTV latinamerica in the 2005 "100 Most Wanted Videos".
Under Pressure
“Under Pressure” is a single performed by My Chemical Romance and The Used. It was released as download single on April 12, 2005. The song “Under Pressure” was originally performed by David Bowie and Queen. The song also appeared on The Used's album In Love and Death as bonus track on the 2005 reissue.
The Ghost of You
"The Ghost Of You" is the third single by the rock band My Chemical Romance, from their second album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. The song deals with the fear of loss. The song also crossfades into "The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You".
Music video
The video was shot over two days in Malibu, California, and cost over US $500,000 to make. Marc Webb directed the video. In an interview with FUSE, MCR said" We shot a movie and just edited it to be a video. It's like if you put Helena and I'm Not Okay together to make one long music video, it still would top that." It closely parallels the Omaha invasion scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan. Most of the video takes place at a USO dance where the band is performing, but the rest depicts a D-Day scene, in which the band members play as United States soldiers in fierce combat. (At the dance, one soldier's uniform bears the 101st Airborne Division "Screamin' Eagles" patch, however the 101st Airborne Division wasn't involved in beach landings, but were parachuted behind enemy lines on D-day, suggesting that several units were present at the ball.)
The video takes an emotional turn when bassist Mikey Way is shot and killed by German fire despite the medic's (played by Ray Toro) attempts to save him, adding emphasis to the aspects of loss in the song. He is seen wearing a 1st Infantry Division patch in the video. The 1st Infantry Division, the "Big Red One" were among the first wave on Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944, so this makes sense. Gerard Way has to be restrained and is seen screaming (although there is no sound other than the song) as he tries to run to his brother. On September 9 2005, on its fourth day, it surprisingly rocketed up to number one on MTV's music-video countdown Total Request Live. This video marked the changes in My Chemical Romance's musical style, fanbase and overall image.
Mikey Way, In a recent interview with FUSE, stated that when the trap door on the landing craft opened and the band rushed forward the craft, due to the weight of all the members, extras and gears combined, capsized and filled with water to the point where the band nearly drowned.
On the Life on the Murder Scene DVD, it is stated that during their tour with Green Day, Green Day showed MCR their video "Wake Me Up When September Ends," which also had a war theme. Gerard feared the video would be the same as theirs for "The Ghost Of You" but "The Ghost Of You" was more about the loss of someone you love. Green Day in a way "gave us their blessing," as stated by Gerard.
Music video errors
While the soldiers are in the Higgins boats, we see a soldier with the 2nd Ranger Battalion patch on his shoulder. When the soldiers get onto the beach, they wear the insignia of the 1st Infantry Division. During the Normandy invasion, these two units were not together at Omaha Beach.
At the ball we clearly see Mikey playing an early model Fender P Bass. The electric bass sold from 1951. It would have been more historically accurate to use a double bass.
The leads being used also should have been the curly "telephone cord" types, as opposed to the more modern leads they were using.
CD Casing
The artwork on the case of "The Ghost Of You" is in the same style as the HBO series Band Of Brothers' opening theme. Other notable references to the opening theme is the video game series Medal of Honor.
Welcome To The Black Parade
"Welcome to the Black Parade" is the first single from the album, The Black Parade, and the ninth single by the New Jersey-based band, My Chemical Romance. It was released on September 11, 2006 on iTunes and October 9, 2006 on CD. The studio version was available on MySpace on September 2, 2006. It became their first UK number one on October 15, 2006 as well as their first US number one when it topped the Modern Rock charts on October 26, 2006 where it stayed for seven weeks. It also became their first top ten single on the U.S. Hot 100.
Overview
My Chemical Romance debuted "Welcome to the Black Parade" live at the pre-show of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
The studio version is now available on their MySpace. The track can also be heard at theblackparade.com. The music video can be seen at mychemicalromance.com. The single was also released on iTunes in its radio edit form (4:37), along with an interview with the band about the upcoming album.
MCR talks about "Welcome To The Black Parade" in the EP track available on iTunes called "My Chemical Romance Welcomes You To The Black Parade". They say it's probably the oldest track on the new album next to "Disenchanted". They say the idea for the song came before their first record came out but it wasn't finished and they forgot about it for a while. They tried to write it again for Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge but they had so many ideas for that album that it got put off. Then, when they started writing for their third album they picked up the song again and started working on it. After the song was recorded the band thought it could be improved before it was finished. The entire process of making "Welcome To The Black Parade" took about 3 years. Gerard Way says the song is a prime example of the risks they took on their third album. The song's message is for everything to get better and for everyone to carry on, as Way explains.
Way says it was the hardest song for the band to create. The song consists of 167 separate tracks mixed together, including marching band drums, multiple snares and a horn section. Way says the song also has a section called the "orphan section," during the bridge when some gang vocals come in. The section was influenced by the vocals from the Broadway musical "Little Orphan Annie." The first code name for this song was "The Five Of Us Are Dying," which Ray Toro hated because he's very superstitious and had to fly on a plane after the song was finished. Toro almost didn't get on the plane.
Charts
The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #71 for the chart week of September 30, 2006, becoming their highest debut for a single. It went onto peak at #9 on the Hot 100 in its 17th and 18th week on the chart, becoming the band's first top ten Hot 100 hit, and their highest peaking single thus far (their previous highest position on this chart was #33 with "Helena"). In addition it topped Modern Rock Tracks for an impressive seven weeks in a row, and is the band's only #1 on this chart to date. It peaked at #2 on the UK iTunes Music Store's most played songs, and has reached #6 on the US iTunes Store. The single knocked Razorlight's "America" off the number 1 single spot on Sunday, October 15, 2006 in the UK after extensive airplay, becoming the band's first #1 there. It has overall been their most successful single to date, reaching the top 10 of the United World Chart, proving it to be a worldwide hit.
