David

ENGL 122

4/1/09

“Dead!”; My Chemical Romance; The Black Parade; 2006

My Chemical Romance was introduced to me by a friend while I was at a summer camp in 2006. The Black Parade has recently been released and I bought the CD when I got home. I had thought that My Chemical Romance was a stereotypically emo band, but as it turned out, that is not entirely the case. Sure, there are some depressing songs on this album and their previous one (“Cancer”, “I Don’t Love You”, “Helena”), but they are, for the most part, an alternative rock band. I fell in love with the whole album.

“Dead!” was one of the songs that stuck out to me when I first listened through the album. The whole song speaks of someone dying and Gerard Way, the singer, asking “Did you get what you deserve?” While the lyrics, in general, have a more depressing tone (“Wouldn't it be grand to take a pistol by the hand?/ And wouldn't it be great if we were dead?”), the song has a much more rock-oriented feel to it, with amazing guitar solos in the beginning and about 2/3 of the way through.

I like this song because of its hard-rock sound, the solos, and the awesome lyrics. Indeed, My Chemical Romance is, since I bought their latest two albums, one of my favorite bands, for their thought-provoking songs, their rock music, and their general attitude. My Chemical Romance is an awesome band, one that I hope to see in concert one day.