My Chemical Romance continues to be relevant in light of their recent reunion
On March 22, 2013, Gerard Way, the frontman of the rock band My Chemical Romance, announced the band’s separation on their website, writing that “and now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end.”
After six years of silence, on Oct. 31, they announced a reunion show in Los Angeles to the joy of teens everywhere. In the days that followed, they announced festival appearances around the world, quelling despair that the show was going to be a one-off and raising hopes for a potential new album and world tour in 2020.
Their Los Angeles show sold out in four minutes, proving that despite being broken up for six years, they still have a rapid and ready fanbase.
“They’re definitely going to get even more fans,” sophomore Avani Gireesha said.
Many teenagers are fans of MCR, despite being very young during the peak of their fame in the mid to late 2000s. Due to the rise of music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube, many teens are able to discover them for the first time.
“Youtube recommended me some of their music, and I really liked it,” Gireesha said. “So I became a fan after their breakup.”
“I feel teens and young adults have a more extensive and connected sharing system (social media) to be able to spread the music,” sophomore Sydney Allen said.
Many of their songs have themes of anxiety and depression, which are relatable to many teenagers, causing them to gravitate towards the band, even though their music is loud alternative rock music, which is very different from the popular music heard on the radio and seen on today’s charts.
“The Black Parade” is MCR’s most famous album, and it is a masterpiece filled with inspirational lyrics such as “I am not afraid to keep on living,” from “Famous Last Words.” It is a rock opera telling the story of “The Patient,” someone who dies of cancer and sees death come to them in the form of a marching band parade, as described in “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Throughout the album, it starts out poking fun at the Patient’s life, ending with an inspirational song (“Famous Last Words”) about persevering in the face of hard times.
Allen said that their music contains “themes of the difficulty of teenage life, the enemy your own mind can be, and wanting to break free from society’s expectations.” She likes the messages of their songs “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Teenagers” which demonstrate these themes through their lyrics of “I’m not okay! You wear me out!” from the first song and “So darken your clothes, and strike a violent pose!” from the latter.
Another reason MCR has remained relevant to modern-day teenagers is their universally emotional sound and lyrics. For example, “Sleep” from The Black Parade contains lyrics such as “so shut your eyes, kiss me goodbye, and sleep, just sleep,” which is relatable to teens if they are going through tough times, so if they were just able to “forget” their worries and sleep, things would be better, while the melancholy tone of the song really helps drive the emotions of the song home.
“Their music alone is something that makes you feel so many different emotions,” Gireesha said.
With their recent reunion, the music of MCR will soon be discoverable to many people around the world, and their message will continue to be spread.
“I’m excited to see what’s next,” Gireesha said.
Shruthi joined the Tribune because she wanted to write something different from what's typically written in English classes and to find a community on campus. She has been in the Tribune since freshman year....
Drishti joined journalism because of a schedule mix-up and got in too deep. She's been in journalism for four years as a staff writer, graphics editor, and features editor. Her favorite TV show is Phineas and...
