My Chemical Romance makes me DANCE!

Hello and good morning or whatever you say at the start. I'm emptying my every thought about My Chemical Romance's first two albums, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. I don't expect anyone to read this. As you can see I love beating around the bush and including unnecessary facts... maybe even my opinions. Starting with...

CONTENT WARNINGS! Drugs, suicide (descriptions of thoughts and actions), physical violence, maybe even sexual abuse. Don't say I didn't tell you.

This is the album that's there when nobody else is. 
This is the album that will pick you up and tell you everything is okay. 
Even if you just tripped over your shoe laces.
This is the album takes your deepest frustrations and spits them out in the form of music. 
This is the album that shows you that those frustrations are okay to hold. 
With this album you are not alone at rock bottom. 
This album walks you home while the autumn leaves fall. 
This album gives you a wall to punch.
This album gives you something to scream to.
This album is a shoulder to cry on.

Onto potential meaning. Take all of this with a grain of salt, I'm just a good guesser. There is one live recording of this song where Gerard actually sings along to Romance. Some might not have seen this video so I'll write the lyrics for you.

"Came into my life and now you're gone

And you threw all your things out the window

Things out the window

You gave up

You gave up

You gave up

You gave up

You gave up

You're gone"

I think that somebody came into Gerard's life and then left, but not by normal circumstances. Or normal circumstances and Gerard feels things intensely.  This person came into his life and then left themselves, probably with commotion because they "threw all their things out the window". I'm not taking this literally. They left upset or unresolved when they could have walked their things out the door. Maybe they threw themselves out the window. Another meaning I thought of is that they threw away their care or their feelings and gave up on the relationship mentally. It could be a matter of they'd rather die than leave as in mad co-dependency and they're just denying that they're better off apart. In that case they had chosen to die. They gave up on living and now they're gone. Welcome to Mica's aggressive over analysis. Enjoy your stay.

(Thank you Linnea for retrieving lyrics)

Onto the next song! "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For the Two of Us". The only song I'm including lyrics for is Romance, as the rest are easily retrievable. To do with the title, mirrors are often referred to by coke use such as eating breakfast on a mirror. This pretty much entails what the song is about, drugs and a girlfriend and didn't agree with this drug use. Gerard sure doesn't agree with her either. I'm not actually sure if the girlfriend was Gerard's or Mikey's or the evil third option… both. At different times of course. I've heard Gerard say a few different things about this song in live recordings, let me name some. "This song is about a big fat wh*re", and also "this song is about sucking d*ck for c*caine", and a third one that puzzled me the most. "I wrote this song for my brother Mikey because he's been having some girl troubles". 

This quote could either mean she was Mikey's girlfriend to begin with and he only became this involved because as mentioned in the song she goes after his brother and his friends, or it could mean she was Gerard's girlfriend to begin with until she started to go after his friends and Mikey. Either way it's a messed up situation. 

As for the bl*wy for c*ke quote, I'm not excusing anybody but the girlfriend wasn't the only wrong doer in this situation. It could be one of the reasons it got so heated. He did that with another man for drugs while he had a girlfriend. I'm not throwing shade on him either, just observing. Maybe they went back and forth, each gradually stepping lower morally. Can you tell I am being careful with my bad words? I do not want to be reported.

This song makes me think of something overlooked. Gerard wasn't the only one in the band coked up and drunk, but he was the only one who had a segment for that stuff in the video diary. They seemed to insist there was no real front man but there was a whole lot more about one person than the rest, that being Gerard. It conveyed something that didn't agree with what they said. They seemed to be genuine people but there was so much that wasn't covered. I guess it would be an uncomfortable watch if they really did cover all of that stuff. Accountability isn't meant to be comfortable, I guess. Mikey was on the same things that Gerard was and didn't get clean until quite a while after the band's breakup. Because this wasn't quite covered, rumours circulated. A Tumblr blog called nowaymikeyway. If you know then you know. I don't want to stir drama over a decade old. Sorry I got sidetracked.

Time to analyze lyrics! The line "this vanity I'm breaking" might fly over the heads of a lot of people because it's not as clear as the two lines before it. I think it's associated with the title. Or it could just be a random and of violence. He could be breaking the mirror so he could use a piece to "eat breakfast" off of, or something else. I hope you know I'm not speaking from experience and have no idea how to picture this in my head. I guess you'd use a mirror because it's easy to see what's on it. I'm pretty sure it's expensive stuff and they wouldn't want to lose even a little. As for the part after, he's finding it hard to stay because she's being a freak. If he wants her to let him in it could mean that he doesn't see her problem and why she could be putting distance between them. He chose this life for himself and the kinds of things he spends his time doing has him surrounded by some questionable people, and there are a few benefits he could use the beauty that he's faking for. Maybe to get in bed with someone who has what he wants, or to maintain his reputation.

