My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade

"Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance stands as one of the defining anthems of 21st-century rock music and the emo movement. Released on September 12, 2006, as the lead single from the band's third studio album, The Black Parade, the song marked a dramatic evolution for the New Jersey rock band fronted by Gerard Way. The track's origins date back to 2001, shortly after the band's formation, when it existed under the title "The Five of Us Are Dying." The band struggled for years to complete the song to their satisfaction, with Way initially dismissing it as being "about nothing" and resisting its inclusion on the album. It wasn't until the band fully incorporated the concept of The Black Parade into the song and Way wrote the now-iconic opening piano melody—a single G note that has become instantly recognizable to millions of fans—that the track transformed into the epic rock opera it became. The song was produced by Rob Cavallo, who had previously worked on Green Day's similarly ambitious American Idiot, and was recorded during the band's intense sessions at the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles, where the reportedly haunted atmosphere contributed to the album's dark, theatrical vision.

The song is an emo and pop-punk track that opens with a piano introduction and evolves into a fusion of several rock genres, with lyrics based around The Patient, the album's central character, as he recalls a childhood memory before his death, with Way describing the broader theme as "the triumph of the human spirit." The concept album centers on a man dying of cancer known as the Patient, with death presenting itself in the form of his fondest childhood memory: his father taking him to see a marching band. The song's theatrical ambition drew comparisons to Queen, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd, with its dramatic shifts in tempo and mood compressed into just five minutes. The song was first performed live on August 31, 2006, at the MTV Video Music Awards, and was made available on the band's Myspace page two days later before being officially released as a radio single on September 12. The accompanying music video, directed by Samuel Bayer (who had previously directed Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), depicted the Patient being taken to death by the marching band known as the Black Parade, with elaborate costumes designed by Academy Award-winning designer Colleen Atwood. In 2017, the video was dubbed MTV's Greatest Music Video of the Century.

"Welcome to the Black Parade" reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining their best-performing song on that chart, and reached number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and has been certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing over 7,000,000 confirmed unit sales. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 1 on the UK singles chart, remains their only song to reach that position, and has been certified 2× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry with over 1,200,000 confirmed units. The song became the group's first number one in the UK on October 15, 2006, staying there for two weeks, and later rose to number one on the Modern Rock charts on October 26, 2006, where it would stay for seven weeks. The album itself debuted at number two on both the Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart, selling 240,000 copies in its first week in the United States and eventually achieving 4× Platinum certification. Music journalists have often considered "Welcome to the Black Parade" to be an "emo anthem"; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed it as a song that "shaped rock and roll." The album's lead single has been considered an "emo anthem" as well as My Chemical Romance's best song, with Kerrang! writing that it was one of the "biggest, best and most important rock songs of the 21st century," and a "rallying cry for all who feel the world's dealt them a cruel hand." The song's impact extended far beyond its initial release, becoming a staple of the band's live performances through their reunion tours and remaining a cultural touchstone for the emo and alternative rock communities, continuing to stream an average of 300,000 times per week in the UK as of 2021, cementing its status as a generational anthem.

My Chemical Romance Welcome To The Black Parade Lyrics

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?"

He said, "Will you defeat them?
Your demons, and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?"
"Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom
To lead you in the summer
To join the black parade"

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?"
Sometimes I get the feelin'
She's watchin' over me
And other times I feel like I should go
When through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone, we want you all to know

We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, will carry on
And in my heart, I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it

A world that sends you reelin'
From decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
And let's shout it loud and clear
Defiant to the end, we hear the call

To carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, will carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches

On and on, we carry through the fears
Oh, ah, ha
Disappointed faces of your peers
Oh, ah, ha
Take a look at me, 'cause I could not care at all

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part

Won't explain or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scars
Give a cheer for all the broken
Listen here, because it's who we are

Just a man, I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who had to sing this song
Just a man, I'm not a hero
I don't care

We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, you'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches on

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part (we'll carry on)

Do or die, you'll never make me (we'll carry on)
Because the world will never take my heart (we'll carry on)
Go and try, you'll never break me (we'll carry on)
We want it all, we wanna play this part (we'll carry on!)