My Chemical Romance: Boy Division Meaning
Song Released: 2012
Boy Division Lyrics
Would you light the candles
Would you drink the wine
While watching television
Watch the animals
And all the tragedies
And sell your arteries
And buy my casket gown
It better be black
It better be...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think its about the lead singer of Joy Division, who killed himself. He was on heroin and lots of other drugs. In the song True Faith by New Order, (the remaining members of the band Joy Division after the lead singer died) they say several lines referring to him realizing what his life could have been as he stared at the morning sun, as he was overdosing on drugs. It would make sense since Joy Division is one of their inspiring bands, as well as the name of the song being very similar. Haha I believe this is most likely to be the meaning.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:I think this is about drugs, being a celebrity, self-destruction and the media circus w/ Hollywood at the center of it all. I also definitely agree that this is influenced/inspired by Joy Division's frontman overdosing on drugs because I can't think of another reason why this song would have its title otherwise.
If all my enemies threw a party
Would you light the candles
Would you drink the wine
While watching television
Seems to be indicating the media and the critics (all the "enemies") on tv that we just watch.
Watch the animals
And all the tragedies
And sell your arteries
And buy my casket
We're watching all this shit on tv for entertainment while losing a bit of ourselves and letting the narrator (mcr/joy division frontman) die.
Well it better be black
Well it better be tight
Well it better be just my size
I'm stalking these metro malls
And airport halls
And all these schoolgirls say
I'm not sure why no one else mentioned this yet, but isn't this talking about the fans? Majority of MCR's fans were girls tbh.
I'm not asking
You're not telling
He's not dead he only looks that
Their conversations. Could be that they're gossiping about MCR or defending MCR.
Way out nowhere
Take me out there
Far away and
Save me from my
Self destruction
Hopeless for ya
Sing a song for California
Definitely think this is about the celebrity life and how self-destructive it can get (especially considering the members' past struggles). California is at the center of it b/c of Hollywood.
Also think they're referencing "Don't Need Another Song About California". Think it means they're giving up and need someone, anyone to save them.
I buy my enemies rope to hang me
And the knives to gang me
You can watch them stab me
On your television
MCR could get out of this situation (the exposure and critical attention that comes with the fame) but they don't. They stay despite the fame "killing" them and we (their fans) just watch.
Stalk the halls
Because the bathroom walls
Would have a lot to say
About the lines you're putting down
Drugs.
Well it better be white
Well it better be cut
Well it better be just my size
Definitely about cutting drugs.
Until my capillaries
Burst from boredom
I'll be waiting
Still about drugs. Could mean taking so many drugs from boredom your capillaries can burst.
I'm not laughing
You're not joking
I'm not dead, I only dress that
Now MCR talking, defending themselves. Not completely sure but seems to signify hopelessness - that it's not funny anymore.
Way out nowhere
Take me out there
Far away and
Save me from my
Self destruction
Hopeless for ya
Sing a song for California
Again, save me.
Wherever you are
Wherever you are
Whoever you are
Whoever you are
'Cause we got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go!
We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go!
We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go!
We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go!
The power's in our hands. But honestly sounds overenthusiastic? Maybe i'm reading too into the lyrics but it's also sounds like while we can make a difference, our power's really destructive. For example, one twitter post can influence a lot of ppl and really damage a person's reputation at the same time.
Way out nowhere
Take me out there
Far away and
Save me from my
Self destruction
Hopeless for ya
Say a prayer for California
Save me. Save California from self-destructing into a media shitstorm.
We got the bomb
We got the bomb
We got the bomb
We got the bomb! -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:I PUT WAY TOO MUCH THOUGHT INTO THIS. MOST LIKELY NOT CORRECT, BUT IT'S COOL I GUESS, MAYBE FOR A FANFIC. I'M SORRY. I"LL JUST GO NOW. :)
"If all my enemies threw a party
Would you light the candles?
Would you drink the wine?
While watching television?"
= Kids who hate you at school (partying)
"Watch the animals
And all the tragedies
And sell your arteries
And buy my casket gown"
= Doing bad shit and hating on/ bullying you
"Well, it better be black
And it better be tight
And it better be just my size"
= Because you always wears black, and get teased for how you dress.
"I’m stuck in these metro malls" = Stuck in typical suburban metro malls with no freedom/ no choice for an alternative (life)styled person.
"And airport halls"
= you can see the exit to freedom but still can’t escape.
"And all these schoolgirls say"
=The girls that bully and whisper about you.
“I’m not asking
You’re not telling
He’s not dead he only looks that way”
= The things the girls are saying about you, attempting at being subtle.
