# Welcome to the Black Parade

"Welcome to the Black Parade" is a song by American rock band My Chemical Romance, from their third studio album The Black Parade (2006). It was released on September 12, 2006, as the album's lead single, with the studio version available on the band's Myspace on September 2, 2006. The music video for the single was recognized as MTV's "Greatest Music Video of the Century" in 2017. The song topped the UK Singles Chart, reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
A demo of the song entitled "The Five of Us Are Dying" was included on their 2016 reissue album The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts.

## Background and production

My Chemical Romance began work on their third studio album, The Black Parade, in early 2006 at S.I.R. Studios in New York, with the bands frontman Gerard Way aiming to create an album centered around life and death. He eventually came up with the concept of centered around a man dying of cancer, known as "the Patient", as he nears the end of his life. Death then presents itself to the Patient in the form of his fondest childhood memory: his father taking him to see a marching band when he was a child.
During the production of the album, the band worked on "Welcome to the Black Parade", which was originally conceived during the band's first writing sessions as "The Five Of Us Are Dying". The song was one that the band struggled to complete, reworking it several times throughout the course of its production. Tom Bryant described the production of the song as a "painstaking process of trial and error" for the band. Gerard stated that the song was by far the hardest one to complete for The Black Parade, and that "pressure was tearing us up" when working on it. Additionally, during the production of the song, Way was recovering from a break-up with his girlfriend of six years; Gerard further described the angst going through him when making the song as a "plea for help". He later stated in a 2021 interview that the song was almost cut from The Black Parade, due to him believing that earlier versions of the song didn't have as strong of themes as the rest of the album's tracks. Despite his discontent, he continued to try and work on the song, believing that it was necessary for the album to have a song that represented what the album stood for.
During the album's production, the band moved from the S.I.R. Studios to the Paramour Estate, a haunted mansion in Los Angeles to record the rest of the album, a process that took place in the middle of the production of "Welcome to the Black Parade". There, the band reworked the song yet again, but was yet again unsatisfied with the end result. The band was not motivated to continue work on the song at this point, though Gerard encouraged them to record another version of the song with the hopes that it would eventually work out. The band then decided to adopt an idea that the album's producer Rob Cavallo initially had for the albums introduction: a track that would depict a marching band going through a city, complete with crowd cheering and various instrumentals before it passes by the listener and fades away. Cavallo would later showcase to the band his initial idea by playing a portion of the instrumental he had planned for the track on the piano, which the band later added a portion of to "Welcome to the Black Parade". The band, as well as Cavallo, were satisfied with the song at this point, with Cavallo saying that it was the "best thing [he had] ever heard". Gerard later rewrote the piano introduction himself, which gave way for the band to refine and finish the rest of the song.

## Composition and lyrics

"Welcome to the Black Parade" is an emo song that is five minutes and eleven seconds long. It has also been described as pop-punk, punk rock, and hard rock. The song opens up with an 11 note long piano introduction that starts with a G5 note, which slowly builds up into a marching band-esque portion. The second half of the song then dives into a "frantic pop-punk burst of energy" which combines the aspects of several areas of rock music; David Fricke of Rolling Stone described it as featuring "rock-hero tilt", specifically in reference to Gerard Way's voice during this part. This portion of the song features a lead guitar, as well as a section involving a horn. Several journalists compared the song to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", and Billboard compared it to "In The Flesh" by Pink Floyd.
The song itself is about the idea of overcoming the "darkness" present within the world, as well as the triumph of the human spirit. The lyrics in the first part of the song are oriented around the "Patient" recalling his aforementioned childhood memory before his death. He further recollects his father asking him if he would be "the savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned" during a bonding experience. The main chorus featured in the latter half of the song has Gerard Way shout out "we'll carry on", as will the memories of the Patient's, despite their death.

