The band takes the stage, or rather their bodies do, as My Chemical Romance has been replaced by their alter ego. Rising from coffins, the band takes off into their rock opera, an ode to Death, but to Life as well. In their fourth album, The Black Parade, the band’s front man, Gerard Way, sings as the Patient, a character awaiting Death while hooked to life support and struggling with life.
Troubled by the state of music in general, and worried that they might descend into pumping out hits rather than creating art, MCR chose to reinvent themselves, delving into rock operas and musicals. “At no one second during the making of this record did we dedicate to wondering what ‘the scene’ would think. Because the people who go to sleep at night wondering if they did the best they could are us,” says guitarist Frank Iero.
The band’s other troubles have been more physical and mental than artistic: Mikey Way battled depression during the band’s planning sessions for the album and the elder Way has finally kicked alcohol and other addictions. Drawing on their real life experiences and the work of their predecessors Queen, Pink Floyd, Journey and others, the band’s ambitious reinvention has drawn praise for its creativity. While Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge dealt with death in any angry, tense way, the Black Parade deals with death in a less frightened manner.
Welcoming us in, the Patient invites us to feel better about ourselves in comparison with him in “The End,” and questions the worth of life in “Dead” “Did you get what you deserve?” the Patient asks. “The ending of your life/And if you get to heaven/I’ll be here waiting, babe…If life ain’t just a joke, then why are we laughing?” There’s a dreadful irony in Way’s roar, that pierces to the listener’s core, and requires some assessment of life and priorities.
“Welcome to the Black Parade” serves as the ‘masterpiece’ of the album, with Way’s own life and childhood memories tied to the Patient’s own view of Death. Here, Death comes as a parade, while a father asks his son, “When you grow up, would you be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned? Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made?” Powerful questions, and certainly ones that a could be transplanted into a pre-birth discourse between God the Father and Jesus, His Son. Savior, Messiah and Revolutionary, the Patient’s reply makes him simply the messenger, not the savior himself: “I’m just a boy, who’s meant to sing this song/I’m just a man, I’m not a hero.”
Looking at MCR’s interaction with teens at their shows makes “Teenagers” a powerful social statement, a departure from the Patient epic, as Way sings, “The boys and girls in the clique/The awful names that they stick/You’re never gonna fit in much kid/But if you’re troubled and hurt/What you got under your shirt/We’ll make them pay for the things that they did.” Maybe Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” gets channeled here, adding to the list of Queen and others. They don’t just sing the part though, as they’re constantly steering teens who share their stories toward getting help from people in their lives who can make a difference.
Finally, without “Famous Last Words,” this album would be a depressing tale, but that’s why it’s included! The band wanted to establish a message that they felt was covered in between songs (live,) but hadn’t been proclaimed through their music. “If the music helps people get through things, live their lives as best they can and be good people, then that’s what this is all about,” says Ray Toro, MCR guitarist. The Patient agrees: “I am not afraid to keep on living/I am not afraid to walk this world alone/Honey if you stay, I’ll be forgiven/Nothing you can say can stop me going home.”
Way hopes that people will embrace the power of the Black Parade, and see that a life lived to the fullest means more for everyone. “I don’t want people to be afraid of living, which I think is everybody’s biggest fear,” he says. “I want people to express themselves how they want…I’m very opposed to intolerance, racism and sexism.”
Gerard Way isn’t a hero, he just plays one in real life.