"Out nowhere
Take me out there
Far away and save me from my self-destruction
Hopeless for you
Sing a song for California"
= Sick of all the shit, would rather be “nowhere” than here. You’re self-destructing *however you wish to take that.*
Feeling hopeless.
The land of dreams.
"I bought my enemies rope to hang me
And the knives to gang me
You can watch ‘em stab me on your television"
= You feel like you’re playing into their hands just by being yourself. It’s like you want this to happen. The issue’s there but no one cares.
"Stalk the halls
Because the bathroom walls
Would have a lot to say about
The lines you’re putting down!"
= The only ones that seem to notice are the walls.
No one notices/cares that you are self destructing/ being subjected.
"It better be white
It better be cut
It better be just my size"
= You could be a different person or change yourself, but… nah.
"Until my capillaries burst of boredom, I’ll be waiting"
= It’s the same horrible routine over and over again.
"I’m not laughing
You’re not joking
I’m not dead I only dress that way"
= The kids say it's just fun and games but everyone knows there's truth behind it.
Knowing how the others are viewing you, but you’re just “being yourself” whatever that means. You don’t know how/ don’t want to fight back.
"Wherever you are
Wherever you are
Whoever you are
Whoever you are"
= Looking at pictures of yourself as a happy young kid and wondering where it went.
"LALALALA (plus guitar bit)" =Fucking the fuck out??
"‘Cause we got the bomb, we got the bomb (LET’S GO!)
We got the bomb, we got the bomb (LET’S GO!)
We got the bomb, we got the bomb (LET’S GO!)
We got the bomb, we got the bomb (LET’S GO!)"
=You could use a weapon to kill others or kill yourself…
Having this urge to get the fuck out of a situation. -
Why do I have a feeling it's about how the audience percieve Gerard as a human being?! Sing a song about California is associated to me with fame, drugs, America, an image. He is fucking out of it, he wants to be out of the circle where the music industy is build upon what schoolgirls and teenagers want to see from MCR as a Band. They think being an artist in the US is the coolest thing ,they look like vampires or emos because basically this is the way to promote their songs ,while saying he looks like he is dead ,Gerard when he looked as dark as a dead person it wasn't an image that he choose. While he felt self distructive , but as long as he looks cool and can write songs about his emotions he is good to go. No one really gives a fuck about what he wants to actually say, he thinks no one cares because is what you're selling is matters. He wants a way out of this misery, the self destruction, cynical mindset , he wants to free himself and he did escape the pressure from the music industry and all the judgement by closing the chapter of MCR. For me the first album was the most My Chemical Romance as have ever been,no doubt. They were a small Band from New Jersey,who had a lot to offer and say to the world and ended up in the mainstream like every other Band, I'm not talking about how I feel about them , I think based on this lyrics Gerard feels they lost their individuality by giving in for the pressure of the industry, money and fame, other people opinion about their life when it's literally a mask.They are artists and musicians who are annyonymus even if they are real to us. What's behind that mask ,no one knows only their closest members of their circle. Actually a joke to me how their Label put it on the album without a single question.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I'm propably wrong, but here is what I think:
"If all my enemies threw a party
Would you light the candles
Would you drink the wine
While watching television"
-> for me it sounds like asking "would you betray me/would you turn aginst me?"
"Watch the animals
All the tragedies
Sell your arteries
And buy my casket gown"
-> it may be "try to kill me if you want, I really don't care"
"It better be black
It better be thight
It better be just my size"
-> I think he's choosing "his casket gown", another "try what you want, I don't care"
"I'm stalking these metro malls
And airport halls
And all the schoolgirls say"
-> for me, he's saying he don't have anything better to do, so he's just "stalking these halls" and he can't help but hear schoolgirls's conversations
"I'm not asking
You're not telling
He's not dead he only looks that"
-> these are the schoolgirls's conversations
"Way out nowhere
Take me out there"
-> it may mean he's in a really really bad sitoation("way out nowhere") and asks to get him out of this (it may also mean his life)
"Save me from my
Self destruction hopeless for ya"
-> he asks someone to save his life, "save him from his self destruction" - suicide or something like cutting or addiction (alcohol, drugs...). He also says that 'somebody' can do nothing to stop him ("hopeless for ya"), but still have hope ("save me")
"Sing a song for California"
-> I'm not sure about this one. Maybe he don't want to, but he must "sing a song for California". Maybe he says that there's no point in "singing a song", because nobody will listen. Maybe both. I don't know.
"I bought my enemies rope to hang me
And the knives to gang me"
-> he gave them whatever they need to kill him. I feel like he's not talking about actual 'knives', more like about reasons. Maybe the way he looks (schoolgirls conversation), maybe the way he acts, maybe both. We don't know
"You can watch them stab me
On your television"
-> for me it's another "do what you want, I don't care"
"Stalk the halls
Because the bathroom walls
Would have a lot to say
About the lines you're putting down"
-> cutting?
