Welcome to the Black Parade

About this song

The song is on My Chemical Romance's third studio album, The Black Parade. Frontman Gerard Way has explained the idea behind it in an interview, describing how death comes for the character in the form of a parade that matches his strongest memory.

What it's about

The song follows The Patient, a dying man, through death and beyond. For him, death arrives as a black parade, tied to a childhood memory of his father taking him to a parade.

Fun facts

• Sampled in 35 other songs, like “Rap god but the instrumental keeps changing by William Maranci”.
• Covered 17 times, including “Welcome to the Black Parade by First to Eleven”.
• Written by Mikey Way, Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero and Bob Bryar.
• Produced by My Chemical Romance and Rob Cavallo.
• Recorded at El Dorado.