Welcome to the Black Parade

"Welcome to the Black Parade"
Song

"Welcome to the Black Parade" is the first single and fifth track from My Chemical Romance's third studio album, The Black Parade. It was released on September 11, 2006 on iTunes and October 9, 2006 on CD. It is the band's ninth single. The studio version was available on MySpace on September 2, 2006. The song became the group's first number one in the UK on October 15, 2006, staying there for two weeks, and later rose to number one on the Modern Rock charts on October 26, 2006, where it would stay for seven weeks.

The song ranked at #17 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of 2006".

Track listing

Version 1 (promotional CD)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" – 5:19
2. "Welcome to the Black Parade" (radio edit) – 4:37

Version 2 (CD and 7" vinyl)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" – 5:11
2. "Heaven Help Us" – 2:56
3. "Carry On" - 4:23

Version 3 (7" vinyl)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" – 5:11
2. "Welcome to the Black Parade" (live) – 5:31

Version 4 (CD)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" – 5:11
2. "Heaven Help Us" – 2:56
3. "Welcome to the Black Parade" (live) – 5:31

Version 5 (digital download)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" (radio edit) – 4:38
2. "My Chemical Romance Welcomes You to the Black Parade" (commentary by the band) – 39:28

Version 6 (digital download)

1. "Welcome to the Black Parade" (live) – 5:31
2. "Heaven Help Us" – 2:56

This song was originally titled, "The five of us are dying."

Overview

My Chemical Romance debuted "Welcome to the Black Parade" live at the pre-show of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

The studio version is now available on their MySpace.

Charts

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #71 for the chart week of September 30, 2006, becoming their highest debut for a single. It peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 in its 17th and 18th week on the chart, becoming the band's first top ten Hot 100 hit, and their highest peaking single thus far (their previous highest position on this chart was #33 with "Helena"). In addition it topped Modern Rock Tracks for seven weeks in a row, and is the band's only #1 on this chart to date. It peaked at #2 on the UK iTunes Store's most played songs, and has reached #6 on the U.S. iTunes Store. The single knocked Razorlight's "America" off the number 1 single spot on Sunday, October 15, 2006 in the UK after extensive airplay, becoming the band's first #1 there. It has overall been their most successful single to date, reaching the top 10 of the United World Chart. The single was #26 of the top 40 singles of 2006 in the UK, selling 169,000 units. The song has been certified platinum by the RIAA by selling over 1,000,000 copies.

Chart	Peak position
Argentina Hot 100	1
French Singles Chart	1
Galgalatz Israel Top 20	1
New Zealand Top 40 Singles Chart	1
MYX Philippines	1
UK Singles Chart	1
Hot 30 Countdown	1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	14
Colombian Singles Chart	39
Czech IFPI Chart	6
Finnish Singles	7
Germany Singles Chart	58
Irish Singles Chart	12
Italy Singles Chart	28
Latvian Airplay Top	14
Mexican Singles Chart	25
Norwegian Singles	15
Poland Singles Chart	41
Piczo Countdown	9
Sweden Singles Chart	8
Triple J Hottest 100	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	7
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	9
U.S. Billboard Hot Canadian Digital Singles	9
U.S. Billboard Hot Videoclip Tracks	10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay	16
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay	22
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	22
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	24
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	30
U.S. Billboard Hot Ringmasters	30
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	30
United World Chart	8

Music video

File:WelcomeToTheBlackParade.png

The Black Parade as shown in the music video.

The video for the single was directed by Samuel Bayer, known for his work with Nirvana and Green Day. The music video was released on September 26, 2006 in the UK and Canada, and was released on September 27, 2006 in the U.S. It got heavy play on MTV. It features a man (played by Lukas Haas) dressed in a hospital gown, "The Patient" that the album is about, dying, and being taken by death in the form of a Black Parade. On the main float stands the band playing "Welcome to the Black Parade".

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was a main influence for their new album. While the band is playing, "The Patient" wanders throughout the parade looking at all the various characters within it.

The cover art for the single is a scene from the video, with the man in the bottom center being the Patient. He is flanked by two women named "Fear" and "Regret" in Gerard Way Revenge-era makeup. The setting of the music video goes from a hospital to a surreal cityscape, with ash-covered wreckage and destroyed buildings. The video features 4 of the main characters. "The Patient", "Fear", "Regret", and "Mother War". "Fear" and "Regret" are the two women that stand beside "The Patient" on the cover for the single. "Mother War" is the woman in the Victorian-era gown and gas mask. Liza Minnelli plays the character of "Mother War" in the second verse of the song "Mama". It was meant to be written for their debut album, "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love," but there was never enough time to complete it well enough until the third album.

Parody

On the January 6, 2007 episode of MADtv, the song was parodied as "The Black Tirade", centering on Michael Richards's dying career after spouting racial slurs at the Laugh Factory, as well as how Internet video sites like YouTube are becoming more popular than television. Michael McDonald played Michael Richards and the video parody featured African-American people smashing Seinfeld DVDs and the (fake) band members of My Chemical Romance (Gerard Way played by MADtv castmember Frank Caeti) looking at the infamous picture of Britney Spears exiting a limo sans underwear on a laptop computer.

References

External links

• "Welcome to the Black Parade" sound track at The Black Parade official website