The chorus kind of disagrees with this. I guess it shows the conflict in his head to do with whether he wants her gone or wants her to stay. Now he seems apathetic because he doesn't care how much he invests herself in her because he thinks there's no way they're working out. It seems a little black and white because in the chorus he's really sure of himself, "This time I mean it, never mind the times I've seen it" I might be projecting a little with this point. Every time I feel so sure of myself like this I never end up sticking to it. Maybe the same thing is happening here, "this time". "never mind the times I've seen it" seems like it could mean that no matter how many times these thoughts are proved wrong, I still find myself believing them. I need to stop applying myself actually.

Onto the next verse. "I hope I'm not mistaken, by the news I heard from waking". I don't really know about the waking part. Usually if it's bad news one would wish to be mistaken, out of denial. It could be good news, where he hopes it's true. Given the nature of the song I'm assuming it's good news out of spite. Something bad happened to someone he doesn't like. It's hard to say he's shaken because he seems to have no hesitation. His lifestyle is far from normal and some of his choices might shake the average person. This means he feels nothing of the sort towards the way he lives. In the second part of the verse it directly conflicts on the surface. The way he lives his life has him a little shaken. I think he starts off afraid and then ends up accepting things anyway. Like the chorus's conflict with the rest of the song, this is another thing that tells me he doesn't keep one opinion about his surroundings for long.

The demolition lovers had these kinds of dramas in their relationship. They take a lot of substances together and their minds are clouded. Demolition Woman sees nothing to lose emotionally in this relationship because she didn't feel anything for it in the first place and demolition man has this unwavering dedication and hope that things can get better even though they can't and they won't. He knows that she has eyes on other people and since he'd do absolutely anything for her he excuses all of these things and chalks it down to her just being the kind of person she is.

The angry feeling in this song and the others is why a lot of people enjoy this album so much. If I were more specific the type of anger would be frustration. Maybe you want more than anything for a relationship to work and all you get is proof that it never will. Frustration because nothing is changing.  I'm not going to start analyzing the instrumentals. I failed classroom music, and I can't apply it even outside a classroom. I will say, the guitar riff in the intro holds that feeling in the way you could play it just by throwing a punch except you're holding a pick and playing guitar. Short and loud notes. This is an album I love because of the way I feel seen. They had to feel that way to write a song like this. They understand. This was what they wanted from the start.

Yay! Vampires Will Never Hurt You! I'm glad! Anyway. This song has a real deep meaning to a lot of people including the members of the band themselves. The last track may have been something to relate to and now this one is here to say that you can't give up no matter how messy it gets. The most common interpretation is to use the vampires as a metaphor for society coming to get you. This actually makes a whole lot of sense given the band's background in the local scene. In terms of the two buddies on the next album cover, they are actually running from vampires. Maybe a sprinkle of society. It kind of introduces their characters by showing you what they do in the face of conflict. 

The stakes are high in this fight and they know ending up on the side is the absolute. Worst. Case. The feelings are strong and one would rather die than abandon their beliefs. They've seen the way those people are and they do not ever want to associate. I am interested in the line "Will it fill our hearts with thoughts with endless night time sky?" I think it could mean sparing a thought for the vampires. Thoughts of endless night time sky are thoughts of what vampires see. Vampires sleep during the day or they burn, as long as they live as vampires they will never see the sun. So to them the night sky does not end. Almost every person inflicting harm will stop and think at least once, "What am I doing?", even if only for a split second. Even if they embody evil, they may have been people once too.

I could also apply this to the evil people of society using any trick to win your favour. They don't care about the truth, they just want you on their side. Some people who don't know a lot might be very tempted by this and change sides without knowing what they are actually standing for. As for how I can connect this to vampires? Think about any vampire show you've watched. I'm sure they have at least once used the positive differences like immortality or turning into a bat or something to make you want to experience it yourself. What isn't looked at as much is that you would need to kill to survive. Also the line "will it wash away this jet black feeling?". Lots of people kill vampires but some of them look back on themselves, and an even smaller group of people will feel guilt. In the same way when one does not conform to society they do not have that acceptance which leads to similar thoughts, as in potential guilt for not conforming. I'm not saying you should be feeling bad about not conforming, just describing how it might happen.

Another line I enjoy is "We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey, they're always there". I feel like I can't fully wrap my head around it. The only things setting cheap whiskey apart are the taste, coming from ingredient quality. Apparently you get a worse hangover. I guess it could mean they're choosing the option with consequences because of the danger they're in, and even this won't keep them away fully. They're always there. I also want to bring up "We're hanging out with corpses and driving in this hearse". People around them have fallen victim already. Whether by vampire bite or societal standards. There's not many places you go where there is nobody who has been wronged by society one way or another. I have a miscellaneous fact for you. About 50 years ago, the political state of my city was abysmal. The city record store would get ransacked and Sex Pistols vinyl was considered contraband. This is the kind of unrest that fuels the scene. Some people conformed just to keep themselves safe from the law. These are the corpses they are hanging out with. 

