Ten Favourite My Chemical Romance Songs: Updated

Ya’ll, it happened – My Chemical Romance announced they were reuniting for a show in California later this year. There’s a lot of speculation about whether they’ll announce a full tour (I will sell my soul, please make it happen) or whether it’s a one-off, does this mean they’ll make new music etc. etc. But either way I’m excited. I had read a theory they would announce their reunion in 2019 and I held onto that hope with such desperation and it happened. Dreams really do come true.

For a while I sort of ‘got over’ My Chemical Romance and didn’t really care about them very much but weirdly in the past few weeks my love for them had been revived. I have a theory it’s because my Mom finally got my old laptop from when I was a teenager to start working and there were a few MCR related things on there and recently I couldn’t stop listening to the songs. I really, REALLY wanted to see them live in concert again as I think they’re pretty much the only band where they could play any song and I would be word perfect on it but I told myself that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Now I have a slither of hope and I am CLINGING TO IT.

I decided to write an updated list of my ten favourite songs – I’d love it if they could perform these songs at a reunion concert but like, we’ll see, I’d be happy just getting to see them live again at this point.

10. Headfirst for Halos

This is a song off of their first album ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’ and it was one of the first songs off the album that I loved. Pretty sure the song is about drugs but like it’s an amazing song. Fun fact, in school we had to write a poem in class and I’m not a big fan of poetry so I wrote down some of the lyrics for this song and passed it off as my poem. My teacher was impressed but my friend Lucy was suspicious so she walked up to my friend who also loved MCR and said one of the lines from the poem and of course my friend started singing the song so I got caught out.

9. I Never Told You What I Do For a Living

On my last list this was my favourite song and I do still love it ‘cos it’s so f*cking raw. I love the ending of it, I don’t even know how to describe it it’s just RAW. I don’t really 100% even know what the songs about but it’s angsty as Hell and I just love it. For a long time ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’ was my favourite album but unfortunately I think ‘Danger Days’ has overtaken it now.

8. Teenagers

Every My Chemical Romance fan loves this song, let’s be real, it’s an absolute bop. For a while I had been intending to go to Birmingham with a bunch of other fans to recreate the music video but unfortunately it fell through and we never got to do it but it would’ve been so much fun. I also remember singing this song on karaoke at my uncles wedding and for some reason it got everyone super lit, even people who didn’t particularly like the band. It’s just that much of a bop I guess.

7. Famous Last Words

This song is angsty too and oh my god I love it – ‘I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone’ were like the most important lyrics to me as a teenager. Even now as an adult if everything has gone to sh*t this is still my go to song because it’s so powerful. I remember walking to my friend’s house after school and we were playing this song and screaming the lyrics the whole way back – I sincerely hope we didn’t pass anybody as I doubt they would’ve been impressed. If I am lucky enough to get to go to a reunion show I really REALLY hope this song is on the set list, it would mean so much to me.

Fun fact, this is the first song I heard by them because my step-sister kept playing it when I went to visit my Dad’s house and every week when I went over I’d ask her to put on the ‘pie song’. I thought the lyrics at the start were ‘to change that pie’. I didn’t even realise it was by them until my friend Jasmine played me the song on her MP3 Player and I instantly went “OH MY GOD IT’S THE PIE SONG!”

6. The Kids from Yesterday

I’m really surprised this song made it onto the list because over the years I’ve never particularly liked it. I’ll listen to it if I’m listening to the Danger Days album as a whole but if I’m picking specific songs I never would’ve chosen this one. I’ve been relistening to the Danger Days album a lot lately and I feel like for the first time I actually ‘understand’ that album – I won’t explain because I’m sure most people figured it out when the album was first released but I’m a bit stupid and didn’t get it until I was bloody 23 but like I got it in the end. But this song just hits different now and I really love it. It’s creeped up my list of favourites and I’d be happy to see this song live again so I could fully appreciate it this time.

5. Dead!

I mentioned this song in my previous post because I loved it then and I still love it now. I remember buying ‘The Black Parade’ album, listening to it for the first time and loving this song the second it kicked in after ‘The End’ – before the song had even finished I knew it would be a favourite. And it still is – this song goes hard and I absolutely love it. Another song I’d love to see live again but doubt they’d pick to play. I wish I could’ve gone to the Black Parade tour but unfortunately I wasn’t a fan at that point and I was primary age so my Mom might’ve not let me go anyway – and even if she had I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate it enough.