## Music video

The video for the single was directed by Samuel Bayer, known for his work with Nirvana and Green Day. The music video was released on September 26, 2006, in the UK and Canada, and was released on September 27, 2006, in the US. It was heavily played on MTV. It features the Patient (the main character of the album, played by Lukas Haas) dressed in a hospital gown, and being taken by death in the form of a "Black Parade". On the main float stands My Chemical Romance playing "Welcome to the Black Parade". Behind the float are dozens of masked figures.
The setting of the music video transitions from a hospital room to a surreal cityscape with ash-covered wreckage, snow, black confetti, and destroyed buildings.
Tom Breihan of the Village Voice regarded the video as "revealing a new stage of [My Chemical Romance's] persona". He also ranked it 7th on the 10 best music videos of 2006.
All the costumes were designed by costume designer Colleen Atwood. The costumes have inspired outfits, such as Lil Nas X's during his 2022 Grammy's performance. Other artists that have referenced the marching band uniforms include Post Malone.

### Equipment

* Ray Toro's Ebony Epiphone WildKat Ltd. Ed.
* Frank Iero's Ebony Epiphone Sheraton II.
* Mikey Way's Black Fender American Vintage '62 Jazz Bass
* Bob Bryar's C&C Custom drumkit

## Promotion

The song became the group's first number one in the UK on October 15, 2006, staying there for two weeks, and later rose to number one on the Modern Rock charts on October 26, 2006, where it would stay for seven weeks. It is the band's most enduring success and their highest-charting single to date on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 9. The song ranked at number 17 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of 2006". It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.

## Critical reception

"Welcome to the Black Parade" received critical acclaim. Time magazine's Josh Tyrangiel ranked the song in his top 10 songs of 2006, calling it "audacious, goofy and insanely catchy attempt at merging "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Born to Run" into a rock opera" and saying it was a sign of an "Us vs. Them moment in the generational divide". David Fricke from Rolling Stone praised Way's "full rock-hero tilt" singing of the vocal hook ("We'll carry on."). Entertainment Weekly positively compared the song to "Bohemian Rhapsody". The Village Voice said pollsters generally preferred the song to the album.

## Chart performance

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 71 for the chart week of September 30, 2006, becoming their highest debut for a single. It peaked at number 9 on the Hot 100 in its 17th and 18th week on the chart, becoming the band's first and only top ten Hot 100 hit. "Welcome to the Black Parade" became and currently is their highest-charting single, beating their 2005 single "Helena" at number 33, their second-highest-charting single. In addition, it topped Modern Rock Tracks for seven weeks in a row, and is the band's only number one on this chart to date. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" was their previous highest-charting single on Modern Rock Tracks, where it peaked at number 4.
In the UK, the single knocked Razorlight's "America" off the number one spot on October 15, 2006, after extensive airplay. The single was number 26 in the UK's top 40 singles of 2006, selling 169,000 units. The song was certified double platinum in the UK on August 26, 2022, representing sales of at least 1.2 million copies.

## Legacy

"Welcome to the Black Parade" has been viewed as an important song on emo culture, going as far as to be considered an "emo anthem" as well as one of the bands most important songs. Margaret Farrell of Stereogum stated that the song was one of the best written in the 21st century. Terry Bezer of Louder described it as the "anthem of a generation", and Kerrang! stated that the song was one of the "biggest, best and most important rock songs of the 21st century", and a "rallying cry for all who feel the world’s dealt them a cruel hand". Cassie Whitt of Loudwire wrote that the song "defined a generation, defined a culture and, more than anything else, defined this band." Chloe Spinks of Gigwise described it the song as perfect, and that it "[displayed] the true musical genius of My Chemical Romance". Several publications have considered the song to be My Chemical Romance's best, and it has gone on to become one of My Chemical Romance's signature songs. "Welcome to the Black Parade" has been listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a song that "shaped rock and roll".

## Accolades

| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
| Rolling Stone | The 100 Best Songs of the Year | 2006 | 17 |
| Time | Top 10 Everything: Songs | 2006 | 3 |
| Loudwire | Top 50 Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century | 2012 | 37 |
| MTV | 50 Greatest Music Videos of the 21st Century | 2017 | 1 |

## Track listing

* All songs written by My Chemical Romance.
Version 1 (promotional CD)
Version 2 (CD and 7" vinyl)
Version 3 (7" vinyl)
Version 4 (CD)
Version 5 (digital download)
Version 6 (digital download)

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Gold | 4,000$^^$ |
| Japan (RIAJ) Full-length ringtone | Gold | 100,000$^*$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | 2× Platinum | 60,000$^‡$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000$^‡$ |
| United States (RIAA) | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000$^‡$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||