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exsequarSomeone uploaded The Cab's stuff for me, and I rather adore it, but I don't seem to have I'll Run! Anyone wanna help a girl out?
I've been wanting to do this for a while. I know probably no one else cares, but I spend SO MUCH time listening to this music, it's like a part of me. So!
My Top Ten My Chemical Romance Songs (Complete with download links, so the uninitiated, feel free to come on in!)
1. Heaven Help Us (TBP B-side)
I'm at this old hotel / But I can't tell if I've been breathing or sleeping or screaming or waiting for the man to call / And maybe all of the above / Cause mostly I've been sprawled on these cathedral steps while spitting out the blood and screaming SOMEONE SAVE US.
I'm not sure when or why a B-side became my favorite song. It's partially a rebellion against the "typical" favorites (singles and the like), but mostly it's just a really fucking good song. Most of TBP has gotten a little tired for me, but not this song. There's a lot of Three Cheers level energy and passion here, and the musicality of it is just gorgeous. Ray and Frank seriously bring their A game, not that that's unusual! But I love the bitter desperation of the lyrics combined with the epic sound of the whole song. It's uplifting, really, even though it's about feeling abandoned and lost. That's kind of a theme in my favorites, as you'll see - it's one of my favorite things about this band.
2. Headfirst For Halos (Bullets)
Now the red ones make me fly / And the blue ones help me fall / And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling / And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall / Fall on your tongue like pixie dust / Just think happy thoughts
I have a line from this song tattooed on my skin, of course it's a favorite! Bullets as an album took a while to grow on me, but this song sank its hooks into me and never let go. I think it had something like 50 plays on my iTunes when the rest of the album still averaged 10 or 15. It's the most cohesive song on the album, in my opinion, and it always amuses me that Gerard said it started as a joke and almost wasn't a song at all. But they sure as hell pulled it off, with this deliciously bouncy riff that never fails to make me want to dance in my seat, juxtaposed with lyrics about blowing your brains out! When they started this song at the concert, I almost leaped over the railing in joy. Seriously.
3. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison [Live] (Three Cheers/LOTMS)
They all cheat at cards and the checkers are lost / My cellmates are killer / They make me do pushups in drag / But nobody cares if you're losing yourself / Am I losing myself?
Mostly? This song is fun. And while I love the album version, I love the live version off LOTMS probably the best of all recorded performances I've heard. The video's also incredible (it's one of the AOL sessions). Frank does all the melodic work at the very beginning of the song, and it's gorgeous, and then Ray's solo is absolutely my favorite of his very large repertoire. The moment I fell in love with Ray's fingers was when I saw the shitty, grainy, dark video of him doing pre-production for this song in the studio. It KILLED me. Frankie's screaming also gives me much happy, as does all the talk of kissing boys! I'm not 100% clear on what this song is actually about - is it about falling in love with someone in prison, but it being incredibly difficult because of all the obstacles? ("We're just two men as God had made us", and all that) Or is it about getting abused and raped in prison? I should probably know this, but lyrical interpretation is not one of my strong suits. :-/ ANYWAY. I love this song. (Also worth noting - the intro Gee does to this live version is my FAVORITE. "Let me tell you all a story! Of five beautiful boys. One went to jail, one went to jail, here we go here we go." BEAUTIFUL BOYS INDEED ♥)
4. Famous Last Words (TBP)
I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone / Honey if you stay I'll be forgiving / Nothing you can say can stop me going home
I've definitely always liked this song, but recently it kind of snuck up and smacked me on the head with obsession. I can watch the video a million times, even though it's "just" a performance video. Reading what Gerard had to say about it just cemented its beauty for me - it started as an angst-ridden anthem about how Gerard felt when Mikey left Paramour, then got transformed into a song of triumph over incredible odds, of achieving the unachievable. Whenever I really listen to this song, I get a bit choked up.
5. Thank You for the Venom (Three Cheers)
Preach all you want but who's gonna save me? / I keep a gun in the book you gave me / Hallelujah lock and load! / Black is the kiss the touch of the serpent's tongue / It's not the mark or the scar that makes you run and run and run
You wanna follow something / Then give me a better cause to lead
The guitar attack of the beginning of this one just gets my blood revving! Just such a solid, driving rock song, with, as usual, inspired, dark lyrics. I'm skeptical of religion, to say the least (I don't want to offend anyone out there, and I think it's great that it works for other people, it just definitely does not for me) so I like when songs sort of call that whole institution into question. It's just that sometimes organized religion can get oppressive in a way that I really rebel against, and I appreciate that aspect of this song. Mostly, it makes me rock out with my cock out. Er, if I had one.