Back onto vampires. You could say that the daytime watches over them, because the sun is what is keeping the vampires away from them. "these thoughts of endless night bring us back into the light" Okay, I'm going back to the metaphorical explanation. Imagine working a boring 9 to 5 until you die. Imagine there is absolutely nothing notable about your character because you're too afraid to stand out. Imagine that nobody can describe you outside surface level words. These are the kind of things that will remind you just how worthless being "normal" is. They feel like they're going to be struck down before their prime. They have so much life ahead of them but here they are fighting for their lives. In the real life context this actually makes a lot of sense. Lots of people are at a disadvantage no matter which way they don't conform, whether it's willingly or against their will. Minorities like people of color or the gay community are significantly at more risk of external violence. So are the people in alternative subcultures who spit in the face of societal standards. There are many powerful people who would have no problem with striking these people down before their prime. It's vile.

Can you tell I love a good excuse to ramble about the authorities and all of their problems? Don't answer that. This is where the demolition lovers become relevant. I promise this part is about vampires. They're constantly on the run from the vampires and all they really have is each other. Demolition man needs demolition woman. Demolition woman doesn't need anybody in particular. He protects her with everything he has, telling her to kill him if he gets bitten so he can't hurt her. He's basically begging for her to show him any kind of love and she just won't. They hide out in the nightclub and in this case they really do shoot back holy water to repel the vampires, or at least to make them feel a little more at ease. They hide among the dead to escape the chaos where people are rioting and burning churches. The days are all they have to protect them while they wait for night to fall.

And if you've ever wondered what they whisper at the end of the song, here's everything. You can't hear them that well but it's because they're all mixed up and some reversed. Somebody isolated the tracks to make out this much.

sparkling pin wheels of sterling silver chainsaws cascading through cardio procedures

doctors called it luck but others called it style 

and its always innocent like roller coaster fatalities like ghosts in the snow

And

sparkling pin wheels of sterling silver chainsaws, give us razors, give us faith 

and leave us to haunt the team* (maybe teen).

(Thank you clinging_to_life for retrieving lyrics)

To be honest, you could apply this to anything and everything, this is what music is there for after all. The people who wronged you in your life. Don't let them take you away from your loved ones. As mentioned before, you cannot let society take away from your identity. Or it could be something else, in Gerard's case I think it was addiction. It's a hard topic but you can't let yourself succumb. You can't let your loved ones see you go through that. Not in the way that you should hide it, but in the way that you can't lose yourself. That is the recurring theme. No one can save you, only you can. You can't. Give. Up.

Onto Drowning Lessons. I think this is where the horror aspect shines through the most because I would like to believe Gerard way does not kill people. In the booklet of the Bullets CD he says "Sorry for writing so many songs about killing you. I hope this one can make up for it" talking about Demolition Lovers. If my man made up for writing songs about killing me by writing a song where we die together then I guess I would forgive him. I don't think I'm going to include the killing the head cheerleader to get a hard on.

The lyrics start with… well… assault! Anyway. The first lines are pretty loose and leave some room for interpretation. "Without a sound I took her down, and dressed in red and blue I squeezed" There's a couple of different things this could mean. Wait. Before I forget. A disclaimer, the actions in this song were likely thought of while under the influence with reduced sense of right or wrong. My first guess is being dressed in red and blue means having bruises on display. Not hickeys, but from being strangled as squeezing is mentioned, presumably around the throat. I think this is so because when you cannot breathe you also cannot speak, "without a sound". It would also have "took her down" because asphyxiation is… not something easy to come back from, if you even come back from it. The other way to think about it is the red and blue being pills. I guess being dressed in them means being visibly under the influence. This would make sense to start with because it gives context around demolition man's point of view. It would explain why he is fantasizing about killing her. Or Gerard. Or you. This album is fully packed with internal and external rage.

The "imaginary wedding gown that you can't wear in front of me" sounds like demolition man hoping she has love for him that he just isn't seeing it, instead of it not being real. Or it could be he is in denial about the love she has for somebody else, considering it imaginary. There is something I am curious about with the phrasing of "as rice grains and roses fall at your feet". This is a tradition practiced at weddings, sending the newlyweds off to their new life together filled with love and beauty. The particular thing I'm looking at is the use of "your" as opposed to "our". This is something experienced together. It's not such a different word that it would mess with the flow of the lyrics or anything. Maybe I'm just looking too far into it.

Following after is "Let's say goodbye a hundredth time, and then tomorrow we'll do it again". This is something that points at these events being made up or imagined. Something like a recurring fantasy that demolition man would have been experiencing on drugs as I mentioned before. The next verse gives a few more background details regarding the events of these fantasies, like the method of the murder and the location. The timeline of this song is really odd. It could even be that each verse is a different victim and demolition man is already on his 1000 man killing spree. That’s a conversation that even I'm not ready to have.

