Annotations for Skylines and Turnstiles

Lyric: Steel corpses stretch out
Annotation:
Steel corpses refers to the damaged twin towers during the 9/11 NYC attack.  This line is specifically talking about before they collapse as they ‘stretch out’ towards the ending sun.

Lyric: And if the world needs something better
 Let’s give them one more reason now, now, now
Annotation:
This sets the precedent for the rest of the band’s work, aiming to make the world better. While this is ambiguous from text, it can be drawn from context, especially considering the band often hoped to ‘save kids’ lives'.

Lyric: Stolen from my eyes,
Annotation:
The attack on the World Trade Centres has altered the city skyline forever – it has destroyed the city’s skyline and no-one will be able to view it as it was before the horrific attack. Since 9/11, the beautiful view of New York has been stolen from everyone by fear and terror.

Lyric: Let me break this awkward silence
Annotation:
Gerard might be saying that he’s breaking the awkward silence by creating the band because he got the drive to create My Chem because of 9/11 and he’s comforting people, along with himself, by breaking the silence and making music for the world.

Lyric: Stolen from my eyes,
Annotation:
Directly referring to the twin towers, the word “sky” refers to the New York skyline. It was broken when the planes flew through the twin towers. It was stolen from our eyes when the towers collapsed as quickly as it did.

Lyric: Towards an ending sun
 Scorched and black, it reaches in and tears your flesh apart
 As ice cold hands rip into your heart
Annotation:
I think this line is suppose to represent the bodies are scorched and black. The fire reaches in and tears your flesh apart. As your heart is getting broken.

Lyric: Tell me, we go from
Annotation:
After such a traumatic incident like 9/11, can we move on? Gerard hopes that the world and those affected by 9/11 can recover and keep living their lives.

Lyric: We walk in single file, we light our rails, and punch our time
 Ride escalators colder than a cell (C’mon!)
Annotation:
On 9/11, people who worked at the World Trade Center assumed it would just be a typical, mundane workday with conformity and feelings of coldness. Walking in single file is usually required when going through  turnstiles. Comparing elevators to a prison cell emphasizes how impersonal and uniform everything is. It also shows how individualistics our lives are in a normal situation, we only care about ourselves and our “rails” and we don’t appreciate enough our lives. In our daily life we waste our time with many destructive habits like smoking or drinking (Gerard himself is guilty of this). But when a tragedy like 9/11 happens this changes it and contrast with our routine.  A hallway of the WTC before the attacks.

Lyric: And if the world needs something better
 Let’s give them one more reason, now
Annotation:
This line may be referring to the beginning of Gerard’s new future, as a songwriter and as a part of a band who he wants to help people with as they struggle through the pain and darkness in this world. He wants to help the world and give it a reason to stay strong and keep on fighting.

Lyric: Our memories blanket us, with friends we know, like fallout vapors
Annotation:
As the planes hit the Twin Towers, lives were instantly vaporised. The images coming out of 9/11 featured people running from ground zero covered in dust and ash. The prospect of being covered by “fallout damage” is made even more shocking by the idea that this dust not only consists of debris, but human lives. Gerard re-visited this concept on MCR’s final album  Danger Days (2010), creating a complete lyrical circle in MCR’s discography: Covered in ash Covered in glass Covered in all my friends I still Think of the bombs they built

Lyric: And after seeing what we saw
 Can we still reclaim our innocence?
Annotation:
9/11 was traumatic, and he’s questioning if we can still be innocent beings after witnessing something so cruel. Given that such a large number of those who were indirectly affected by 9/11  were children born with naivete, this line has a deeper significance in context.

Lyric: That’s if you’ve still got one that’s left
 Inside that cave you call a chest
Annotation:
Building on the imagery of the first line, Gerard details how tragedy carves out pieces of our soul, shredding our hearts to pieces and leaving us empty.

Lyric: And in this moment, we can’t close the lids on burning eyes
Annotation:
Gerard’s eyes have witnessed so much, that he doesn’t want to close them, in fear that the events will play back in his head.

Lyric: You’re not in this alone,
Annotation:
He’s offering friendship and a helping hand to those who were hurt and scarred from 9/11.  In his 2009 op-ed for  The Guardian, about Alan Moore’s  Watchmen, Way discusses the cataclysmic event in the story in which Ozymandias uses a great catastrophe to bring people together. In the wake of great tragedy, the best thing for people to do (and sometimes the only thing we can do) is to not let each other go alone. Alan Moore is a prophetic writer. I think of 9/11, which was one of the most horrible things in the world. I remember what it was like being in New York a week, and then seven months, after that event. People finally got along with each other and respected each other more.

Lyric: Hello angel, tell me
 Where are you?
 Tell me where we go from here
Annotation:
He’s wondering where God is at a time like this. He feels as if we need help from a greater existence. This song was written about Gerard Way’s  experience during 9/11. It’s likely representing confusion on how to respond in a situation like this and asking God what he should do next. Alternatively, the “Angel” he calls out for doesn’t necessarily represent religion. It could be the singer’s love, and these are lines from a phone call asking where they are. There were thousands of phone calls in NYC on the day of the attack, because no one knew what the extent of the attack was and they were trying to make sure their family/loved ones were  okay.

Lyric: Like butane on my skin
Annotation:
Butane is a highly flammable liquid used in lighters. He’s comparing the events of 9/11 to the extreme pain a flammable reaction from butane would cause.

Lyric: This broken city sky
Annotation:
This refers to the skyline of NYC during the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers.