6. Our Lady of Sorrows [Live] (Bullets)
Stand up fucking tall / Don't let them see your back and / Take my fucking hand / And never be afraid again
Another song that I prefer live because they speed it up even MORE, to the point where Gee can barely spit out the chorus! This song induces rather embarrassing instances of dancing my mind out when alone in my room. The live version I've uploaded is one I ripped from a video from the $2 Bill performance in 2006 - I really love the video, you should look it up on TIP. Gee's got a lot of manic energy, it's pretty fabulous.
7. Helena (Three Cheers)
Burning out / Just like a match you strike to incinerate / The lives / Of everyone you knew / And what's the worst to take / From every heart you break / And like a blade you stain / Well I've been holding on tonight
Who doesn't love this song? Gerard took his grief and guilt about his grandma's passing (and the fact that he wasn't there when she died) and turned it into a veritable masterpiece. The pure energy and emotion in this song is enough to thaw the coldest heart. Musically, it's utterly gorgeous - when sung in my light soprano, acapella, it becomes almost a ballad. Then you throw the video into the mix, and well, I'm dead. I can't watch that video without getting teary.
8. Dead! (TBP)
Have you heard the news that you're dead? / No one ever had much nice to say / I think I never liked you any way
This song has gotten a little stale for me, but it was the first MCR song I LOVED, so I think it deserves a place on this list. Frank said that they took the best aspects of Headfirst for Halos and came up with this as the improvement - I personally like Headfirst better, for the unleashed rawness to it, but this has the same feel of morbid jolliness. Only MCR can pull off that combo :) Ray's solo kicks ass, too.
9. Vampires Can Never Hurt You (Bullets)
And if the sun comes up / Will it tear the skin right off our bones? / As razor sharp white teeth rip out our necks and suck you bare
We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey
This song is really, really long, and could really have done with some Howard Benson-style shaping and grooming, but dude, it's a song about VAMPIRES! Literally! Videos of basement-Gerard, all greasy and plastered, hollering out this song make me so happy :D This is their geeks-extraordinaire song, and I appreciate that endlessly.
10. I'm Not Okay (Three Cheers)
What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems? / I told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means / To be a joke / And look, another line without a hook / I held you close as we both shook / For the last time / Take a good hard look
This is probably a song that should have worn on me by now, but it HASN'T. It's just so fucking catchy! Maybe not the most profound in its lyrics, but it just latches itself in your brain and won't. let. go. The video is clearly a large part of my love for this song - high school MCR! Frankie drinking his chemistry experiment and failing utterly with girls! Ray twirling and eating crayons! Mikey playing their jams in the school! Gerard getting tackled and utterly failing in his retribution! Yeah, pretty much the epitome of awesome, all round.
I love this ridiculous band. ♥♥♥
Honorable Mentions: Give Em Hell Kid, Mama, Honey This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For the Two Of Us, My Way Home is Through You, It's Not a Fashion Statement It's a Deathwish, Desert Song
Ahaha, and I just rambled about all that WHY? It's 3 AM! *facepalm* Oh well, it's done now, and maybe, MAYBE someone enjoyed it. If only a wee bit. :P
I've been wanting to do this for a while. I know probably no one else cares, but I spend SO MUCH time listening to this music, it's like a part of me. So!
My Top Ten My Chemical Romance Songs (Complete with download links, so the uninitiated, feel free to come on in!)
I'm at this old hotel / But I can't tell if I've been breathing or sleeping or screaming or waiting for the man to call / And maybe all of the above / Cause mostly I've been sprawled on these cathedral steps while spitting out the blood and screaming SOMEONE SAVE US.
I'm not sure when or why a B-side became my favorite song. It's partially a rebellion against the "typical" favorites (singles and the like), but mostly it's just a really fucking good song. Most of TBP has gotten a little tired for me, but not this song. There's a lot of Three Cheers level energy and passion here, and the musicality of it is just gorgeous. Ray and Frank seriously bring their A game, not that that's unusual! But I love the bitter desperation of the lyrics combined with the epic sound of the whole song. It's uplifting, really, even though it's about feeling abandoned and lost. That's kind of a theme in my favorites, as you'll see - it's one of my favorite things about this band.
