Annotations for Our Lady of Sorrows

Lyric: Trust, you said
Annotation:
As this song, and pretty much most of the album, is about betrayal and toxic romance, this shows how the main character was tricked and betrayed. Also this song was called Bring More Knives, and then Knives and Sorrow.

Lyric: We’ve only got one​ chance to put this at an end
Annotation:
This could be in reference to the affairs from earlier like. Judging by the overall tone of the album let alone the song it must be serious hence only having one chance

Lyric: [Verse 1]
Annotation:
I don’t have a way to annotate in the song title, so I’ll say it here.  Gerard and Mikey Way likely went to Our Lady of Sorrows school in South Orange, next to Newark, where they are from and just did a reunion show on Sept 20, 2022.  Someone mentioned the title is an allusion to Catholicism, but it is probably an allusion to a specific parish in the archdiocese of Newark that MCR’s members are intimately familiar with.  Source, in from here.

Lyric: And we can settle this affair
Annotation:
The phrase to “settle an affair” has a dual purpose in this line. To “settle one’s affairs” means to prepare a will and testament prior to your death. Contextually, it is a dark way of stating both that we can end this feud between us, but that it will end up killing us in the process.

Lyric: ”We’re not celebrities, we spark and fade,
Annotation:
Throughout the entirety of MCR’s discography, they have  grappled with the idea of fame and the (figurative) immortality it presents. They play back and forth with the idea that fame and fortune offers a permanent spot in history, and that simultaneously, that spot could be lost at any moment. Here, the word “celebrities” appears interchangeable with “immortals”, the voice claiming that the thing that differentiates herself and a celebrity is her capacity to “fade” after sparking. It illustrates an idealistic view of fame that the band was quite possibly guilty of during their early days, or alternatively, was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s understanding of the danger of idolizing the famous. Due to the prevalence of fame and celebrity as thematic features within both Bullets and Revenge, it’s entirely likely that this highly unstable potential for fame that came with the start of the band was playing on Gerard’s mind a lot, perhaps as an insecurity, a point of stress, or moral dilemma.

Lyric: Stand, take my fucking hand
 Take my fucking
 
 [Chorus]
 Stand up fucking tall, don’t let them see your back
 And take my fucking hand and never be afraid again
Annotation:
POSSIBLE REFERENCE:  Gerard is a fan of the movie  Fright Night (1985). He might be referencing the scene where Jerry turns Evil Ed into a vampire. Timestamp 2:08 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBqT-UEySlI [Jerry corners a terrified Evil Ed into an alley] Jerry Dandrige : Hello, Edward.  You don’t have to be afraid of me. I know what it’s like being different. Only they won’t pick on you anymore… or beat you up. I’ll see to that.  All you have to do is take my hand. Go on, Edward.  Take my hand![Ed in tears stands up to take Jerry’s hand] These lines correlate with the general mcr theme of standing up for the outsiders and being outsiders themselves. A reference to a vampire movie fits with the theme of immortality in the song. It also fits with the following contradicting last line. Even though a vampire helps an outsider stand up by turning them into a vampire, it doesn’t mean that relationship between sire and sired is not abusive. Alternatively it could mean that the violence (hand around throat in order to bite) is necessary in order for them to turn and stand up tall and be strong.

Lyric: Stand up fucking tall, don’t let them see your back
 And take my fucking hand and never
Annotation:
POSSIBLE REFERENCE: Gerard is a fan of the movie  Fright Night (1985). He might be referencing the scene where Jerry turns Evil Ed into a vampire. Timestamp 2:08 .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBqT-UEySlI  [Jerry corners a terrified Evil Ed into an alley] Jerry Dandrige : Hello, Edward.  You don’t have to be afraid of me. I know what it’s like being different. Only they won’t pick on you anymore… or beat you up. I’ll see to that.  All you have to do is take my hand. Go on, Edward.  Take my hand![Ed in tears stands up to take Jerry’s hand] These lines correlate with the general mcr theme of standing up for the outsiders and being outsiders themselves. A reference to a vampire movie also fits with the theme of immortality in the song.

