Annotations for The Kids from Yesterday

Lyric: (Ooh-ooh-ooh)
 (Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Annotation:
The keyboard and vocal intro to the song sounds similar to new wave music of the 1980’s and was likely done intentionally to create a sense of nostalgia- a theme that is referenced multiple times during the song

Lyric: Now we are the kids from yesterday
Annotation:
Frontman Gerard Way explained in an  interview that calling yourself a “kid from yesterday” was another way of saying simply adult. He said the song was about  “growing up [and] nostalgia” so “today” could be referring to the present moment, or possibly their disbandment in 2013. When  asked if he knew that this song would be heard as a farewell to the band, Way said, I didn’t know that. But I gotta say that when I was working on that song it definitely- it didn’t feel like an MCR song… [“The Kids from Yesterday”] was most representative of where I was at the time and I felt like that should have been the first single… To me the real important song wasn’t  “SING”, it was [“The] Kids from Yesterday.”

Lyric: (Here we are and we won’t stop breathing) Today, today
 (Yell it out ’til your heart stops beating) Today
Annotation:
The people in power might want to silence them, but they won’t stop going, and they’re telling everyone else to keep going too. “Yell it out until your heart stops beating” is reminiscent of Fall Out Boy’s lyric  “sing until your lungs give out”. The fact that the two bands toured together on the 2005 Warped Tour makes this connection more likely to be true.

Lyric: When we were young, we used to say
 That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
Annotation:
A sentiment of their youth, you can only understand a song when you experience what the song talks about.

Lyric: ’Cause you only live forever in the lights you make
Annotation:
“The lights you make” could be referring to Conventional Weapons', “The Light Behind Your Eyes,” in the verse, Never let them take the light behind your eyes

Lyric: When we were young, we used to say
Annotation:
A fitting line in the signature song of their final album, this line talks about the sentimentality of youth, especially with the following line.

Lyric: I’ll find you when the sun goes black
Annotation:
The sun going black is an illustration of the end of the world. This line means that when the shit hits the fan, so to speak, the people who care will band together.

Lyric: We don’t care about the message or the rules they make
Annotation:
In the world of the Killjoys, this talks about their rebellion against BLI, as they don’t care about their message or their laws. In the real world, this a call to all rebels, telling them to stand for what they believe no matter what the people in power say.

Lyric: Well now, this could be the last of all the rides we take
 So, hold on tight and don’t look back
Annotation:
In the context of the band, this could be the last show they ever play or the last album they put out (shockingly appropriate). This phrase could apply to any experience, urging you to make the best of it with no regrets. In the context of the Killjoys, it could mean that they expect to be killed by Better Living Industries, and are trying to live life to the fullest.

Lyric: Does the television make you feel the pills you ate
 Or every person that you need to be?
Annotation:
Media also brainwashes us into wanting to look or act or be a certain way and pushes us in certain directions to reach those places.

Lyric: All the cameras watch the accidents and stars you hate
 They only care if you can bleed
Annotation:
The media only showcases or highlights the negative aspects of anything because that’s all people are interested in and care about. The “accidents” referenced could refer to the exhausting media coverage of disasters, while the “stars you hate” could refer to aimless celebrities and reality TV stars. “They only care if you can bleed” could be alluding to  “Teenagers” or  “Blood.”

Lyric: That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
Annotation:
You only understand what a song is talking about when you experience those emotions yourself.  After My Chemical Romance broke up, many fans joked that they didn’t have to prove this line true.

Lyric: And you only live forever in the lights you make
Annotation:
You only live on through your legacy and what you leave behind for people to see or in this case, listen to. This may also be linked to  Our Lady Of Sorrows off the band’s first ever album, which goes: Oh, how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying They could be justifying that line in this song, which would be appropriate as this was the band’s last full-length album and the song the last one that’s been written for it. “Light” is a frequently used Leitmotif in many songs throughout the whole career of the band. Bright lights, they cast a shadow But even lights can fade away Never let them take the light behind your eyes We walked around in your city lights ‘Cause it makes me who I am We lit the fire and it’s burning bright Light travels long distances from celestial bodies, such as stars, sometimes taking 1000s of years to reach Earth. Due to the expansion of the Universe this light will travel forever, and therefore, never die. Gerard could be saying that you “live forever” in the light you reflect into space, and your life could live on in this way.

