Concept Albums Explained: The Black Parade
by Paul-Newell Reaves
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance
2006
“The Black Parade” is a celebration of a cancer patient, who grapples with their disease, says goodbye to loved ones, ultimately speaking their final words of, “nothing you can say can stop me going home” (though the lyrics on the vinyl insert intriguingly end with the last words, “awake and unafraid, asleep or dead”).
The album takes this patient on one hell of a death trip, the neurochemical voyage of the pineal gland, a psychedelic trip through introspection and memory, regret and self-judgement, manifested as an abandoned city populated only by a grim parade of black-clad marchers, complete with falling snow and spewing fire.
It all begins with “the End”, and the beeping of a pulse oximeter. Critically, the pulse of this patient does not flatline as the acoustic chords strum in. This patient’s heart still beats… read more
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