i understand why the black parade (the concept) is seen as a force of good (the name has cool imagery and “to joinnn the black parade” is a #epic moment). force of good as in synonym to emo communities, mcr fans, the general downtrodden. gerard is still called the leader of the black parade as in “king of the emos” when the actual leadringer persona constantly berated “my chemical romance” lol.
i like the black parade as a false promise. to start, the black parade is special to the patient since gerard describes the concept as people being welcomed to death by their happiest memory, which is reflected in the beginning of wttbp. the whole song is a conflict btwn “though your dead and gone believe me your memory will carry on” and “im just a man, im not a hero”. it’s an uneasy song. like all these people are telling the main character not to worry about dying because they’ll be remembered but they cant accept that because they dont think theyre worth remembering. “i dont care”—“we’ll carry on”.
mama and welcome parallel in a lot of ways, from the parental figures to the HUGE sound to the multi-part structure to the adoption of specialty music (cabaret v marching band). even “we’ll carry on” is echoed, with the addendum “when our brothers in arms are gone / so raise your glass high for tomorrow we die / and return from the ashes you call”. this is what the patient (“im just a man”) would say after hearing the black parade, echoing the sentiment with venomous anger instead of welcome’s almost sterile tone.
the idea of a false promise comes from the parade being presented as what the patient supposedly always wanted: to be unashamed, be the saviour, be REMEMBERED. as represented by their father and questioned by the patient. so for them to go to war to be remembered (“you made us oh so famous”) only to be unfulfilled by that (“we all go to hell”) shows the failures of the black parade (also represented on disenchanted: “lifelong wait for a hospital stay”). it’s a welcome that no longer fit the patient, whose childhood whims were disproven by what they learned from life.
this is why famous last words is sooo satisfying. they create their own acceptance of death. “i see you lying next to me” with the people they love, “with words i thought id never speak” with self-acceptance, “awake and unafraid, asleep or dead” and with their own fucking words. “i am not afraid to walk this world alone” they dont need to be remembered. there is no parade, there is no yearning for the past.
and while the black parade buried them as they were still screaming, famous last words leaves room for them to stay alive. agency and dignity, in life and death.