4. Summertime

I fall in and out of love with this song. At first release didn’t think it was anything special. At their Birmingham concert I remember Gerard announcing they were gonna play ‘Summertime’ but I only cheered because I thought he’d said ‘Cemetery’ as in ‘Cemetery Drive’ so I was a bit confused when they started playing this. As per usual with me I started listening to the song more after the concert and fell in love with it. Then as time went by it fell back into my ‘nothing special’ category until my recent re-listen to the ‘Danger Days’ album when I realised I do love this song after all.

3. Welcome to the Black Parade

Arguably the most iconic My Chemical Romance song ever. Even people that don’t know much about the band know this song. This was the first song I listened to knowing it was them and I’ve been hooked ever since then. I still love this song so much and I don’t doubt they’d play this at their concert ‘cos it’s their most popular song ever and to be honest I’d be in danger of crying because this song has so many memories attached to it. I hear the G note and I’ll be in floods, I tell you.

2. Na Na Na

This was the first album they released whilst I was an active fan so it was my first ‘comeback’ as a fan (do we use comeback for non K-Pop groups?). I was hooked straightaway. I mentioned in my last post that one night My Chemical Romance changed their website and I received a message off my internet friend Lauzz to get online straightaway as something was happening. I sat up all night on my sister’s laptop talking to my internet MCR friends and watching the website like a hawk. It was a bit of a waste of time as nothing happened for over a week but part of me misses being that excited about something. Like I get hyped for stuff but I haven’t felt that excited for something in ages. I was meant to be going to a festival the next day and I was absolutely exhausted but I didn’t care.

I didn’t have a laptop when the song finally dropped so I had to watch the musical channels and hope it would come on – luckily MTV or a similar channel put aside some time to specifically show the new video and I was over the moon to finally see it. The day the album came out I walked from school straight to the town centre with my friend Jackie to buy the special edition of the album which came with a bandana – pretty sure I got Party Poison’s – and spent the entire evening listening to all the songs. That album is my favourite now, pretty much all of the songs are bops.

1. Vampire Money

This song is at the end of the Danger Days album and as far as I can tell was pretty much a middle finger to Twilight as the Killjoys concept seems to end with ‘Goodnite, Dr Death’ and then this song kicks in (which is why I don’t think I understood the album at the time). I’m glad this song comes on after otherwise the album would end on such a depressing note but because this song kicks in it doesn’t. Essentially I’m pretty sure the idea of this song is that Gerard was offered the part of Edward in ‘Twilight’ and didn’t take it, thus inspiring this song. So uh thank you Twilight.

I’ve always liked this song but it’s only recently that it’s become such a strong favourite and I couldn’t even say why, I just really like it!

So yeah, those are my current favourite My Chemical Romance songs. Everyone form a prayer circle that they do decide to return to the UK and that I can go to at least one of their shows if not more. Thanks for reading, feel free to comment your favourites!

Top 10 My Chemical Romance Songs

I’m long over my ‘My Chemical Romance’ phase which is just as well considering they broke up but when I was thirteen I was My Chemical Romance’s bitch. If MCR were to reunite tomorrow and announce a World Tour I would probably still buy a ticket to at least two of their shows and go and have the best time ever. I decided to have a quick throwback today to my favourite MCR songs so here goes nothing!

10. Planetary (Go!)

This song is so much fun and an absolute bop. I was gutted when I found out the music video had been filmed in London because I was like ‘oh my God I could’ve been in their video’ but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I absolutely loved the whole Danger Days concept like honestly it was one of my favourite albums from them, I had my own Killjoy costume and I walked up town the day the album came out and bought the deluxe edition that came with the bandana (I think I got Party Poison’s). In fact I’m pretty sure shortly after the album was released I actually did a Killjoy roleplay with some online friends because I was just such a big fan. So yeah, this was one of my favourite songs off the album because it’s just a lot of fun!

9. Our Lady of Sorrows

This used to be my favourite by them but I listened to it one too many times. My favourite MCR lyric ever used to be ‘oh how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying’ like oh my god, thirteen year old me was shook. I think ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’ was probably my least favourite MCR album but to be fair it was their first and there were still some good songs on there. It’s still a good album just not their best.

