Book of My Chemical Romance

Song facts

You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison: 
•Gerard recorded the song in his underwear 
•It features backing vocals from Bert McCracken (The Used), who Gerard thanks in the album credits for being his ‘cell mate’ 

Hang ‘Em High: 
•It features vocals from Keith Morris (Black Flag)… Frank actually stalked him to get him to sing on the record, because he is one of his idols 

Demolition Lovers: 
•Gerard dedicated it to his girlfriend at the time, Kat, in the album credits, saying “sorry I wrote all this stuff about killing you. I hope the last one makes up for it.” 

Drowning Lessons: 
•It is their least favourite song to play live. They’ve only played it live about four times, but according to the band, every time something has gone wrong 

Summertime: 
•Gerard wrote it for his wife, Lynz, who he married in the summertime of 2007 on the Projekt Revolution tour. Throughout that tour they wrote cryptic messages to eachother on their skin, and one day Lynz had “run away with me” written on her arm, and Gerard had “anytime you want” on his neck 

The Only Hope For Me Is You: 
•Gerard called it “a cousin to Famous Last Words” and said it was looking at the beginning of his life, which he considers to be 9/11 

Party Poison: 
•It was originally titled ‘Death Before Disco’, and at the time Gerard told the press it was the “best song MCR have ever written” 
•They describe it as an ‘anti-party rock song that you can party to’ 

Vampire Money: 
•Frank doesn’t know what he says at the beginning, because was “drunk” at the time 

Planetary (GO!): 
•“Fame is now injectable” is one of Gerard’s favourite lyrics he’s ever written 
•The band describe it as ‘the dance song they’ve been trying to write for years 

Kids From Yesterday: 
•It is everyone in the band’s favourite song off the record 
•Frank heard the final recording for the first time coming back from the hospital with his newborn babies in his arms 

Na Na Na: 
•Gerard wrote it with Lynz in the desert 
•Frank came up with the guitar riff 

The End: 
•It used to just be called “Intro” 
•The line “when I grow up I want to be nothing at all” is a direct response to people who used to tell Gerard he would never make anything of his life 

Dead!: 
•They started work on this song in 2005 
•Frank pushed for the ‘tuba part’ in the bridge, and said “if you hate it, come see me about it. ****’s tough, I don’t care what you think!” 

This Is How I Disappear: 
•The song was the first time Ray and Frank wrote different chorus melodies and then smashed them into one part 

The Sharpest Lives: 
•Gerard told Frank to write a ‘spy guitar part’ for the pre-chorus, and Frank said yes (“because that’s what you say to a dude you love and respect.”) But he realised he was screwed as soon as Gerard left the room, because he’s “never seen a 007 movie” 

Welcome To The Black Parade: 
•Frank came up with the original title ‘The Five Of Us Are Dying’ 
•They started work on it in 2002 and re-wrote it four times before finally releasing it in 2006 

I Don’t Love You: 
•At the end of the ‘Life On The Murder Scene’ DVD there’s a clip of Gerard and Ray singing the original version of the song 

Cancer: 
•Ray played bass on the studio record, not Mikey 
•It’s Frank’s favourite song MCR have ever written – every time he hears it, he has to “fight back tears” 

Mama: 
•Liza Minelli sings on the track, as does Donna Way, Donald Way and Linda Iero (and Frank found out his mom “sings like a gypsy, which is the coolest thing in the world.”) 
•It’s Frank’s second favourite song on the album. 

Sleep: 
•The tape recording at the start was inspired by the night terrors Gerard was having in the Paramour Mansion, where he would wake up in the middle of the night and feel like somebody’s hands were around his neck, choking him. (“It feels like somebody’s gripping my throat and squeezing.”) 
•And the recording creeps Frank out 

Teenagers: 
•Gerard wrote the lyrics when he was on a busy subway, to distract himself from a panic attack he was having due to the number of teenagers surrounding him 

Disenchanted: 
•It was originally called ‘Shut Up and Play’ and there are live versions of it on Youtube, from 2005 
•It is Mikey’s favourite song on the record: he fought to have it on there. He used to go up to the guys in the band when they were sleeping and just whisper ‘Disenchanted’ to them 

Famous Last Words: 
•Gerard wrote the song for Mikey when he left the band during the making of The Black Parade. The line “I see you lying next to me” refers to Mikey sleeping on the floor in Gerard’s room in the Paramour Mansion (because he was too scared to sleep in a room alone) 
•Mikey said when he heard it, he knew he couldn’t leave the band