Annotations for The Five of Us Are Dying

Lyric: And we laughed about the time we fell
Annotation:
According to Tom Bryant’s biography of the band,  Not the Life It Seems, the working title for  The Black Parade was  The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance (Bryant 2014, pp. 141) This intro seems to discuss either that the band worked themselves to death from the amount of pressure or couldn’t live up to the hype of  Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge which resulted in them falling off the charts and fading into obscurity. After the success of  Revenge, there was an immense amount of pressure on the band and well as scrutiny for their newfound stardom.

Lyric: As they wheeled us in by gurney
Annotation:
The intro seems to reference how much hard work the band had put in to themselves over the past few years before this. They never had much of a break from touring until they started recording  The Black Parade. 2005 was their highest amount of shows, playing 240 concerts the whole year.   Gerard would later reference this by being wheeled in by gurney for the last performance as the Black Parade on October 24th, 2007 for  The Black Parade is Dead!

Lyric: I don’t care!
Annotation:
This is another part of the song that carried over into ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’, occurring – much like this one – at the end of the bridge.

Lyric: These darker days will never get me down
Annotation:
The band’s new attitude won’t let them give up, even when it seems the whole world is against them. This attitude can be seen in the song Famous Last Words at the end of the Black Parade.

Lyric: I don’t care at all, I’m really not so sad
 Despite the observation that you had
Annotation:
People often said that My Chemical Romance were depressing and they were heavily linked with the Emo subculture- one that was known for depression.

Lyric: There’s writing on the ceiling
 That only I can see
 And other times, I feel like running home
Annotation:
In a traditional sense, “writing on the walls” is a saying used to refer to things that are obvious and easy to see, which paints the narrator as a prophet of sorts. MCR  stayed in a haunted mansion while creating the  Black Parade album to capture the cryptic feeling. There was a room known as the Heavy Room where frontman  Gerard Way would write notes on the wall, one of which was the inspiration for the album title: “we are all just a black parade.” During production, bassist Mikey Way quite literally  ran home after dealing with serious depression and anxiety that almost drove him to leave the band. This incident inspired the track  “Famous Last Words.”

Lyric: You can run, but you can’t hide from this
Annotation:
The album “The Black Parade” seemed to be the end for My Chemical Romance. Mikey (bassist) had left for a period of time and the band seemed on collapse. It seems like “this” is the fast approaching end of the band, or even just a song that’s slow that expresses feeling and emotions of being within the band. You can run, but it’ll be there no matter what- you can’t escape it.

Lyric: After all we’ve done
 To our faces and our fingers
Annotation:
MCR members  Gerard Way and  Frank Iero often wore exaggerated makeup during the  Three Cheers era, quite literally “changing their face” for their art. Playing stringed instruments can cause callouses to form on the tips of their fingers. Especially if you’re shredding as well as guitarist  Ray Toro. From a more general standpoint, over time they’ve changed themselves and how others perceive them for their music.

Lyric: And other times, I’m feeling so alone
Annotation:
This line follows up from the previous. On occasions, he feels paranoid that someone out there is watching every step he takes, and then at other occasions he feels like he’s the only person on the world.

Lyric: Sometimes, I get the feeling
 She’s watching over me
Annotation:
This line is one of the very few that carried over into  “Welcome To The Black Parade.” Check out the analysis  here!