The next part really proves my point of the crazy timeline. We've jumped to talking about 1000 bodies and we are still several songs away from demolition man even finding out the devil is real. I guess I'll just treat it as some foreshadowing. It would actually make better sense using the timeline I just made up in the last paragraph, because it would be demolition man reflecting on something that happened recently to give his actions context. On second thought it could be a coincidence, demolition woman is still alive and he just happens to be thinking about how dedicated to her he could be. At this point he only wants to gather these thousand bodies to prove himself to her in the hopes she might realize how amazing she is and fall head over heels for him instead of gathering them hoping to see her one more time before eternal death.

"We can wash down this ring with poison and kerosene" This is a really good rhyme but I'm still trying to make sense of what it could mean. Maybe he really wants violence more than he wants love? I'm at a loss. Musicians have a weird thing for kerosene. I barely know what it is and I don't think I can string together a metaphor with something I am that unfamiliar with. Candle stuff. The hell does that have to do with anything? Looking at the next line I might have been right. Demolition man is losing it and the thing he wanted more than anything, genuine love, has perhaps been overtaken by violence and chaos. He will laugh as they die and treat it like a celebration. It could also be when he realized that killing her and himself will let them live together forever and he's finding it hard to think about anything else.

I've found another instance of odd wording, "and I wish you away". Just like "as rice grains and roses fall at your feet", it refers to only demolition woman instead of them both. Almost like he wants her away from him, instead of him wanting to be alone with her. It could also be building resentment, as what happens in a toxic relationship. He might want her love so much that it hurts but he might want it so bad that who it's from doesn't matter anymore. But at the same time, he's doing anything and everything to prove his dedication, so this could be a massive conflict in his mind. Once again, I could be looking way far into things

Up next! "Our Lady of Sorrows". God I need a sentence starter sheet. The most notable thing about this song is the  really strong meaning behind it, centred around friendship. As Gerard says before playing the song, "You probably came with your best friend, or one of your best friends… I want you to turn to that mother f*cker, grab him by the throat and say 'you're my best fucking friend and I would die for you'"

Starting with "We could be perfect one last night, and die like star-crossed lovers when we fight". I like the Romeo and Juliet imagery. If this is to do with them I think this could mean every time they fight they always end up back together the way the star crossed lovers are destined. It could also mean their sheer lack of communication and lack of… literally everything has them both dying inside due to the other. I just made that one up. They could be both opposing each other and demolition man is thinking "if you would just take my hand" or something. I'm thinking of something farfetched for laceration gravity. It could be something painful like lacerations are, whether psychologically or physically, and perhaps demolition man wants to solve the mystery about these things, like in a genuine relationship. Don't trust me to say anything that makes sense.

This is the song that tells you what you need to hear sometimes. Stand up so f*cking tall and don't let them see your back, and take my hand so you can never be afraid again. You've only got one chance to put things at an end. So do it. Don't think about it. This could be something demolition is trying to say to demolition woman and she just could not care less.  Speaking of that pair, I have a few different ways I see thing song. It could be that everyone knows demolition man is crazy the way he is and they all fear him. With that this would be demolition man convincing demolition woman to ignore them all. I love making up stories! "You said we're not celebrities, we spark and fade, they die by threes" This has interesting backstory. There was a superstition surrounding death by threes that started a conspiracy with celebrity deaths. Back then the band didn't want to be like all of the other celebrities. Maybe demolition man doesn't want it to end the same as many are around them. Death by vampires. I think that the next lines are about the consequences. If they don't pick themselves up and keep going they will die. In other words be traded for apparitions.

"Oh how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying" is a line that stand out to me and even Gerard himself. It's a line that can have an entire meaning even on its own. I think it means that rather than there being an end to the struggle, you learn to deal with it instead. I could be wrong. Very wrong. Or it could be anything that you idealized and got disappointed by. It could also be foreshadowing to demolition man's gifted "immortality" and how he can't die by human methods so he may as well be dead inside, and the devil has total control over whether he lives or dies. In the last part it clues into demolition man having a few violent tendencies, whether imaginary or real. Maybe his point really isn't getting through and he feels this is the only way. This isn't something I endorse, mind you. Usually this is a last resort method which means demolition man feels like he is backed into a corner in this relationship, which is kind of a constant in a relationship as toxic as this one.

This song has some awesome religious symbolism and it's not just in the title. I'm not religious myself so tell me what you think if you are. As mentioned before the main themes or feelings in the lyrics and the music are overcoming fears and evoking a sense of inner strength. This is like the Catholic narrative of the Virgin Mary's sorrows leading to salvation. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" is also about the same thing. If you wanted a little more background info, this imagery represents Mary's profound grief and suffering, especially during the crucifixion of her son, Jesus Christ. In Catholic tradition, the Seven Sorrows of Mary are seven events in her life that caused her great pain, including the crucifixion

Next!!! "Headfirst for Halos"! I like the title of this one. Death without hesitation. This is for the ones who want their deepest despairs turned into a happy and jumpy song. It's about when you're depressed enough that you're right on that brink of death and how you should think about the good things in your life if there are any and not always the bad. The band said they wrote this for all the people out there who are just so down on themselves, that they wanted to end their lives and that they wanted to make people happy, hence the upbeat tempo and the think happy thoughts. The song has something in common with "I'm Not Okay (I Promise). They use the happy and upbeat instrumentals to juxtapose the lyrics about death and suicide. I'm Not Okay was intended to be something of a person's final message. It's old title was to be "I Promise It's the Last Time".

