Heaven Help Us - MCR

My closest friend was recently very into this song. I didn't really understand why, so I'm going to listen to it on repeat until I do. 

Times listened while making this: ||||  ||||  |||

The lyrics are as follows:

[Verse 1]

Hear the sound, the angels come screaming

Down your voice, I hear you've been bleeding

Make your choice, they say you've been pleading

"Someone, save us!"

[Chorus]

Heaven, help us now, come crashing down

And hear the sound as you're falling down

[Verse 2]

And out this old hotel, but I can't tell if I've been breathing

Or sleeping, or screaming, or waiting for the man to call

And maybe all of the above, 'cause mostly, I've been

Sprawled on these cathedral steps, while spitting out the blood

And screaming, "Someone, save us!"

[Chorus]

Heaven, help us now, come crashing down

And hear the sound as you're falling down

[Post-Chorus]

And will you pray for me? Or make a saint of me?

And will you lay for me? Or make a saint of me?

[Bridge]

'Cause I'll give you all the nails you need, cover me in gasoline

Wipe away those tears of blood again

And the punchline to the joke is asking

"Someone, save us!"

[Chorus]

Heaven, help us now, come crashing down

And hear the sound as you fall

[Post-Chorus]

And will you pray for me?

(You don't know a thing about my sins

How the misery begins)

Or make a saint of me?

(You don't know, so I'm burning

I'm burning)

And will you lay for me?

(You don't know a thing about my sins

How the misery begins)

Or make a saint of me?

(You don't know, 'cause I'm burning

I'm burning)

[Outro]

'Cause I'll give you all the nails you need

Cover me in gasoline

(I'm burning, I'm burning again...)

Verse 1:

First thing I noticed: reverb. I know that later, there’s also some weird reverb or double-tracking or something on Ray’s guitar in the chorus before the bridge, and the bridge itself. The imagery of angels coming down from Heaven, screaming, is quite disturbing. Continued into the chorus, there are descriptions of them falling or crashing. The choice mentioned could be the patient’s (from the Black Parade), or it could be God’s. Life or death, Heaven or Hell. I believe it’s about choosing between life and death because it isn't up to the subject to choose Heaven or Hell. He knows where he's going, anyway. The line, “I hear you’ve been bleeding,” could refer to the bleeding of the patient, internally or externally, as he approaches death. Others have speculated self-harm to be the subject of this line, but I’m not sure that fits with the overarching theme. Bleeding is mentioned a few other times in this song in the context of “spitting out blood,” and “tears of blood.” The pain and blood discussed could also be future pain, or pain he feels he deserves. I think the crucial part of all of this is that whoever is in pain or feels they deserve it also wishes to be saved. This is also where it draws major parallels to other Black Parade songs, specifically House of Wolves. Throughout that song, Gerard is also singing about either going to Heaven or Hell. He brings up many religious contradictions, such as “We got innocence for days / Well, I think I’m gonna burn in Hell” and “Tell me I’m and angel, take this to my grave / Tell me I’m a bad, bad, bad, bad man.” That is where the tension in the Heaven Help Us comes from– wanting to be ripped apart and damned for all eternity but also wanting to be purified and saved. 

Side note - Gerard’s vocals in the line “Someone, save us,” is great. 10/10.

Chorus:

“Heaven, help us, come crashing down / and hear the sound as you’re falling down.” That’s the entire chorus. Brief. What is he talking about here, though? Either Heaven falling down or the subject/protagonist descending into Hell. The more obvious explanation would be that the patient– or whoever is begging Heaven to help– is falling down himself, never experiencing Heaven. This could be him giving himself reasoning (fear of Hell) to bargain or pray to a greater being. Alternatively, he could be asking for Heaven, or parts of Heaven, such as angels, to come down to Earth to grant mercy on himself or the rest of humanity. The sound to be heard is either Hell’s noises as the patient descends or the sounds of the screams on Earth as the angels come down. The screaming being “Someone save us,” of course. This is a bit terrifying! Imagine slowly dying in a hospital, knowing that death is approaching. You don’t have much longer, so you question your faith, whether you were a good enough person by the standards of God. Your internal organs are inflamed, your immune system is waging war on itself. The blood is a byproduct of you. So what can you do other than request a savior, someone you have deemed morally better than yourself? It must be difficult. Either the angels come down to hear his panicked cries or he waits out the rest of eternity in Hell. 