"It better be white
It better be cut
It better be just my size"
-> I don't know. All I can think of are: knife/razor, coffin, cutting scars. I think that it could be coffin. "White" - it would suit "if all my enemies .... buy my cascet gown" part. "Cut" - it sutis if I'm right about "putting down lines"- just think about it, how will it look. The same with "just my size"
"Untill my cappillaries brust of boredom
I'll be waiting"
-> it proves I'm right about "stalking metro malls". I used to feel exactly this way most of the time (I'm ok now, I promise), I just can't explain it... For me, he's got enough, he's just waiting for them to kill him
"I'm not laughing
You're not joking"
-> another reason why I think "lines" part is about cutting. Read them together, it makes sence.
"I'm not dead I only dress that"
-> I don't know. Propably he's telling "his enemies" that "hey, I'm still here, I'm still waiting!"
"Wherever/whoever you are x4" part
-> he's calling the 'somebody' who he was asking to save him
"LA LA LA LA"
-> for me it's showing irony about his actions: "la la la" = "happy", "la la la" in BD = "crazy" - he's asking "whoever you are" to save him and at the same time he's asking his enemies to kill him. For me this song is full of irony. The sad, 'sick' (is it correct? I'm not good at English...), and even sometimes a little 'horror-movie-sort of psychopatic' irony.
"We got the bomb - let's go" part
-> for me it sounds like commiting suicide...
"Way out nowhere ..... hopeless for ya" (last one)
-> agin, I think it's ironic: he asked to save him, and he's killing himself
"Say a prayer for California"
-> for me, it's saying "ok, bye. Say a prayer for them, maybe they'll understand what you're telling them (someday) *kills himself*"
So, that's my interpretation. Propably nothing's how it should be, but whatever. Bye, "say a prayer for California" for me :) -
Reading the lyrics.It actually sounds like a threat.Similar to "Pumped up kicks" by foster the people.A bullied person committing a form of crime such as a bombing suicide (Send a prayer for california-Save me from my self destruction-we got the bomb 4x)A shooting,or something else.It might also be a schizophrenic person imagining a dystopia and a lover to save them from it.To me it seems like an immortal or routinal suicide attemptings,(I buy my enemies rope to hang me,knives to gang,You can watch em stab me on your television screen,It better be cut,I'm not dead I only look/dress like that,Lives your putting down,)but that's only because I saw an amv with this chorus and one of the charactors was an immortal.
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From what I'm reading, most of these interpretations cover what I would've put here, except for this:
"Hopeless for ya, sing a song for California"
This is almost EXACTLY what is said in We Don't Need Another Song For California except in that they say /don't/ sing a song for it. Also, in Make Room!!!!!, it says "Everybody wants to change the world but no one wants to die" followed by "we are never gonna change the world cause we are never gonna die".
Whether or not this was them just really liking those lines, it may mean that they were drawing from Danger Days and their other albums to make a sense of desperation in this, their last work. It may mean that this song is about giving up or giving in to something.
It could -
In the Catcher in the Rye someone writes "fuck you" on the bathroom wall at a primary school and there are about 5 pages going on about how horrible it was. That might fit with the "Stalk the halls, because the bathroom walls, would have a lot to say about the lines you're putting down" (those are the actual lyrics on MCR's website)
I have no clue what the "it better be black/white, it better be tight/cut, it better be just my size" bits are about though. Any ideas? -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think this song is about a suicide bomber whose target is California. Not saying I'm right, but its my interpretation. "We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go..." "Save me from my self destruction, hopeless for ya. Say a prayer for California..." "Because the bathroom walls will have a lot to say about the lives your pulling down..." "I'm stuck in these airport halls...". But this "Catcher in the rye" theory seems more plausible.
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I'm probably wrong but I think this song was inspired by The Catcher in the Rye.
When Holden contemplates suicide he says one of the reasons he wouldn't is because all his phony family members would be at his funeral. "If all my enemies (phony family members and "friends") threw a party (my funeral), would you light the candles, would you drink the wine, (literal candles and literal wine, like at a funeral) and watch the television? (I guess this is referring to all the phony, repetitive speeches everyone would make)
The rest seems kinda obvious once you start looking at it that way.
The song is about his funeral.
Sidenote: most of the songs on Conventional Weapons are very heavily referencing points brought up in the Catcher in the Rye. (As well as loads of other MCR songs) I really recommend you /all/ read it. I got it for my 14th birthday which was around a month ago and I've already read it three times...
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