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Teenagers (song)

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"Teenagers"
Song

"Teenagers" is the fourth single and the eleventh track from My Chemical Romance's third studio album, The Black Parade. It is the third U.S. single from the album, but it is the fourth single released in the UK, the Philippines, Australia and Canada. This song is the band's eleventh overall single.

Background

Gerard Way is quoted as saying that he wrote the song after finding himself in a New York subway car full of high schoolers: "That was the first time I felt old...I was nervous and I was a target. I felt like I had become a parent figure or part of the problem."[1]

About the relationship between the song and concerns about gun violence, Way said:

That song almost didn't fit on the record but it's a topic that's so important to our culture. It's about a really big problem in America where kids are killing kids. The only thing I learned in high school is that people are very violent and territorial.[2]

This song was #25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[3] This song was also #80 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.[4] The single is certified Platinum by the RIAA.[5]

Music video

The video version of the song (directed by Marc Webb) seems to have some added audio. During and onwards the lyrics "They say all teenagers scare the living shit out of me", there are piano notes playing in the background in the style of western music (during live performances, the piano plays along to the music even more so). The album version of the song does not have this piano playing until the coda. Early in the video, it shows teenagers breaking in.

The video is extremely similar to "Red Flag" by Billy Talent, in the way the cheerleaders have gas masks on (the last scene from "Red Flag" has teenagers wearing similar masks) and the way the sheer number of teenagers break free and get physically close to the band. The video is also strongly reminiscent of the video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by grunge rock band Nirvana from their album entitled Nevermind. The use of a high school setting, the use of cheerleaders, as well as ending with the assembled students storming stage scene, have become synonymous with the 1991 Samuel Bayer hit video.

The music video was posted by the band via their YouTube channel on May 30 and was one of the most watched videos on YouTube obtaining over 70,000,000 views. Sometime around November 1, 2007, the video passed the "Famous Last Words" video as the third most played video on the site. This version of the video cut out the word "shit". The MTV version differs from the YouTube version; notably the teenagers breaking in was cut out, as well as the words "gun," "shit," and "murder". The video has debuted on Total Request Live.

This video made its world premiere in New Zealand. New Zealand was the first country in which The Black Parade reached number one. Multiple pirated versions of the video surfaced on the internet days before the American debut.

Promotion

It was made available for download for the Xbox 360's Guitar Hero II game on August 15, 2007, along with "Famous Last Words", and "This Is How I Disappear", adding to their song shipped with the game, "Dead!". It was also made available for download with full guitar, drum, bass, and vocals charts for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Media

The video for "Teenagers" can be seen and heard on the television in one scene of the television series Bionic Woman, in the episode "Do Not Disturb". This song is also featured in an episode of Dog The Bounty Hunter, the 2008 film Never Back Down, and an episode of LA Ink, in which tattoo artist Kat Von D tattoos Frank Iero. The main riff of the single was featured in the seventh episode of Dirty Sexy Money' "The Wedding". It is also included on the Saints Row 2 soundtrack.

Reception

My Chemical Romance surprised many critics by the musical style of "Teenagers". It incorporates elements of pop punk, hard rock and 12 bar blues. This earned them mostly positive reviews from critics[citation needed]. A reviewer from NME Magazine wrote, "Some bands go out of their way to do a song with a sound they're never bound to do, then release it as a single. They usually fail. My Chemical Romance tried a substantially different sound for this song, and it paid off. The message is simple, the chorus is catchy and Ray Toro's solo joins the chorus and bridge together so smoothly." The song managed to grab 5 stars in both NME and AbsolutePunk.net as well as 4/5 from IMDb.

Charts

The song entered the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at #2, before debuting at #87 on the Hot 100 the following week as the "Hot Shot" debut of the week, and has peaked at #67. It has reached #23 on the Pop 100, and #13 on Modern Rock Tracks. It has also debuted at #42 in the UK, and has gone onto become the band's fourth straight top 20 hit from The Black Parade and their third top ten hit from the album, peaking at #9. It debuted at number 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 16
Austrian Singles Chart 50
Canadian Hot 100 53
Czech IFPI Chart[6] 32
European Hot 100 Singles[7] 27
German Singles Chart 74
Irish Singles Chart 7
New Zealand Top 40 Singles Chart 6
UK Singles Chart 9
US Billboard Hot 100 67
US Billboard Pop 100 23
US Billboard Alternative Songs 13
Venezuela Pop Rock (Record Report)[8] 15

Track listing

  • All songs written by My Chemical Romance.

Version 1 (promotional CD)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers" (radio edit)2:38[9]

Version 2 (CD and 7" vinyl)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers"2:41
2."Dead!" (live from E-Werk in Berlin on October 14, 2006)3:16[10]

Version 3 (7" vinyl)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers"2:41
2."Mama" (live from the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on March 22, 2007)5:00[11]

Version 4 (CD)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers"2:41
2."Dead!" (live at E-Werk in Berlin on October 14, 2006)3:16
3."Mama" (live from the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on March 22, 2007)5:00[12]

Version 5 (digital download)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers"2:41
2."Teenagers" (music video)2:51
3."I Don't Love You" (Video from AOL Sessions)3:57

References

  1. ^ Fresh from the Garden State, in Black Leather and Eyeliner, The New York Times, 22 October 2006.
  2. ^ "MCR discuss high school gun crime", New Musical Express, 25 October 2006.
  3. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
  4. ^ MTV Asia. "Top 100 Hits List". Retrieved 2007-12-27
  5. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database: Teenagers". Recording Industry Association of America. 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  6. ^ Čns Ifpi
  7. ^ "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  8. ^ "Pop Rock" (in Spanish). Record Report. 2007-09-29. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02.
  9. ^ My Chemical Romance Teenagers UK Promo 5" CD SINGLE (409122)
  10. ^ The Record Shack
  11. ^ The Record Shack
  12. ^ My Chemical Romance Teenagers Australia 5" CD SINGLE (412774)
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