Welcome to the Black Parade

"Welcome to the Black Parade"
Single by My Chemical Romance
from the album The Black Parade
B-side	"Heaven Help Us"
Released	October 9, 2006
Format	7" vinyl, CD single, digital download
Recorded	April 2006
Genre	Alternative rock,[1] pop punk,[2] emo[3]
Length	5:11 (album version) 4:37 (radio edit)
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	My Chemical Romance
Producer(s)	Rob Cavallo, My Chemical Romance
Certification	Platinum (RIAA)[4]
My Chemical Romance singles chronology
"The Ghost of You" (2005) "Welcome to the Black Parade" (2006) "Famous Last Words" (2007)

"Welcome to the Black Parade" (also going by the shortened title "The Black Parade" and originally titled "The Five of Us Are Dying") 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 eighth single. The studio version was available on MySpace on September 2, 2006.

Music video

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.^[5] 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 was heavily played on MTV. It features "The Patient" (the main character of the album, played by Lukas Haas) dressed in a hospital gown, and being taken by death in the form of a "Black Parade". On the main float stands My Chemical Romance playing "Welcome to the Black Parade". Behind the float are dozens of masked figures.

All the costumes were designed by Academy Award Winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. 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's Revenge-era makeup. The setting of the music video transitions from a hospital room to a surreal cityscape with ash-covered wreckage, black snow and destroyed buildings. The video features four 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 song "Mama". The video tells a basic version of the story behind The Black Parade quite closely. Gerard Way has said that it is "the definitive video for the record" which "summed up the album".

The video has over 50 million views on YouTube as of April 29, 2016.

Promotion

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. It is the band's most enduring success and their highest-charting single to date on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9. The song ranked at #17 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of 2006".^[6] It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. The song was made downloadable for Rock Band and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. ITV used the song in a video montage in its final Formula One broadcast at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after losing the rights to broadcast F1 in 2009 and beyond to the BBC. The video featured several prominent F1 drivers (such as Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel) as well as ITV presenters (and retired commentator Murray Walker) lipsynching to the song.

The song was also used by the Los Angeles Kings during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs as part of a video intro at the team's home games. The song also opened the team's Stanley Cup Champions rally and banner raising ceremony at the Staples Center.

The working title of the song was named after an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Chart performance

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. "Welcome to the Black Parade" became and currently is their highest charting single, beating "Helena" at #33, their second-highest charting single. 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. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" was their previous highest-charting single on Modern Rock Tracks, where it peaked at #4.

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 (and as of 2015, only) #1 in the country. The single was #26 in the UK's top 40 singles of 2006, selling 169,000 units. The song was certified Gold in the UK on 6 June 2014, representing sales of at least 400,000 copies.^[7] The song has been certified platinum by the RIAA by selling over 1,000,000 copies.

Track listing

• All songs written by My Chemical Romance.

Version 1 (promotional CD)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Black Parade"	5:19
2.	"Welcome to the Black Parade" (radio edit)	4:37

Version 2 (CD and 7" vinyl)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Black Parade"	5:11
2.	"Heaven Help Us"	2:56

Version 3 (7" vinyl)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Black Parade"	5:11
2.	"Welcome to the Black Parade" (live)	5:31

Version 4 (CD)

No.	Title	Length
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)

No.	Title	Length
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)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Black Parade" (live)	5:31
2.	"Heaven Help Us"	2:56

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2006–07) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[8] 14 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 50 Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[10] 6 Denmark (Tracklisten)[11] 18 European Hot 100 Singles[12] 5 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 7 Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 58 Irish Singles Chart 12 Italy (FIMI)[15] 28 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 92 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 2 Norway (VG-lista)[18] 15 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[19] 1 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[20] 76 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 26 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 64 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23] 1 UK Rock (Official Charts Company) 1 US Billboard Hot 100[24] 9 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[25] 8 US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[26] 1 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[27] 22 US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 24 Venezuela Pop Rock (Record Report)[28] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position Australian Singles Chart[29] 85 US Billboard Hot 100[30] 59

Chart successions

References

1. "Top 10 Alt-Rock Videos From 2006". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
2. Ashley Burns. "‘Middle School’ Is A Mash-Up Of Every Pop Punk Song You Won’t Admit You Once Loved". UPROXX. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
3. "EMO: Welcome to the Black Parade". The Independent. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
4. "RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
5. "Lessons In Marketing: What Is The Black Parade?". So More Scene. July 29, 2006. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
6. The 100 Best Songs of 2006 : "Music News" Check |url= value (help). Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
7. "Certified Awards". Retrieved May 6, 2015.
8. "Australian-charts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
9. "Ultratop.be – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
10. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20076 into search.
11. "Danishcharts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". Tracklisten.
12. "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese).
13. "My Chemical Romance: Welcome to the Black Parade" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". GfK Entertainment Charts.
15. "Italiancharts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". Top Digital Download.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
17. "Charts.org.nz – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". Top 40 Singles.
18. "Norwegiancharts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". VG-lista.
19. "Archive Chart: 2006-10-15". Scottish Singles Top 40.
20. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20079 into search.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". Singles Top 100.
22. "Swisscharts.com – My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade". Swiss Singles Chart.
23. "My Chemical Romance: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
24. "My Chemical Romance – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for My Chemical Romance. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
25. "My Chemical Romance – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for My Chemical Romance. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
26. "My Chemical Romance – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for My Chemical Romance. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
27. "My Chemical Romance – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for My Chemical Romance. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
28. "Pop Rock" (in Spanish). Record Report. 2006-11-25. Archived from the original on 2006-11-25.
29. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2007". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
30. "Best of 20107 - Hot 100 Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-12-14.

External links