Annotations for Disenchanted

Lyric: [Chorus]
Annotation:
The chorus can be seen as the apex of The Patient’s pain. The Patient grows frustrated with the fact that his family isn’t learning the same lesson from his impending death that he is: that life is a joke and meaningless because of the certain approach of death. He sees everyone else as being as terminally ill as he is, and his family’s failure to realize that makes him believe that his death will be as meaningless as his life.

Lyric: [Bridge]
Annotation:
Similar to the vocalizations at the end of The Sharpest Lives. This could represent The Patient breaking down and sobbing as he is confronted about his flaws by the souls within The Black Parade. As this song is in the final ‘act’ of the story, this could be The Patient finally realizing the things he did wrong and depending on your personal interpretation, either realizes he’ll be trapped in Hell, have to march with The Black Parade to guide others to a final destination he cannot reach and/or realize how he wrongfully pushed away the people who cared for him and he is now dying, seemingly alone.

Lyric: [Intro]
Annotation:
This intro picking is reminiscent of the guitar picking in Goodbye Blue Sky and Hey You from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, an album that served as inspiration for this one.

Lyric: You’re just a sad song with nothing to say
Annotation:
Way is saying that often sad songs are about moping around and being filled with self-pity. Songs that are sad should be sad with a message, not an empty call for pity. The Patient is referring to himself as a sad song, deciding to wallow in self-pity over a life he chose to not do anything with.

Lyric: I spent my high school career spit on and shoved to agree
Annotation:
This line could be referring to the typical peer pressure thrown around in high school. The entirety of My Chemical Romance struggled socially during their teenage years, and in an  interview Gerard Way said that, I was really isolated… On my first day in high school, I sat all alone at lunchtime. It was the classic story– the weird kid in the army jacket, horror movie t-shirt, and long black hair… We felt like outcasts. That’s what brought us all together.

Lyric: So go, go away
 Just go, run away
 But where did you run to?
 And where did you hide?
 Go find another way
 Price you pay
Annotation:
this seems to be the Patient talking about Death. he is telling Death to “go, go away, just go, run away”. the next two lines seem to be the Patient thinking about where Death’s ‘safe haven’ is but realising he doesnt want to know or care, he just wants Death to “go find another way”.

Lyric: About a lifelong wait for a hospital stay
 And if you think that I’m wrong
 This never meant nothing to you
Annotation:
This verse could have two meanings. The first is based on the album as a whole. The album has been characteristically focused on the topic of death, consequently supplying a long list of reasons why The Patient thinks  life is just a joke. The Patient’s family doesn’t think this way.  They believe that he is a good person who will go to heaven and live a prosperous life there. Little do they know, he’s done some terrible things, as mentioned in  “This is How I Disappear,”  “House of Wolves,” and  “Mama,” which all mention how he’s going to Hell. The alternative meaning has to do with Gerard Way, and Bert McCracken, the lead singer of  The Used. In  an interview with MTV, Bert McCracken of  The Used reveals a hidden conflict between The Used and My Chemical Romance. Before this event, the two bands had been close friends. While things between the bands themselves have smoothed over between the interview and the release of  The Black Parade, Gerard and Bert were still on poor terms. As a result of this apparent conflict, it has been theorized that “Disenchanted” may be about the two singers. While it wouldn’t help clarify anything between them, it would, however, explain Gerard’s true feelings about the fallout between the two.

Lyric: If I’m so wrong (So wrong, so wrong)
 How can you listen all night long? (Night long, night long)
 Now, will it matter after I’m gone?
 Because you never learned a goddamn thing
Annotation:
This verse could have two meanings. The first is on the concept of  The Black Parade. The album has been characteristically focused on the topic of death, consequently supplying a long list of reasons why The Patient thinks  life is just a joke. The Patient’s family disagrees with his views, which brings up the line ‘If I’m so wrong.’ The Patient knows he’s dying, but he can’t change his family’s mind in time. This could also relate to My Chemical Romance’s notorious fan-base. The band’s fan-base is renown for their emotion and dedication, which makes sense given that they are primarily teenagers. That said, often times kids are affected by the band’s negative aspects, like their talk of death and revenge. On behalf of the band, Gerard questions their fan-base on why they continue to hurt themselves. Hidden behind all the dark poetry is the same call to arms that’s present even in their most upfront music.  Here is more from Gerard way on the issue.

