# Helena (song)

"Helena" (alternatively titled "Helena (So Long & Goodnight)") is a song by the American rock band My Chemical Romance from their second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004). It was released as the album's second single on March 8, 2005. An emo song, it was created in memory of band members Gerard Way and Mikey Way's late grandmother, who died while the band was touring and unable to visit her during the last year of her life. Although it was one of the last tracks on the album to be written, the direction that Gerard Way took it in influenced the rest of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge's tracks. A music video, directed by Marc Webb and filmed at a church in Los Angeles, was also released.
The song and its music video were well received by critics. It was a commercial success, charting in several countries and becoming the band's first major hit on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching number one on the UK Rock & Metal chart. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, British Phonographic Industry, and Recorded Music NZ. The song was nominated for five awards at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, although it did not win in any of the categories.
"Helena" is often considered by journalists to be the band's breakout hit, a contributor to the commercial success of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and an influential track on the emo music genre. Some have considered it as one of My Chemical Romance's best songs, as well as one of the best emo and goth songs in history. It is among the band's most played songs at live concerts, typically being used as a closing track.

## Background and release

While touring in 2003 for their first studio album, My Chemical Romance began writing material for their second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004). By the time the band had concluded the tour in November, a large part of the album was already written, and they had also signed a record deal with Reprise Records to publish it. The same day that the band had finished touring, the grandmother of band members Gerard and Mikey Way, whose name was Elena, died. The brothers were heavily impacted by her death, with Gerard being upset over how he was unable to see her one final time. Determined to honor her legacy, Gerard began writing "Helena".
While "Helena" was one of the latter tracks from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge to be created, the direction that Gerard took the song in influenced how the rest of the album would be produced. He said that "the emotions I went through [when she died] and over the next six days were what completely fuelled Revenge", and that every emotion that someone could cope with loss with was present on the album. The band began recording the album in 2004 after concluding a short, already scheduled tour in the United Kingdom. The album, including "Helena", was produced by Howard Benson.
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge was released on June 8, 2004 through Reprise; "Helena" is the album's opening track. On streaming services such as iTunes, it's full title is "Helena (So Long & Goodnight)". It was released onto radio as the album's second single on March 8, 2005, also through Reprise. A live recording of the track, performed at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey was released on iTunes on May 23. "Helena" was later included on the band's greatest hits album, May Death Never Stop You, released on March 25, 2014.

## Composition and lyrics

"Helena" has been described as emo song. It is 3 minutes and 22 seconds long. It begins with an introduction of a muffled, reverberating guitar with Gerard Way whispering the track's opening lines. 16 seconds later, the song fully begins with what Billboard described as a "captivating raucous" of guitars and drums. Pitchfork compared that moment in the song to a jumpscare. The song is generally fairly fast paced, being sung at "manic speed", though each chorus slows the track down temporarily. Pitchfork described it as going from "from funereal poise to unbound abandon".
While Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge itself follows a specific narrative, "Helena" is completely separated from the story. As aforementioned, the song's lyrics are about Gerard Way and Mikey Way's deceased grandmother, with a large amount of Gerard's self-hatred being incorporated into the track. He stated that he wrote the track with a lot of self-hatred towards himself, for not being there during the last year of his grandmother's life. The song demonstrates this meaning with dark, "edgy" lyrics such as "just like the hearse you die to get in again". Sam Law of Kerrang! believed that the track, alongside its original meaning as a personal song, also could fit as a continuation of a previous song by the band, "Demolition Lovers". Similarly, Variety's Katie Reul wrote that "Helena" could also be interpreted as an mournful breakup song.

## Commercial performance

In the United States, "Helena" reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 11 on Alternative Airplay. It was the band's first high-charting single on the Hot 100, and is considered their first commercial success. The song also debuted and peaked at number 19 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in 2019, as a result of the band's reunion being announced. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 1 on the UK Rock & Metal chart, and 20 on the UK singles chart. Elsewhere, it reached 19 on the Scottish Singles and albums chart, 27 in New Zealand, 46 in Ireland, 67 in Germany, and 78 in Australia. "Helena" has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and the British Phonographic Industry, platinum by Recorded Music NZ, and double platinum by Music Canada.

