Why The Black Parade Is Still A Masterpiece
As a teen, my introduction to My Chemical Romance was their single “The Black Parade”. I decided to look up the music video on a whim because the song title and album art seemed interesting and little did, I know I had found my new favorite song for the upcoming months. Screaming “we’ll carry on!” at the top of my lungs while thrashing like a mad man became my new hobby.
Though the energy and peculiar (at least I thought at the time) introduction are what hooked me, I never really grasped what “The Black Parade” was about. The beginning tale of a father and son seeing a marching band with a lesson of great expectations didn’t seem to match in my teenage brain with the later triumphant energy. As I’ve gotten older and continued to listen, the song has become clearer and seems to be an anthem of being a beacon of light among the depressed masses.
Let’s begin with thinking about the song’s structure: to begin, a simple, pure sounding piano lick underscores a child reminiscing of a happy memory with his father. Already, the music seems to be embodying the spirit of the lyrics as the descending line sounds like a toy piano which emphasizes that this is from an amazed, innocent boy. Everything is good and clean
Then, the memory and lessons of the father are repeated but this time with grungy guitars and shouting. Perhaps this is the boy grown into a teenager, or maybe him after a tragedy, but more on that later.
A drum break announces the arrival of a faster tempo and a more anxious tone. What arises next is an uplifting chorus. After another verse and chorus enters a gang vocal chant with a continual repeat of the chorus’ hook. The song takes a key change before the final chorus reaching its energetic apex before declining into a military-style drum beat.
So, what does this all convey? Looking at the structure and tone alone, “The Black Parade” seems to tell a story of a boy who learns to continue onward in the face of a tragedy that destroys his innocence and shows others also how to continue. This idea is reinforced further by My Chemical Romance with the lyrics.
In the introduction the boy receives a message from his father:
He said, “Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten, and the damned?”
He said, “Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-believers?
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I’ll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the black parade”
The father wants his son to be a leader and explains how he won’t be around forever to guide his son. So what does the father mean when he says his phantom will lead him to the black parade?
The black parade could be viewed as those who have realized that life is not rainbows and butterflies but a depressing, intense experience. One could imagine the parade being a bunch of stoop-shouldered, eyes downturned adults who trudge along through life’s depressing reality. The reason the introduction is repeated with shouting could be the boy finally experiencing this event (maybe his father’s death) that turns him from innocence into cynicism, but instead of accepting it like everyone else in the parade, he tries to move on from it.
The boy moving on is best exemplified with the amazing chorus:
We’ll carry on
We’ll carry on
And though you’re dead and gone
Believe me
Your memory will carry on
Recognizing the wisdom his father left him, the boy screams to the heavens how the people can’t be dragged down by the misery of the world thus taking his place as “the savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned” or the drum major or the black parade.
The boy finally gathers enough people to make a rallying cry denouncing life trying to bring them down:
Do or die, you’ll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you’ll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part
This reaches its peak with the final pronouncement of the chorus and because his work is done, he can move on with a hero’s exit signified by the drum cadence that codas the song.
The song could almost be compared to the absurdist philosophy of Albert Camus where instead of allowing the question of life’s meaning drag one down, it is used as fuel to find happiness. The father does not ask the son to leave the black parade, but to lead it, to become its beacon much like Camus declares that Sisyphus can find joy in his task of pushing the boulder up the hill.
This is why “The Black Parade” is a masterpiece of story and songwriting and a pinnacle of the pop-punk/emo genre. The lyrics and music work together stunningly to create a miniature rock opera that feels extremely satisfying at the conclusion. It encouraged those teenagers who loved My Chemical Romance to continue shining even in the face of depressing circumstances and to show others the way as well. Hopefully, with the reunion of the band, more inspiring works will be produced continuing to help us defeat our demons and lead our black parades.