2. Headfirst For Halos (Bullets)
Now the red ones make me fly / And the blue ones help me fall / And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling / And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall / Fall on your tongue like pixie dust / Just think happy thoughts
I have a line from this song tattooed on my skin, of course it's a favorite! Bullets as an album took a while to grow on me, but this song sank its hooks into me and never let go. I think it had something like 50 plays on my iTunes when the rest of the album still averaged 10 or 15. It's the most cohesive song on the album, in my opinion, and it always amuses me that Gerard said it started as a joke and almost wasn't a song at all. But they sure as hell pulled it off, with this deliciously bouncy riff that never fails to make me want to dance in my seat, juxtaposed with lyrics about blowing your brains out! When they started this song at the concert, I almost leaped over the railing in joy. Seriously.
3. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison [Live] (Three Cheers/LOTMS)
They all cheat at cards and the checkers are lost / My cellmates are killer / They make me do pushups in drag / But nobody cares if you're losing yourself / Am I losing myself?
Mostly? This song is fun. And while I love the album version, I love the live version off LOTMS probably the best of all recorded performances I've heard. The video's also incredible (it's one of the AOL sessions). Frank does all the melodic work at the very beginning of the song, and it's gorgeous, and then Ray's solo is absolutely my favorite of his very large repertoire. The moment I fell in love with Ray's fingers was when I saw the shitty, grainy, dark video of him doing pre-production for this song in the studio. It KILLED me. Frankie's screaming also gives me much happy, as does all the talk of kissing boys! I'm not 100% clear on what this song is actually about - is it about falling in love with someone in prison, but it being incredibly difficult because of all the obstacles? ("We're just two men as God had made us", and all that) Or is it about getting abused and raped in prison? I should probably know this, but lyrical interpretation is not one of my strong suits. :-/ ANYWAY. I love this song. (Also worth noting - the intro Gee does to this live version is my FAVORITE. "Let me tell you all a story! Of five beautiful boys. One went to jail, one went to jail, here we go here we go." BEAUTIFUL BOYS INDEED ♥)
4. Famous Last Words (TBP)
I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone / Honey if you stay I'll be forgiving / Nothing you can say can stop me going home
I've definitely always liked this song, but recently it kind of snuck up and smacked me on the head with obsession. I can watch the video a million times, even though it's "just" a performance video. Reading what Gerard had to say about it just cemented its beauty for me - it started as an angst-ridden anthem about how Gerard felt when Mikey left Paramour, then got transformed into a song of triumph over incredible odds, of achieving the unachievable. Whenever I really listen to this song, I get a bit choked up.
5. Thank You for the Venom (Three Cheers)
Preach all you want but who's gonna save me? / I keep a gun in the book you gave me / Hallelujah lock and load! / Black is the kiss the touch of the serpent's tongue / It's not the mark or the scar that makes you run and run and run
You wanna follow something / Then give me a better cause to lead
The guitar attack of the beginning of this one just gets my blood revving! Just such a solid, driving rock song, with, as usual, inspired, dark lyrics. I'm skeptical of religion, to say the least (I don't want to offend anyone out there, and I think it's great that it works for other people, it just definitely does not for me) so I like when songs sort of call that whole institution into question. It's just that sometimes organized religion can get oppressive in a way that I really rebel against, and I appreciate that aspect of this song. Mostly, it makes me rock out with my cock out. Er, if I had one.
6. Our Lady of Sorrows [Live] (Bullets)
Stand up fucking tall / Don't let them see your back and / Take my fucking hand / And never be afraid again
Another song that I prefer live because they speed it up even MORE, to the point where Gee can barely spit out the chorus! This song induces rather embarrassing instances of dancing my mind out when alone in my room. The live version I've uploaded is one I ripped from a video from the $2 Bill performance in 2006 - I really love the video, you should look it up on TIP. Gee's got a lot of manic energy, it's pretty fabulous.
7. Helena (Three Cheers)
Burning out / Just like a match you strike to incinerate / The lives / Of everyone you knew / And what's the worst to take / From every heart you break / And like a blade you stain / Well I've been holding on tonight
Who doesn't love this song? Gerard took his grief and guilt about his grandma's passing (and the fact that he wasn't there when she died) and turned it into a veritable masterpiece. The pure energy and emotion in this song is enough to thaw the coldest heart. Musically, it's utterly gorgeous - when sung in my light soprano, acapella, it becomes almost a ballad. Then you throw the video into the mix, and well, I'm dead. I can't watch that video without getting teary.