## Critical reception and legacy

Upon its release, several reviewers highlighted "Helena" as a standout track on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. A staff editor of IGN described "Helena" as a song that "covers every base", featuring every element that one would typically expect out of an emo song. Emily Zemler of Alternative Press stated that Gerard Way's performance on the song was "breathlessly compelling", and Ian Mathers of Stylus highlighted the song's usage as an opening track. Upon the song's release as a single, Billboard staff described the track as one that "bursts with energy" and considered it more catchy than the album's lead single, "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)". In retrospective rankings, "Helena" is often regarded as one of the best songs from My Chemical Romance's discography. Louder's Marianne Eloise and Stereogum's Margaret Farrell both ranked it as the second best in the band's discography, while Loudwire ranked it third and Kerrang! ranked it fourth. "Helena" has also been considered one of the best emo songs of all time by Variety and Vulture, as well as one of the best goth songs by Rolling Stone and NME.
"Helena"'s commercial success is often credited by journalists as helping popularize emo music in the 2000s, and has also been considered My Chemical Romance's breakout hit. With the popularity of "Helena" and its music video, My Chemical Romance became one of the most popular emo band's of the 2000s. It also contributed to the commercial success of its parent album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, which went on to sell three million units. It remains My Chemical Romance's second most successful song in the United States, behind "Welcome to the Black Parade". Louder's Marianne Eloise wrote that, while "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" was a more well remembered track from the album, "Helena" was a turning point for the band as their first widespread hit, as well as a song that changed emo on a commercial level. They further described the song as a "beautiful, mournful track", and one of the most unique from the band. Bryan Reesman of American Songwriter described "Helena" as a song that not only stood out among the rest of My Chemical Romance's discography, but early 2000s rock music as a whole. Aliya Chaudhry of Stereogum wrote that "Helena" and its associated music video were cultural touchstones for emo and pop-punk.

## Music video

The song's music video was directed by Marc Webb. It was filmed from January 7-8, 2005 at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. During filming, fans of the band were invited to appear in the video as mourners at a funeral. While the original focus of the song was a real-world death, the music video shifts over its context to tell the story of a young girl (played by Tracy Phillips) who died, with Gerard Way standing in the pulpit. Throughout the music video, it cuts between shots of the band performing in the church to the funeral attendees participating in a dance number.
After a while, the girl rises from her coffin and begins to dance through the church aisle, interacting with the attendees and at one point grabbing the camera to join her. Eventually, she collapses back into her casket, and is carried out of the church in the rain by six pallbearers: the band's five members, plus one fan. As the girl is carried out, the funeral attendees dance around the casket with black and red umbrellas. This scene was not created with the rain in mind, though the crew felt that it made the video look better. The dances in the video were choreographed by Michael Rooney.
The music video was among the 100 most requested videos on MTV2 for several weeks in 2005, reached number one over a dozen times on Total Request Live, and was frequently played on Fuse. It was nominated for five awards at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Rock Video, Best New Artist in a Video, Best Choreography, MTV2 Award, and Viewer's Choice. It did not win any of these nominations. In 2017, Paste's Ashley Laderer ranked it as the best music video for an emo song. In 2024, a readers poll for Alternative Press placed "Helena" as the best music video from the 2000s, with staff writers describing the video as one of My Chemical Romance's "most stunning and impressive performances". Aliya Chaudhry of Kerrang! ranked it as the band's best music video, believing that it demonstrated the band's artistic ability. They further wrote that the music video could be considered one of the greatest ever made.

## Live performances

"Helena" is among My Chemical Romance's most performed songs at their concerts. It is typically played as a closing track of their shows. By February 2024, it had been performed over 600 times and was the band's second most performed song live behind "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)". "Helena" was performed at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, with audience members participating in the performance by unfolding white umbrellas. During the band's 2007 tour to promote their third studio album The Black Parade (2006), "Helena" was typically the last song performed on the standard set list. Before the band's temporary breakup in 2013, "Helena" was the last song they performed live, as the closing track of their final performance on May 19, 2012 at Asbury Park, New Jersey.

## Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from iTunes.
* Gerard Way – lead vocals
* Ray Toro – lead guitar
* Frank Iero – rhythm guitar
* Mikey Way – bass guitar
* Matt Pelissier - drums
* Howard Benson – Hammond organ, production

## Charts

2005 chart performance for "Helena" :
| Chart (2005) | Peak positions |
| Australia (ARIA) | 78 |
| Germany (GfK) | 67 |
| Ireland (IRMA) | 46 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 27 |
| Scotland (OCC) | 19 |
| UK Singles (OCC) | 20 |
| UK Rock & Metal (OCC) | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 33 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard) | 11 |
| US Pop 100 (Billboard) | 32 |
2019 chart performance for "Helena" :
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) | 19 |

## Certifications

Certifications for "Helena" :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 2× Platinum | 160,000$^‡$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Platinum | 30,000$^‡$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Gold | 400,000$^‡$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000$^*$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||