The lyrics directly connect to how 9/11 left Gerard feeling. It knocked him so far that he changed his entire career path, for perspective. In some way, that is the day that started it all. After or during an experience like this your brain is racing. It's not something a lot of people can just put onto paper. Gerard went through this among other things and wrote some songs to vent. Like this one. Things like thinking of blowing his brains against the ceiling and taking excessive amounts of pills to feel normal. And to go along with the music he makes it sound light hearted and childish with fairies and pixie dust. It's known that a peter pan musical is one of if not the first time Gerard sang for people. This'd mean it's a pretty prominent memory, and to cope with his feelings he's looking back on times when he was young and innocent. This is something a lot of people do in fact. This is why anything with the concept of nostalgia sells so well, like When We Were Young. 

This is how I imagine a lot of people cope, including people like demolition man. Maybe he likes Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Kidding. Maybe there was a time in his love where he was given love more genuine than what he gets now, if any. Or it could be he never received love at all and sometimes he thinks of a time he didn't have someone in his life who was openly hurtful. It could even be he thinks of the past because back then he didn't have one person consuming his entire mind. I have thoughts about "Now honestly that’s what I said to her, what I said to her". I think of this line in a very specific way. Have you ever been too afraid to express your real feelings so you hide them behind a joke? That's what this sounds like. You might say something you really mean and end it with "just kidding!". This line sounds smug in the way that he's laughing at whoever he said these things to because maybe they actually took them seriously. Or it could be about the lines with the fairies. He could be embarrassed to be an enjoyer of fairies. I guess I don't have a lot to say about this song, because there is not a lot of lyrical content compared to the other songs. Only one or two verses worth.

This is the first song Gerard wrote for My Chemical Romance, "Skylines and Turnstiles". This is directly related to the events of 9/11 which he saw basically firsthand while he was riding the train for his meeting in New York with Cartoon Network pitching an idea for one of the cartoons he helped co-create, "The Breakfast Monkey". Witnessing the event changed his life. Afterwards he and Matt wrote this. This along with Our Lady of Sorrows and maybe another one or two I don't remember hold some of the most significant meanings. What they wanted to do when they started the band was save kid's lives. This is something you can see really well in their lyrics. I love My Chemical Romance.

They start the song off reaching out directly to listeners. Whatever they're feeling, they're not alone. This event ruined a lot of people on the inside, and that could have spread to relationships. The city was left dead quiet, and they're taking the initiative by speaking up and maybe saying sorry about it. No matter how much of a mess you might feel, they will always be there. Always. And if the world needed something better, they gave it one more reason. Someone might have had no reason to go on and this song reached out to them and told them to stay alive. This song was created to bring people together. People who have all suffered because of the same thing. They wanted people to feel less alone with what they're feeling and that it will be okay.

After this there is some imagery of the city afterward with all of the life gone. "we walk in single file" fits in here because the perfect conforming is associated with the lifelessness. It's followed by the typical routine of anybody who works in the city but with the added horrific grief of all of the people lost around them and the way they just have to keep riding the train and clocking in and out like nothing happened and everything is normal. This is the awkward silence mentioned before. Nobody is really prepared for something a catastrophic as this so after it happens everybody is just… lost. Exploring corners of their minds they never would have before.  Such a great loss of life whether literally or mentally takes the feeling out of everything. It's all cold, dark and numb. 

Onto the chorus. Lots of people feel that witnessing something like this has robbed them of their innocence or even happiness. It robbed them of the ability to feel safe in their city, in a way they were broken. I'm pretty sure butane gives you chemical burns, a physical equivalent to the pain they felt experiencing that. The sky may have been stolen from their eyes as it was overtaken by smoke and dust. It could also be a metaphor for their happiness or freedom, leaving people imprisoned in their own minds. "we can't close the lids on burning eyes" could be about one being frozen in shock right down to their eyes. Some people feel a morbid curiosity and keep watching. Whichever one it is, they both suck. I have a feeling that fallout vapor could mean… smoke? "Our memories blanket us with friends we know like fallout vapor" is what I'm thinking about. If you look it from a place of optimism they are saying that no matter how awful it was, your friends were with you and they still are so it will be okay. In the same way smoke stops you from seeing the worst of the wreckage.