8. Vampire Money

Another song from Danger Days that I absolutely love. Apparently this song was written because Gerard was offered the part of Edward in Twilight but I don’t know how true that is. The song is definitely in some way about Twilight because I know MCR weren’t into that ‘scene’ or whatever. Anyway, I loved this song and I was really glad to have the opportunity to see it live even though fourteen year old me was foolish and got standing tickets at the Birmingham Genting Arena and stood in the middle of the floor and honestly I nearly died several times.

7. The Only Hope for Me is You

Another Danger Days song, apparently it’s one that Gerard wrote for his daughter Bandit and honestly I love this song. If I was feeling down back when I was a teenager I would whack this song on and just have a bit of a weep before feeling better. Even now I just honestly love it, what a song.

6. Dead!

The first album I ever listened to by My Chemical Romance was ‘The Black Parade’ and I remember this song kicking in after ‘The End’ and I was rocking out because even though I’d never listened to it before I already knew I was going to love it. This is another good one for if I’m annoyed or something like I can just whack it on full volume and scream the lyrics.

5. Mama

I remember my friend thinking I was an idiot because at the start of the song there’s a sound effect of bombs going off or something and one night I told my friend I’d always assumed it was Big Foot in the snow. You know like when you keep singing an incorrect song lyric that makes absolutely no sense but you sing it anyway because you’re so certain that that’s what it is? It was like that. I was only like thirteen in my defence and a bit of an idiot. The song is still good though and one of my favourites off the Black Parade album.

4. Famous Last Words

There was a time when everyone accused My Chemical Romance of having depressing lyrics and I always used this song as a defence. Lyrics like ‘I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone’ really meant something to me and helped me through dark times. Even now this song means a lot to me and I still whack it on if I’m upset about something. This is a song I’ll never stop loving.

3. Na Na Na

One night I got a message off one of my internet friends, Lauzz, who told me to get online immediately because something was happening on MCR’s website. I borrowed my sister’s laptop and sat up until 4 in the morning talking to my online MCR friends and watching the website like a hawk even though nothing changed for a few days. Eventually a teaser was released for the Danger Days album and eventually the music video was dropped. I didn’t have a laptop at the time and the computer at my Mom’s didn’t have sound but luckily Kerrang or MTV had put in a slot for MCR’s new video so I watched it on the TV and I was blown away. I loved the entire thing and loved the song from first listen. Definitely the best song from the Danger Days album, it’s amazing.

2. Welcome to the Black Parade

Everyone knows this song even if they don’t know this song if you know what I mean. I remember Jasmine asking our RE teacher to put it on and at the time I wasn’t a fan of MCR but I realised that actually I did know and love this song. Since then I couldn’t even guess how many times I’ve listened to it, I remember singing it with my friends on the way home from school more than once. It’s one of those that you can just sing your heart out too. This is the best song from the Black Parade album even if it is the most obvious one.

1. I Never Told You What I Do For A Living

I have no idea why this is my favourite song, I just know that it is. I don’t really have any special memories associated with this song and it’s actually a bit dark. There’s just something raw about it that I really love and it’s usually the first MCR song I put on when I’m in that kind of mood. ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’ has always been my favourite album because it feels the most real. I don’t know, I probably sound lame but I loved it and this song is definitely my favourite.

Let me know your favourite MCR songs in the comments, how you felt when they disbanded, if you think they’ll ever come back – feel free to leave any kind of comment!

Fandoms That Low-Key Saved My Life

It’s no secret that I’m absolute trash but what I’m trash for changes all the time. I’ve been in a ton of different fandoms and I’ve realised that most of them actually played quite an important part in my life and I definitely wouldn’t be the person I am without them. Sure some of them seem a little cringey now that I look back on them but I wouldn’t change anything so I decided to write a blog post about which fandoms have impacted on my life.

My Chemical Romance

The first fandom I ever joined was the My Chemical Romance fandom. In my first RE class at Secondary School I met a girl who loved MCR and I really wanted to be her friend. When I started listening to them I realised I actually already enjoyed some of their songs (My sister had played me ‘Famous Last Words’ before and whenever I went over I begged her to put on ‘the pie song’ for me. Long story.) Before I knew it I was absolute trash, I’d even argue I was a bigger fan by this point than the girl I’d met in RE who quickly became my best friend at the time.