8. Dead! (TBP)
Have you heard the news that you're dead? / No one ever had much nice to say / I think I never liked you any way
This song has gotten a little stale for me, but it was the first MCR song I LOVED, so I think it deserves a place on this list. Frank said that they took the best aspects of Headfirst for Halos and came up with this as the improvement - I personally like Headfirst better, for the unleashed rawness to it, but this has the same feel of morbid jolliness. Only MCR can pull off that combo :) Ray's solo kicks ass, too.
9. Vampires Can Never Hurt You (Bullets)
And if the sun comes up / Will it tear the skin right off our bones? / As razor sharp white teeth rip out our necks and suck you bare
We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey
This song is really, really long, and could really have done with some Howard Benson-style shaping and grooming, but dude, it's a song about VAMPIRES! Literally! Videos of basement-Gerard, all greasy and plastered, hollering out this song make me so happy :D This is their geeks-extraordinaire song, and I appreciate that endlessly.
10. I'm Not Okay (Three Cheers)
What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems? / I told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means / To be a joke / And look, another line without a hook / I held you close as we both shook / For the last time / Take a good hard look
This is probably a song that should have worn on me by now, but it HASN'T. It's just so fucking catchy! Maybe not the most profound in its lyrics, but it just latches itself in your brain and won't. let. go. The video is clearly a large part of my love for this song - high school MCR! Frankie drinking his chemistry experiment and failing utterly with girls! Ray twirling and eating crayons! Mikey playing their jams in the school! Gerard getting tackled and utterly failing in his retribution! Yeah, pretty much the epitome of awesome, all round.
I love this ridiculous band. ♥♥♥
Honorable Mentions: Give Em Hell Kid, Mama, Honey This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For the Two Of Us, My Way Home is Through You, It's Not a Fashion Statement It's a Deathwish, Desert Song
Ahaha, and I just rambled about all that WHY? It's 3 AM! *facepalm* Oh well, it's done now, and maybe, MAYBE someone enjoyed it. If only a wee bit. :P
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 03:22 am (UTC)You should totally do it! I'd love to see what you had to say. There's memes of this general form floating around already - I just say go for it :)
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Date: 2008-01-20 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 03:56 am (UTC)I've yet to give Bullets a truly good listen, but what I have heard hasn't charmed me :/ However, all your glowing recommendations here are making me want to try harder! Really! Geeway ilu, bb, I'm sorry D:
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:00 am (UTC)See, I'm not lying when I said it took Bullets a while to grow on me. At first I was very much, meh, this is all so unpolished and haphazard and really rather unpleasant (EXCEPT Headfirst for Halos!), but I kept it mixed in with the rest of my MCR stuff on shuffle. Gradually, and almost without me noticing, it completely grew on me, until I was actively choosing it to play more often than not. One time, I was rocking out to Vampires, thinking about how much I loved the song, and I happened to look and notice that I had given it THREE STARS! GASP! I immediately bumped it up to 5 stars and started listening to it all the damn time, in some kind of weird penance. Hahaha, I don't even KNOW. I am fully indoctrinated into the cult of Gerard Way. Trust me, just keep giving it a chance. It might surprise you :)
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Date: 2008-01-20 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 08:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 10:21 am (UTC)I'm pretty sure my favoritest MCR song is I'm Not Okay. I just. Yes. LOOOOOVE.
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Date: 2008-01-20 12:28 pm (UTC)I'm Not Okay is pretty fucking fab, it's true :D
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Date: 2008-01-20 07:55 pm (UTC)My favorite MCR song changes about every week or so but that one is always right up there at the top.
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Date: 2008-01-20 11:06 am (UTC)Could you upload 1 and 6 to mediafire or megaupload? Sendspace takes ages for me :(
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Date: 2008-01-20 12:43 pm (UTC)Sure! Heaven Help Us and Our Lady of Sorrows (Live)
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Date: 2008-01-20 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 01:52 pm (UTC)I've definitely always liked this song, but recently it kind of snuck up and smacked me on the head with obsession
Mm, me too, definitely. TBP has been sneaking up on me one obsession at a time - first it was Disenchanted, then Cancer, than Mama and now it's Famous Last Words all the way. It's just such an insanely empowering song.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 02:29 pm (UTC)My interest in TBP has definitely waned, but FLW still remains so addictive. Exactly, it's so... hopeful, in a blatant way like none of their other songs are. It makes my heart soar :D
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Date: 2008-01-20 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 06:43 pm (UTC)Kill All Your Friends
My Way Home is Through You
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Date: 2008-01-20 08:47 pm (UTC)