Speaking of the wreckage, it would have been a lot for anyone from anywhere to have seen when they were just expecting to look at a computer all day. A lot.  It haunts people. Right to their core. Like they describe "It reaches in and tears your flesh apart". Your heart drops, and everything feels cold. They make you wonder if you still have one. Then you ask yourself, 'Do I still have one?'. You think to yourself and you wonder if you can ever feel like you did before. "Can we still reclaim out innocence?" These questions are posed before the same line as before "and if the world needs something better, let's give them one more reason now". They wanted to show you these things are possible. You still have a heart. You can still fix your heart.

This like all of the other songs is pretty open for interpretation. There is nothing that explicitly states what the catastrophic event was, except maybe the bleak city imagery. It could still be anything. It could be a vampire attack that affected the entire city. Think of the catastrophe or apocalypse or whatever in the prologue of Seraph of the End. Except humanity isn't wiped out. There's still some left to feel all of the sorrow. This could be a bonding experience, or you could be demolition woman. She probably stayed with demolition man all throughout this because she knew he would protect her and she didn't want to die yet. Not because she felt anything for him. This probably only increased his affection as he began to see her as something precious to protect.

Track 8, "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville". I feel like I could retell this song like a narrative. I really love the steady descent throughout, through both the instrumentals and Gerard's vocals. The instrumentals match each event and it makes it a really nice listen. I don't remember if this song was written for or it was based off of Dawn of the Dead, specifically the 1978 version. They even incorporate the famous quote "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth". It tells the story of two lovers hiding out in an abandoned mall in Monroeville. It's one of the song where you can clearly see their horror movie influences. This could be interpreted as a story about the demolition lovers, just switch out the supernatural creature.

In the beginning, the two lovers have found peace in the abandoned mall they have been hiding out in. Each day passes by and they spend them nice and slow, watching each sunrise and sunset. As long as they had each other, life was complete. It was their happily ever after, just like you'd see in a movie. There is nothing to worry about and they couldn't be more happy to be alive together. They would explore the mall, not a single person around to bother them. Walking up and down the escalators and looking at the old half price sales that workers could never pack away. They had to run and run or they'd be eaten alive. Which was weird, because there wasn't any inhuman presence. Everything was untouched, almost like a movie set. Even the colder fountains and elevators were still functional. This is what they'd expected for many more days to come.

This life was torn apart in an instant. Already the planks barricading the entrances are torn down. Already are these monsters are roaming their "home". Already has demolition woman fallen into the hands of a vile creature, and already has it sunk it's sharp teeth into her neck. Demolition man barely has time to pull his head out of the clouds before his lover is dying in his arms. The one thing he wants more than anything is to stay with her forever, dead or alive. He fends off all of the attackers he can see and holds her gently in his arms. He's losing control of his thoughts and reality seems further and further away. "But does anyone notice? But does anyone care?" He's got no idea how fast the venom acts, if she's going to live or die or even transform and attack him. He thinks about taking her out to save her from the pain of transformation but he can't bear to live on without her. "But would anything matter if you're already dead?". He also considers just letting her turn because he won't admit it, but he knows she is just using him for protection. He knows deep down that if he saves her that she will never love him the same.

The more time passes the further down demolition man spirals. He has not moved and the same three thoughts are cycling through his head. 'Maybe her death is inevitable and whatever I do won't make a difference. Maybe it's already too late. What if it isn't. What if she can really be saved? I don't want to lose her.' (A little break from fiction. As you listen to the song some of the same lyrics repeat but significantly more frantic. Demolition man is hitting a mental block. The instrumentals match this too. Back to business.) She said one last thing to him before she was attacked. He just wants her to wake up so he can tell her he loves her just as much. Those being her last words makes it so much harder to even think about harming her. But at the same time, it changes nothing and her body still lays limp. His memories of her happy and smiling make it impossible for him to hold a gun to her head. It will ruin her beautiful image. That those wretched creatures tore out of his hands. When there's no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth.

Would anyone notice her absence? Does anybody even know her on the level that he does? Does anybody else feel such affection for her? Will her death put such a hole in anybody else's heart but demolition man's? Demolition lost the last remaining person he was close to. Nobody else in the world will lose a part of them quite as big as demolition man. He will be all alone. Nobody would notice that demolition woman is dead. Nobody would notice demolition man is missing an entire part of him. He may as well have shot her and then himself. But does anyone notice there's a corpse in this bed?

I can't get over all the instruments going quiet before the last line except for a few notes from the guitar. It makes it sound even lonelier than it already was. On top of that Gerard sounds like he's standing meters away from the microphone, maybe even in a big and empty abyss. Or maybe he is the corpse in this bed. The imagery from the earlier verse makes me feel like places such as shopping malls are big, cold and empty spaces without the people there to make it feel alive. Think of a concrete jungle. This song is for the people who feel way too far away from everyone else. The people who didn't think they could lose something so suddenly until it really happened. The people that faltered when it was important.

Now, "This is the Best Day Ever". This song is about Gerard's trips to the hospital whilst writing the album. It's about what it's like at night and how it plays tricks on your mind. It's also about his longing to get out and the day he got out of the hospital would be the best day ever. There's some imagery in this song associated with the album art, as in the Ferris wheel on the back. Fun fact! This song inspired that one fan fiction that sends shivers down your spine when it's brought up. I know things, remember? This song is a little different, actually very different from the others. I'm applying it to two possible instances in the storyline instead of the usual singular. I hope this doesn't hurt your head.