Lyric: Trade me for an apparition
Annotation:
Or as Frank once said: “fight me for an apple”

Lyric: Stand up fucking tall, don’t let them see your back
 And take my fucking hand and never be afraid again
Annotation:
He’s telling his lover to not show fear or turn their back on “them,” because that would allow the lover to be stabbed in the back (metaphorically or literally). Basically, to confidently join him in abandoning fear and/or living life fully. Also – Gerard is a fan of the movie  Fright Night (1985). He may be referencing the scene where Jerry turns Evil Ed into a vampire. Timestamp 2:08 .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBqT-UEySlI [Jerry corners a terrified Evil Ed into an alley] Jerry Dandrige : Hello, Edward.  You don’t have to be afraid of me. I know what it’s like being different. Only they won’t pick on you anymore… or beat you up. I’ll see to that.  All you have to do is take my hand. Go on, Edward.  Take my hand![Ed in tears stands up to take Jerry’s hand]

Lyric: We could be perfect one last night
Annotation:
PROPOSED SUGGESTION: He wishes to be that ‘perfect’ couple that’s always depicted in the movies and books, presumably because they have an unstable relationship. Later in the verse it refers to their relationship being unstable.

Lyric: Die by threes
Annotation:
Refers to the notion in popular culture that celebrities die in groups of three, in quick succession to each other. Examples include the deaths of Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett in 2009, or David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and René Angélil in 2016.

Lyric: And cross the patron saint of switchblade fights
Annotation:
The ‘cross’ piece of this sentence means the Catholic form of blessing one’s self before something tragic or bad. The ‘patron saint’, or the Virgin Mary, is the center of metaphorical ‘switchblade fights’. If you search photos of the Lady of Sorrows, you will see that she was stabbed in the heart seven times. More generally: saints tend to represent or stand for something (a place, a concept, a type of person) that needs protection and blessings/miracles.  Here, Gerard is more being sarcastic, “crossing” (or asking for blessings from) whoever the patron saint of people in a switchblade fight might be.

Lyric: Just because my hand’s around your throat
Annotation:
During an  MTV performance, Gerard ended this line as, Just because my hand’s around your throat, doesn’t mean I don’t love you! Although this could have been a transition line, it’s possible that this was how the recording was intended​ to finish. Having your hand around someone’s throat would give your power over them. So even though they might not mean to, by putting his hand around their throat, he’s automatically in control.

Lyric: This riddle of revenge
 Please understand it has to be this way
Annotation:
“This riddle of revenge” may refer to the complicated way that they have constantly tried to get back at each other. The second line is pretty black and white, they’re not going to be together anymore and she is obviously upset but because of their vicious cycle they have to leave each other.

Lyric: And then we’ll solve the mystery of
 Laceration gravity
Annotation:
A laceration is a deep cut or tear, usually in the skin or flesh. Laceration gravity could refer to ‘tears’ or gaps in gravity, or in this case perhaps in remaining grounded by standing up for yourself and your ideas. So, this line talks of figuring out what causes these insecurities and makes them lose sight of themselves.

Lyric: And die like star-crossed lovers when we fight
Annotation:
The term ¨star-crossed lovers" is an allusion to William Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet. This is suggesting that both lovers will die.

Lyric: Oh, how wrong we were to think
 That immortality meant never dying
Annotation:
While it’s generally believed that immortality is impossible, scientists have been  working to find ways for people to live longer lives, focusing on advancements in  molecular biology. However, the “immortality” Gerard discusses here is less literal, instead referring to someone’s legacy. Preserving one’s legacy went on to become a common motif in MCR’s work—it was a major topic in their 2006 hit  “Welcome To The Black Parade,” and on 2010’s  “The Kids From Yesterday,” Gerard sang: You only live forever in the lights you make Gerard  told  Concert Livewire in June 2005 that this is one of his favorite lines he’s ever written.

Lyric: If you would shed your yellow, take my hand
Annotation:
“Shed your yellow” is a term that means “get rid of your fear”. The singer wants you to stop being scared and put your trust in him, however risky. The idea of a “yellowbelly” is from the same concept: fear makes you yellow.