Verse 2:

The only guitar bends are in this section, when Gerard sings, “and maybe all of the above.” Not sure if there’s any significance to that, but it should be mentioned. The beginning of this is very reminiscent of Sleep in subject (the Paramour Mansion, nightmares, generally being frightened). One of the biggest differences is that Gerard sings, “And through it all, how could you cry for me? / ‘Cause I don’t feel bad about it.” Gerard, the patient, or whoever the subject may be, is not yet ready to repent. He doesn’t care about what he’s done, but he acknowledges that it is not morally sound. In Heaven Help Us, the character has come to the conclusion that he should feel shame and guilt, that he should beg for forgiveness before his death. The character being “sprawled out on the Cathedral steps, while spitting out the blood” shows his determination to not be damned. He has become afraid of what awaits him in Hell, he’s ready to embrace religion because he thinks it will right his wrongs. It will absolve him of his guilt. He can’t be vindicated. Laying across the steps to a cathedral shows his desperation. Going against his previously stated code of not caring, never apologizing, he considers Heaven. But does he actually believe in that? Does he think that Heaven will actually help?

Bridge:

This is factually the best part. The most fluctuation.

He gives permission to torture him. He will give you what you need to do so. He is almost entirely convinced that he will go to Hell. He knows what waits for him, but the offering of the nails contradicts that! If he was to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus, that implies that although he was condemned by the people and seen as a villain, he would go on to be judged in a positive manner in Heaven. This is likely not going to happen. When he sings, “cover me in gasoline,” the song goes back towards damnation. He wants to be lit on fire and burn forever because, as he judges the situation himself, he deserves it. If he wipes away the tears caused by the torture, he is toughing it out and pretending it doesn’t hurt him as much as it does. In reality, it would hurt him so much, but he would ultimately feel as though all the torture would redeem him. Does he actually care about being redeemed, though? Something I’ve heard in my own life is that “Nobody is coming to save you.” It’s meant to be advice. Grow up, do things yourself, nobody will help you, you are alone. Nobody is coming to save him, not even himself. He has to ask for the assistance of beings better than him. He has to ask if he’s even deserving of being saved. I don’t know if the audience is supposed to know if he’s worthy of salvation, and I don’t know if he knows. He may not care at all, but this might be because of his lack of faith in humanity, not religion. With none of us truly being holy or worthy of this great out-of-reach afterlife, we may not get there. He has nothing to back him up in his request to be saved, and I don’t think he believes that anyone else does either. None of it matters, it’s all a joke, and we aren’t worth saving. We might all be damned. 

Unless Heaven intervenes. Unless Heaven helps.

Post-Chorus:

When Gerard sings “You don’t know a thing about my sins…” I’m reminded of AMBULANCE when he sings “you don’t know a thing about this life.” I understand that in AMBULANCE, this is most likely addressing everyone who thinks they know the members of MCR, people who assume things about them and fully believe their convictions. After all, the song is addressed to the band and the audience. There isn’t an analysis of the line from Heaven Help Us anywhere, so it could be up to interpretation. I think that it’s still addressing the audience and/or the band itself. Unless he’s assuming the role of an angel and making a character out of it, he could be talking about how fans deify him and the band, putting them on an unrequested pedestal. This could also be about the patient. This whole time, he’s been going back and forth between asking if he’s worth saving (“And will you pray for me?”), if he deserves a spot in Heaven (or make a saint of me?”), or if he deserves to burn for all of eternity (“You don’t know, ‘cause I’m burning”). The way he sings the lines asking if someone will pray for him or make a saint of him, I am reminded of Skylines and Turnstiles when he sings “Well, if you take me down, or would you lay me out?” Both songs relate to death, angels, and innocence vs. damnation. He’s dying and has had his fair share of time to ponder existentialism and religion, so it’s perfectly reasonable to be thinking of these subjects. 

tl;dr: man believes he deserves to burn in Hell, wants Heaven to help him, but knows that Heaven would have to save all of humanity for us all to not be damned. 

Instruments:

I’m not sure if MCR uses music theory with symbolism, or if it’s just in the lyrics, but this track opens with palm muted arpeggios in A minor, moving to E major(i-V, a common occurrence). These are not in the same plain major or minor scale (in this case, the song is in A minor). “The harmonic minor scale (or Aeolian ♯7 scale) has the same notes as the natural minor scale except that the seventh degree is raised by one semitone, creating an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees” (wiki). Basically, the G that diatonically should be in the E major chord following the A minor chord is now a G# due to it being a harmonic minor. Since the G is the leading tone, it wants to resolve to the tonic, which is A. Raising the G a half-step increases the tension while maintaining melancholy in the song, especially as the chord progression goes on to fluctuate between minor and harmonic minor. I think that aspect is important because it can relate to the fluctuation between Heaven and Hell. If only they had lined up the harmonic minor and normal minor to be in sync with the discussion of religion...

But of course… power chords dominate the whole thing.

Was it worth listening to 13 times and reading the lyrics over and over and over just for this? Not sure. I did enjoy listening to this song, though. I hadn't paid it much attention before this.

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