"Every hour, on the hour, they drew blood" I'm not about to get all scientific. I think they drew blood so often because the vampirism is a virus that can be detected by this method, and it acts fast. It could be that this hospital is researching the virus urgently because of the sheer impact it has had in such a short time. I don't know what this has to do with Gerard though, it could be a little exaggeration. I know that drug tests are a wide spread thing but I don't those require drawing blood, especially every hour. It could also be that he wants out because he is held against his will. Mental health act or whatever. Some people resist it so strongly that they need out. Or it's just that horrible of a place. I shouldn't assume thing about that.

Demolition woman was married to a man who was not demolition man. Demolition comes across her in the mental hospital and falls madly in love with him but she sees him as someone to be taken advantage of. At first he knows she's married but he doesn't care. He would do anything for her even if it meant waiting out her current marriage. To demolition woman he can be made useful so she starts seeing him on the side. She sees him for things like drugs, sex and whatever else you could get from associating with him like protection and unsettling loyalty.

Demolition man ultimately decides the best course of action is taking demolition woman to a hospital. Even if they can't exactly save her they are better equipped to care for them both. They're both treated for their wounds and injuries. By miracle she is saved from transformation. Maybe the holy water really did protect them. Regardless, they both come out alive. For them this is the best day ever (ha). Until it's not. The vampires inevitably find this shelter with a dense population of people and overrun it. This left them no choice but to escape as soon as possible. He's hesitant about it and think maybe they should try to stay as long as they can so they can heal and maybe just spend some time together for once. The hospital is nostalgic of when they met, it only intensifies his attachment. But she's urging them to get out of there so they run away together.

Next, "Cubicles". Think of this like a flashback episode or something. Gerard wrote this about his old office crush from when he was under Cartoon Network. Pretty much parallel to demolition man's infatuation with demolition woman. I think this is where there story starts, just like where Gerard's career starts. It actually started in a Barnes and Noble but you get what I mean. I enjoy the office related puns this song is filled with. I don't remember why or how but Christina Ricci is relevant.

"The tearing sound of love notes" is like setting in stone that this romance is totally impossible. Something like this would bring on self-hatred in some people who don't have high self-esteem to begin with and the only person who would have had the power to change the outcome is the guy himself. The view outside is "sterile" in the way that it's plain and boring. This is how demolition man sees everything after he lost one of the few things pushing him to get up and go to work. Photocopying all the things they could be is kind of crazy in the way I'm giggling at you. The reason this romance has become impossible as such is that demolition woman doesn't work there anymore. All that's left is her empty, vacant office cubicle. They could put anybody there, but it would still never feel the same as getting to walk past and see her face. It's not the first failed romance he has experienced and he's starting to think he might die alone. I'm not sure if he has had a successful one. This would make it harder to stay hopeful, knowing the odds are straight against you.

Because of this he will be spending all his time with strangers because he feels that anyone who will actually get to know him won't like him anymore. It feels like it's terminal because it'll keep going on until he dies. I think a "water-cooler romance" is a cute little concept. The only time you really meat is at the water-cooler. She might be long gone but sometimes he still fantasizes about what they could have been. There's a few different locations you could think of as date spots. A park and dancing by a tree is pretty cute. Or they could be at a dark beach with a black view with nothing to take in but each other and the sound of the waves, a nice solitude. "As pin-pricks in the velvet catch your fall" is a bit to explain. I think this is a dream-like sequence where they really go to all these locations in his imagination. It's describing a bed catching their fall, the velvet being the blanket. Personally I despise velvet and could not sleep with it anywhere near me but to each their own. It feels pretty soft running your fingers on it but if you poke it it's a little spiky. This would be why there's pin pricks. Because they're falling on the bed.

All of this daydreaming doesn't change how things happened in real life. At the end of the day he will still never be able to see her again. This is really getting to him and he's spiraling. The repeating lines are for his thoughts repeating over and over. It's really starting to seem like the only option and he is distraught. When things like this happen you find yourself expecting the worst and settling for less to avoid disappointment. And the worst is dying alone. His emotional turmoil has begun to make him consider suicide because he'd rather get life over with than be constantly disappointed until his eventual death of natural causes, because in his eyes it is just not worth the trouble.

Demolition lovers! THE demolition lovers! Or just demolition lovers! This is the song Gerard wrote as an apology to his girlfriend for the rest of the songs about killing her. Which is funny because the only difference in this song is he dies with her. I'm not going to say anything about Gerard's relationships. I probably have already. Whups. The demolition lovers' relationship is abusive and extremely unhealthy but they love each other deeply in a toxic way. He tries so hard to show just how much she means to him so she'll marry him and choose only him. What he doesn't know is that she still has her husband and it just using him for sex and drugs.