I became fully absorbed in My Chemical Romance, this is embarrassing now but I was a big fan of writing so eventually I started to write FanFiction – I actually got a bit of a reputation on the site I was on and ended up making a lot of friends. I also made friends through their website and I’d add them all on MSN then every so often we’d have ‘MCR Parties’ on a Friday night which was basically a lot of us in one group chat just having a good time. I actually met one of my best friends Penina through FanFiction and we’re still good friends today.

I ended up seeing MCR twice live and made friends at both concerts, I met Emma at the concert in Manchester and we met Kane at the concert in Birmingham (I’m pretty sure he legit ditched his friends and just hung out with us) and honestly I loved MCR so much. When the ‘Danger Days’ album was released I put together my own Killjoy outfit and one Friday night I even ended up doing an MSN roleplay with some MCR fans where we were all killjoys – see I know it’s a bit sad now but fourteen year old me was living for it.

I even made my Mom take me, Jasmine and Raechel to Birmingham for a ‘Killjoy Meet-up’ where we met other My Chemical Romance fans and walked around singing MCR songs. Someone filmed the day but I don’t think we ever found an edited video but we did take tons of photos – which although are a little embarrassing now are also really funny.

Growing up is difficult enough but I feel like I did an okay job because I had my fandom from when I turned twelve until the group eventually split when I was sixteen. Luckily I wasn’t as big of a fan by then so I wasn’t too devastated… I say as if I didn’t tear down all my posters and chuck them in the bin upon hearing they’d split. I’m known for being a little dramatic.

I still like My Chemical Romance a little bit and I’m still holding onto the hopes that they will return next year (I read a theory that they will and I’m clinging onto it) and honestly, I’m glad I grew up as a My Chemical Romance fan because I made so many friendships and memories that really help me throughout my teenage years.

Supernatural

I think part of the reason that my parting with My Chemical Romance was a bit easier was probably because I’d become a massive Supernatural fan a few months before they split so my main fandom at the time of their break-up was Supernatural. I mentioned meeting my friend Penina on an MCR FanFic site – well, we ended up adding each other on Facebook and for a while we would literally talk to each other from the moment we woke up to the moment we went to sleep. She was already a big Supernatural fan and kept recommending the show and I’d began to see a lot of Supernatural fans emerging on Tumblr. After one disastrous Christmas I headed up town and decided to have a DVD day. I bought season one of Supernatural and headed back home.

It’s crazy now because I just don’t have the attention span but I put the DVD on at about 12PM and at 1AM I was still watching it. I was immediately absorbed and it was fun finally being able to talk to Penina about it. For the rest of the Christmas holidays I would head back up town, buy the next box set then head back home and watch it until stupid o’clock in the morning until I eventually ran out of money. I got the seventh box set as an Easter and I’d finally caught up with the series! So I had to watch new episodes on crappy websites that were probably downloading a ton of viruses but it was worth it to watch Supernatural. I used to get up at stupid o’clock in the morning before school to watch them to ensure that when I got home I wouldn’t come across any spoilers. I took that show seriously.

This escalated when I realised there was a yearly Supernatural convention held in the UK called ‘Asylum’. This convention was held in May and even better it wasn’t in London or somewhere far away from me, it was held in Birmingham of all places! Birmingham is just under an hour away by train for me and is super easy to get to so I was ecstatic. Unfortunately that first year I didn’t get a ticket because it sold out but Penina got one so I showed up and followed her round all day and got to meet some of the cast. Then the next year and for the next three, maybe four years I went to every Asylum convention and gradually met quite a lot of the cast.

Supernatural was another fandom where I ended up making a ton of new friends and having some really awesome experiences and I held onto this fandom throughout my time at college and honestly I don’t know what I would’ve done without Supernatural. I got into this show after one of the worst Christmas’ ever and I was still in the middle of my lonely Secondary School phase (I had a few months where I spent every weekend alone and generally hated myself). The cast were also always super nice whenever I met them and I just loved Supernatural so much.