Lyric: It was a lie when they smiled and said, “You won’t feel a thing”
Annotation:
Connections to  “Teenagers” This line paints a villainous picture of someone purposely deceiving him in order to instigate this disillusionment later on.  This characterizes what The Patient has talked about in “Teenagers,” the previous track in  The Black Parade. Deceptive Smile:     In “Teenagers,” The Patient remarks on a murder machine which processes children and rips them from their aspirations so that they can serve a corrupt cause. Now, The Patient realizes that the murder machine gulled him, and now he is suffering consequences.    The Patient’s  “Cancer” There has been a long list of references to individuals trying to comfort The Patient throughout the album, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to try lie to him to control the incoming mental damage.

Lyric: It was the roar of the crowd that gave me heartache to sing
Annotation:
The Black Parade Concept There’s no solid theories about this line which seem too plausible. One possible theory about this, however, is that The Patient noticed there was too large of a crowd which mourned his death, and this bothered him because he knew he didn’t deserve to be cared for.  He remarks on others caring for him throughout the album.  Here are a few songs in which this occurs: “Blood” “House of Wolves” “Sleep”    Gerard Way’s experience during 9/11/2001 The band’s formation was known for being due to the event’s on September 11th.  This could possibly be a reference to that day. Gerard Way has said that it was a moment of realization in which he discovered there are certain things that he believes  need to be said.  More from Gerard can be heard here.  [ source]

Lyric: Well, I was there on the day they sold the cause for the queen
Annotation:
The Black Parade Concept The Patient witnessed the death of a movement.  This could, ironically, be his birth.  The Patient is characteristically known for depicting himself as a monster.  He may believe that Mother Nature destroyed “the cause” by creating him. This line is more than likely left unexplained  on purpose, along with the rest of the anecdote.  The point of the story is to express his disillusionment.  It isn’t necessary to explain the reference in order to showcase that there are problems with the world, and they are affecting him.

Lyric: And when the lights all went out, we watched our lives on the screen
Annotation:
Basic Concept These lines paint the picture of an individual passing away, and reviewing their entire lives as a film, from beginning to end.    Album Concept Correlation Many have theorized that the entirety of  The Black Parade’s, excluding the first two tracks, is The Patient commentating over top of his life as he re-experiences it in a cinematic format. This lyric is likely referencing The Patient’s death in  “The End” where he is watching a literal screen: his heart rate monitor from his hospital bed at the time of his death.

Lyric: So I could watch all my heroes sell a car on TV
Annotation:
Who he thought were heroes back then, he now realizes are, well, not really heroes. They were just celebrities, and they never really did anything huge except for write a few songs, or act in a few movies. In a way, he’s talking about himself. He believes that people will only think of him as another celebrity, who didn’t touch the lives of anyone, as most people think celebrities are. It seems here like the narrator is also making a statement about the ‘normal’ kids at school and their obsession with popular culture – contrary to his, populated with punk music, counter-culture and the morose – something typical of unpopular kids. In his view, if he’d given in to the pressure to be like the ‘normal’ kids, he’d be supporting the notion of consumerism – a popular target for ridicule amongst his demographic. Famous people doing plugs for car commercials, for example, became especially jarring once we discover they’re the heroes who told him to be different and rebel against the norm. He finds himself upset by this. This links to the first line regarding the upper class and wealthy, and their level of control over society.

Lyric: I hate the ending myself, but it started with an alright scene
Annotation:
The Patient isn’t really a fan of how his life ended, but it was okay earlier on. The “alright scene” is the fond childhood memory discussed in  “Welcome To The Black Parade.” When he was a child, his father took him to see a parade. The way he jokingly trivializes his life, referring to it as fictional and labelled with “scenes,” shows his utter disregard for anything he has ever done in his life. In the end, nothing matters, everything is meaningless. It also builds upon the movie metaphor established  earlier in the first verse. The band later trivialized their career in their final song,  “Fake Your Death,” in which they underestimate the tremendous influence they’ve had on the world.

Lyric: Bring out the old guillotine, we’ll show ’em what we all mean
 Yeah, yeah, woah
Annotation:
The Guillotine was a device used during the French Revolution by the upper class as an efficient means of executing political enemies. The use of the device here would be a show of force to prove his point.

Lyric: And as we ran from the cops, we laughed so hard, it would sting
 Yeah, yeah, woah
Annotation:
The Patient is remembering the very few good and exciting moments of his life aside from his  parade memory. Funnily, in the music video for the band’s  cover of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row,” they find themselves being taken into police custody after a show gets a bit too wild.