The whole "I'm trying to let you know just how much you mean to me" could be about the bumps in their relationship. It might not be so obvious how much she means to him because of other things that happen, like the arguments and the violence. This would be the things they "put each other through". This is demolition man doing anything to convey to demolition woman how much she means to him, wishing he could mean so much to her too. This song is about how he would literally die for her or with her but she wouldn't even think of doing that. "A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full" is actually a really clever line. There's two different meanings. On one hand it could mean that they get drunk to cope and they'll be okay as long as they're on the sauce and on the other hand it could mean it could be literal. Fun fact. If you're desperate enough, maybe even in an apocalypse, liquor can be used to substitute gas. It doesn't work as well but it's better than nothing. This is my disclaimer. Don't try it.

There is some scene setting. They have escaped the hospital and now they're on the run again. They decided it's easier to travel alone than stay with civilization because then they only have themselves to protect and it's easier to hide. This is where the first line "I'd end up days with you in a hail of bullets" becomes relevant. This is how they die. They're out of danger and demolition woman doesn't see as much of a benefit in demolition man. He feels like there's nothing left to do. He's trying so hard to let her know just how much she means to him. They're drifting apart and he can't stand it. To bring her back to him he does something to bring them back to each other where nothing else can ever come between them again. He kills her by gunshot, leaving her dead on the bathroom floor and not long after joins her in death. He reaches to touch her hand as they bleed out in a pool of blood. This is only the start of his plan.

Bullets was the album that held you as you cried. Revenge is the album that tells you it'll be okay. 

Revenge is the album that teaches you to accept.

Demolition man wakes up in hell. He begs Satan himself to give him a chance to get demolition woman back and be with her for eternity. This will prove how dedicated he is to her. He is tasked with killing 1000 evil men. He will be sent back to the mortal world with an immortal body so he can carry out this task.

 "Helena". Gerard wrote this song as a tribute to his Grandmother. He also said it's an open letter to himself for not spending a lot of time with her before she died. As for the title, Gerard and Mikey's Grandma's name was Elena. She's mentioned in the CD booklet. The song is named after the misfits track of the same name. This song is when demolition comes back to the mortal world just to stumble across demolition woman's funeral. This has him feeling a flood of different feelings, eventually having to come to terms with the fact that he did this. It's related to the real life meaning in the way that he also feels regret about the distance between them. Really nothing could be done but demolition man feels like there was something he still could have done.

Let's get into some lines. There's quite a few that support the possibility of demolition woman sleeping around, like "What's the worst you take from every heart you break?" This is demolition man asking why she had to do that. She probably broke so many relationships just for her personal desires. The next line "We are the very hurt you sold". That goes hard. The hurt she sold is a night in bed. It could be a lot of different hurts. Hurt because she did those things while demolition man was fully dedicated to her. Hurt for the people finding out their partners were unfaithful. Hurt for the people who realized they were the only sincere person in the relationship. This line is a declaration of revenge. He's going to gather up all of the hurt and throw it back at her. He is the very hurt she sold. A lot of the lines in this song point at the hurt she caused and how it's going to come back to her. "The match you strike to incinerate the lives of everyone you know" I never really got this line and it was for a silly reason. It's usually split into two lines and I just never connected the dots. I got it when I read the cd booklet where all the lyrics are in paragraph form though.

Demolition man is a pretty all or nothing guy. Except he's repeatedly choosing the all option. He wants to see her no matter what it takes. Even if he dies all over again or something, even though we know that's not going to happen. He is a road rager too I guess. He wants to get to her even if it means he crashes his car and it happens to be hers. Even outside this context grief does that to you. The need to see that person just one more time can be so intense that one would be okay with it being through car accident. I read the lyrics again and I think I just caught a little reference. "Just like the hearse you died to get in again" I'm specifically looking at the word 'again'. I think this could be a silly little reference to the line from Vampires Will Never Hurt You, "We're hanging out with corpses and driving in this hearse". They kind of faked dying to hide in the hearse. I don't know why one would want to be in there again. Maybe demolition man is putting words in her mouth to hide he's the one who really killed her. Or maybe something happened in the hearse. I'm not sure I wanna get into that. A mentally ill couple alone in a hearse made to carry the dead. What could possibly happen?

Warning. This is me talking about myself. Skip to the next song. I'm going to be a nerd for a second. This song has octave jumps in the bassline. I quite like octave jumps. I happen to be a bassist.   The half time chorus is another really cool feature. I don't really know a lot about chord progressions so I can't say much. The feeling I get listening to it is bittersweet. Which the theme of the song is. If I actually remember what bittersweet means. Bitter because of the loss of someone close to you. Sweet because you enjoyed their company while you did. If only you saw the silly little gig I played this song at. I was dressed as Helena. Sort of. If she was on Myspace 20 odd years ago. Knee high converse and stuff. Songs become so much funner to listen to when you tie them to memories like that.

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