{"id":11506,"date":"2019-12-03T17:32:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T01:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=11506"},"modified":"2019-12-03T17:32:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T01:32:52","slug":"like-phantoms-forever-the-return-of-my-chemical-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/like-phantoms-forever-the-return-of-my-chemical-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"“Like Phantoms, Forever\u201d: The Return of My Chemical Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sean Tellvik<\/strong>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Freelancer<\/span><\/p>\n

My Chemical Romance are back from the dead. On Oct. 31, rock band My Chemical Romance announced their return for a one-night show in Los Angeles after a six-and-a-half year breakup. Many fans worried this may have been a one-off reunion event, but with the addition of festival dates in March, it is time to take the return more seriously.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To fill the empty spaces in their hearts following MCR\u2019s breakup announcement in 2013, fans devised numerous theories about a planned reunion. A band who posthumously released a song called \u201cFake Your Death\u201d on a greatest hits album titled \u201cMay Death Never Stop You\u201d invited some speculation about the permanence of their split.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The band primarily consists of singer Gerard Way, bassist Mikey Way, and guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, who have all been working on their own solo projects since the band\u2019s split. However, no individual member of the band has had quite the same level of success as that which they experienced united. Hits like \u201cHelena,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m Not Okay (I Promise),\u201d \u201cWelcome to the Black Parade\u201d and \u201cTeenagers\u201d have stood the test of time and circulated many a Spotify \u201cemo\u201d playlist, which brings me to the most slippery issue surrounding the band\u2019s identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many fans, streaming platforms and articles about MCR identify the band as emo, a term with a messy history and complicated implications. The band themselves have tried to set the record straight that they are not an emo band, even expressing disgust at the term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The term \u201cemo\u201d is short for \u201cemotional,\u201d referencing the genre\u2019s often dark or confessional lyrics. Part of the problem is the misconception that emo culture begets self-harm and suicide. On the contrary, the music often acts as an outlet to channel much of the depression and mental health issues that lead to these actions. Especially during the 2000s, the toxic perception of emo culture has spawned violence and brutality against those who identify as emo. But the core of the genre, when separated from stigma, can offer catharsis and a form of identity to its listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe so many people attribute the emo genre to MCR because they have validated people\u2019s feelings of sadness, anger, loneliness \u2014 you name it \u2014 and shown listeners that it\u2019s okay to not be okay. The lyrics to \u201cI\u2019m Not Okay (I Promise),\u201d which say \u201cYou really need to listen to me \/ because I\u2019m telling you the truth \/ I mean this, I\u2019m okay, trust me \/ I\u2019m not okay,\u201d capture the feeling of masking one\u2019s emotions to conform to an expectation of baseline happiness. I think MCR\u2019s openness about these feelings are what made them such a popular band while garnering them the unwanted emo label.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the band\u2019s most famous lyrics from the song \u201cFamous Last Words\u201d defiantly states, \u201cI am not afraid to keep on living \/ I am not afraid to walk this world alone.\u201d This message of perseverance contradicts the claim that their music breeds self-destruction. Countless fans have given their testimony to defend that this is a band that saves lives. And I think the world needs to hear their message once more to break down the stigma against mental health issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at stellvik15@mail.wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sean Tellvik\u00a0 |\u00a0 Freelancer My Chemical Romance are back from the dead. On Oct. 31, rock band My Chemical Romance announced their return for a one-night show in Los Angeles after a six-and-a-half year breakup. Many fans worried this may have been a one-off reunion event, but with the addition of festival dates in March, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":10024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}