K-Pop

My experience as a K-Pop fan is kind of different because I haven’t really made any internet friends through the K-Pop fandom but I have done more than I ever thought I would. Because I’m a K-Pop fan I ended up visiting Paris and Amsterdam to attend concerts and I’m also going to South Korea later this year, somewhere I never really had an interest in going before. It was also thanks to K-Pop that I got friendly with a couple of girls in my dorm at university because they saw my Girls’ Generation Facebook header.

It was also thanks to K-Pop that I stopped having a ‘bad year’. I’m sorry to talk about it again so I’ll make it quick – I got called on stage at a 24K concert, they sang to me, I realised life wasn’t all that bad, you can read all about it here because I wrote a proper long post about it and how I felt and everything but honestly I just still can’t believe it.

So although K-Pop has been there for me in a different way to the first two fandoms it’s still had a big impact on my life and honestly I’m glad I became a K-Pop fan because I think it made me and my friends a bit more adventurous and I just love the music so much.

Dan and Phil

I can’t remember if I talked about this before or not but when I went to university I didn’t have a great time, I felt a bit rubbish all the time and I just didn’t like it. So I was thrilled to come home one weekend so I could go and see Dan & Phil live with their stage show ‘The Amazing Tour is Not on Fire’. It was on in Birmingham so I came back to Telford and the next day went to Birmingham to meet them. And honestly, they were amazing. The show was so good and Dan and Phil themselves were so lovely.

Then I had to head back to London because obviously I had to go back to uni at some point. But luckily Dan and Phil announced a couple more shows so I bought another VIP ticket to see them one last time in London. When I went to the show I hadn’t really spoken to anyone in a few days, I hadn’t had any human contact and hugging them was the first proper interaction I’d had in maybe two weeks. So once they’d signed my stuff and we’d taken a selfie I quickly asked if I could get one more hug to which they both obliged. I suppose to them I was just one weird fan amongst many who wanted another hug but to me, who was feeling so, so lonely at the time, that one last hug was everything.

Even when I wasn’t meeting them they were there for me at university. I’d make myself breakfast and watch their videos. If my room mates were being loud in the middle of the night I’d put my headphones on and watch one of their videos. I’d go over to Jess’ and we’d watched their videos together. Their book was also released shortly after I went to uni and I remember being so sad when I got to the end of it because that book also helped me in my dark moments.

I didn’t realise it at the time but Dan and Phil were there when I felt like I had no one and honestly I feel like I owe them so much because they helped me through that difficult time. Ultimately I made the decision to leave university but I’d have left a lot sooner without Dan and Phil.

Achievement Hunter

For a while I was a massive Achievement Hunter fan then slowly I stopped watching less and less of their content until suddenly I became a massive fan again towards the start of last year. Just as well because unfortunately my Grandad passed away in early February. The day after everyone stayed at home and we kept the curtains closed. It was suffocating being around everyone in the darkness so I mostly stayed in my room and watched Achievement Hunter videos. Even now, no matter how bad my day is I can always rely on Achievement Hunter to cheer me up.

Last year I wanted to go to RTX London so badly but unfortunately I was in New York (tragic I know) and this year I figured that if they did come back it’d be around the same date so I’d be in Japan. Luckily they’re actually holding it mid-September and even luckier, general sale tickets go on sale on Pay Day. I really hope I meet at least one person from Achievement Hunter because they’ve honestly helped me smile in some of the hardest times. I’m praying there’s a decent line-up because I’ve wanted to meet Achievement Hunter for so long and I’d be so excited. I really hope I get a ticket.

So as you can see I’ve had fandom around me for the times when I’ve needed it the most and I honestly wouldn’t change anything. I’m trash but I’m honestly fine with that due to the memories I’ve made and I’m sure I’ll continue to make.

I’m gonna tell one last story before I end this post. I used to be a big fan of Sherlock so whilst I was at university I discovered Benedict Cumberbatch was a doing a show at some theatre, I can’t remember what it’s called now but obviously tickets were sold out and the only ones left were stupidly expensive. However the venue sold I think it was forty tickets a day if you were at theatre for 10AM. So on the first day I got up at 6AM to get to the theatre and they sold out so the next day I got up at 5AM to get tickets but unfortunately they sold out again so I gave up. What a sad story. So I never got to see Benedict Cumberbatch alive and in the flesh.