Music video
The video for the single was directed by Samuel Bayer. The Music Video was released on September 26, 2006 in the UK and Canada, and was released on September 27, 2006 in the US. It features a man (played by Lukas Haas) dressed in a hospital gown, "The Patient" that the album is about, dying, and being taken by death in the form of a Black Parade. On the main float stands Gerard, Mikey, Bob, Ray and Frank playing "Welcome to the Black Parade". The costumes worn by the band members of My Chemical Romance in the music video are meant to be the exact opposite of the costumes worn by The Beatles on the cover of their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a main influence for their new album. Gerard has been quoted saying "The uniforms on Sgt. Pepper's couldn't be more colorful, and these couldn't be less colorful." The jackets are also similar to the one worn by Freddie Mercury of Queen at the 1986 Wembley Stadium Live show. While the band is playing The Patient wanders throughout the parade looking at all the various characters within it. In the end he is given a medal, the medal could be symbolic of death itself or a life completed. After this, the parade leaves and The Patient is left alone.
The imagery of the video seems to be suggestive of James Ensor's 1888 painting Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889, albeit minus the Christ figure.
The cover art for the single is a scene from the video, with the man in the bottom center being the Patient. He is flanked by two women named "Fear" and "Regret" in Gerard Way Revenge-era makeup, possibly signifying the band has not left their roots with their transformation. The setting of the music video goes from a hospital to a surreal cityscape, which bears the remarkable resemblance to a post- nuclear city, with ash- coverd wreckage and destroyed buildings. The falling ash gives the viewer the impression of a 'nuclear winter'. The video features 4 of the main characters. The Patient, Fear, Regret, and Mother War. Fear and Regret are the two women that stand beside The Patient on the cover for the single. Mother War is the woman in the Victorian-era gown and gas mask. Liza Minnelli plays the character of Mother War in the second verse of the song "Mama".
Parody
On the January 6, 2007 episode of MADtv, the song was parodied as "The Black Tirade", centering on Michael Richards's dying career after spouting racial slurs at the Laugh Factory, as well as how Internet video sites like YouTube are becoming more popular than television.
Famous Last Words
"Famous Last Words" is the second single by the band My Chemical Romance, from their third studio album The Black Parade. It was released on January 22, 2007. The music video was premiered on December 12 2006 on MTV2 Europe and on December 13 2006 on the Much Music program, and on MuchOnDemand in Canada. The video was officially premiered in the U.S. on the January 11th episode of Total Request Live, and debuted on the countdown the following Tuesday at #5, the band's highest TRL debut for a video. It went onto become their third #1 video on the countdown (following "Helena", and "The Ghost of You").
Overview
The music videos for "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words" were filmed back to back. Originally, MCR dubbed the second video as a "secret" that they couldn't reveal yet. It was later announced that the "secret" second video from the new My Chemical Romance album The Black Parade would be "Famous Last Words", directed by Samuel Bayer, the same director that worked on "Welcome to the Black Parade". This is the video that caused vocalist Gerard Way and drummer Bob Bryar to sustain severe injuries. Bryar received a bad burn to the leg which subsequently turned into gangrene, then into a staph infection, and Way tore all of the ligaments in his ankle when Frank Iero, who, in the spur of the moment during the filming process, tackled Gerard. The aftermath of these injuries forced the band to cancel a handful of their 2006 dates.
Charts
"Famous Last Words" debuted at #68 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone on January 14, 2007. It was physically released as a single on January 22. It climbed to #38 in its second week, still on downloads. "Famous Last Words" is My Chemical Romance's second Top 10 hit in the UK, so far reaching #8, but the song has already reached #1 on the UK physical chart. On January 24, 2007, the video for "Famous Last Words" reached the #1 spot on TRL after a seven day climb to the top from their debut at #5. In early February, the song debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 93.
Music video
The music video for this song is rather simple in concept when compared to the band's previous videos, but it is arguably their darkest and most dramatic video to date. It shows the Black Parade float that My Chemical Romance are performing on in "Welcome to the Black Parade" burning, while looking like it has been through a substantial amount of wear and tear. The rest of the background is scattered with burning props from the video of "Welcome to the Black Parade", and fire is seen all around. All of the followers of The Black Parade have abandoned the band, and the band seems to be in a desperate state. Gerard Way looks particularly rough, and he appears to look like he is dying or is very ill because of the make up he is wearing, especially around his eyes. He also adopts a wide eyed, insane looking facial expression. A shortened edit of the song is used in the video with the bridge and some of the chorus repeats removed. The instrumentals at the end of the song are continued in the video with a sustained guitar chord accompanying the last few vocal lines, whereas, in the album version, they were faded out by mixer Chris Lord-Alge.
The video premiered in the United States on Total Request Live on January 11, 2007. On January 24, 2007, the video reached the #1 spot on TRL, and has so far spent four days at the top of the countdown. The US version of the video is different from the version first seen in the UK, only in that it completely cuts out Bryar's incident with the heat at the end of the video. This version has started to air on British television, or at least on the music channel Scuzz TV, and Kerrang! TV.
Meaning
In an interview with the New York Times, singer Gerard Way was quoted as saying, "At first I thought [the patient died], but the more I think about it, the more I think he's not dead. Maybe this is all in his head. Maybe he can fight. Now I think he has a choice to live." The song's meaning is generally open to interpretation, as said before, because its lyrics never really tell one way or the other whether the patient dies.
Gerard Way also said in an interview with Kerrang! that the line "I am not afraid to walk this world alone" played some part in the break-up with his then-girlfriend.
