Oh my. It has been a horribly long time since Iposted. Fortunately, I don’t think the world is worse off because of it. What I will do, I think, is revisit a music topic. Music is easy to write about, and I am often thinking about different songs. Today, I happened to listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, and it got me thinking again about the similarities to “Welcome to The Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance. So, I decided to do the compare and contrast thing for those two songs.
As in my previous essay about two songs, I will assume that everyone out there knows these two songs. I will be referring to the lyrics, mostly, but I am not going to post the lyrics here. Feel free, of course, to look them up, but I would more encourage a a listen of the songs.
Bohemian Rhapsody (BR) was a cut from the album “A Night at the Opera.” The song incorporates elements of opera in it. The lyrics themselves make reference to characters in Italian opera; the imageryassociated with the song also conjures up a classical opera; although, to be fair, it may also bring upimages of Wayne’s World in the same way that Haddaway brings up images of Will Ferrell. It is an instantly recognizable song, from the first notes to the “Mama Mia”’s and “Figaro”’s, to the fading piano notes to Freddie’s pipes. The lyrics deal with the pain a young man feels after killing someone, until he decides he can’t face hell and tries to escape.
Welcome to the Black Parade (BP) was the hit maker for My Chemical Romance, much in the same way that Bohemian Rhapsody established Queen. There is no classical imagery in the song, nor is there references to opera. It does make a reference to a Rolling Stones song, which, to a band from New Jersey, is about classical as opera. The song does tell a story; and there are images of devils, demons, and phantoms. Death is an constant theme in the song, much as it was in Bohemian Rhapsody. BP benefited by having a video released for it, which was able to expand thematically on the song while adding some strong visuals to the lyrics. While BR did have a video released for it, it was some time after the song actually came out and it’s purpose was more to put a face on the band than tell the story of the song.
The similarities are very strong. Both songs have frequent tempo changes, starting slow, increasing in speed an volume before dropping back again. Both songs rely on the power vocals of the lead singers to bring out the emotion. In either case, a weaker singer would not be able to carry the lyrics. Both songs are written in the first person; both songs incorporate different types of music in the song, not limiting the music to straight rock but expanding the definition. BP was over 5 minutes long, relatively long for a pop song. BR was over 7 minutes long, also long for a pop song.
Both songs start with the singer presenting himself as a young boy, strongly influenced by a parent. The Black Parade starts “When I was a young boy, my father took me to the city” while Bohemian Rhapsody starts with (after the intro) “I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy” and “Mama, didn’t mean to make you cry.” Black Parade notes “I won’t explain or say I’m sorry” while Bohemian Rhapsody laments “ I gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.” BR is “Just a poor boy from a poor family” while BP is
“Just a boy who had to sing this song, I’m just a man, not a hero.” BP will “Carry on, we’ll carry on” and BR is going to “Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters.”. “Nothing really matters, to me” says BR; while BP says “I Don’t care!”. BP will “Do or die, you’ll never make me, because the world will take my heart” and BR “ Has just gotta out, just gotta get right out of here.”
The two songs are not identical, of course; they both have many differences. But they do have enough similarities that it would be a safe assumption that “Welcome to the Black Parade” was at the very least inspired by “Bohemian Rhapsody” and may have even been a direct tribute to it. Personally, I like both songs, and I find I can’t listen to one without thinking of the other. Different songs for different times.
I think this should be a longer post, but for some reason it is not. I decided not to make any commitments to myself on how many posts I wanted, because I likely won’t be able to keep them. But I will try to put something up once in a while.
