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Teenagers (song)

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This article is about the My Chemical Romance song. For other uses, see Teenager (disambiguation) § Songs.
"Teenagers"
Single by My Chemical Romance
from the album The Black Parade
ReleasedJuly 9, 2007
Recorded2006
Genre
Length2:41
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
My Chemical Romance singles chronology
"I Don't Love You"
(2007) 		"Teenagers"
(2007) 		"Desolation Row"
(2009)
Music video
"Teenagers" on YouTube

"Teenagers" is the fourth and final single and the eleventh track from My Chemical Romance's third studio album, The Black Parade (2006). It was the third United States single from the album, but the fourth released in the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Australia, and Canada. The song was released to radio on May 15, 2007.[1]

Background and release

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My Chemical Romance began writing their third studio album, The Black Parade, in early 2006 at S.I.R. Studios in New York.[2] There, frontman Gerard Way expressed an interest to create an album which explored life and death, but contained his real fears "buried under layers of pomp and circumstance".[3] "Teenagers" was written as part of these early sessions;[2] Gerard Way explained in an interview with Take 40 Australia that the song was primarily written while he was riding the New York City Subway, as he found himself scared of high schoolers in a train car and began to wonder if he was out of touch with the youth.[4]

Following the completion of The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance biographer Tom Bryant noted how certain executives at Warner Records wished for "Teenagers" to be released as the album's first single; this was ultimately rejected in favor of "Welcome to the Black Parade".[5] The song was first announced as the eleventh song on the album on September 13, 2006,[6] and was released alongside the album on October 23, 2006.[7] "Teenagers" was subsequently released to American alternative radio stations on May 15, 2007,[1] and was officially released as the album's fourth single on July 9, 2007.[8] The song was later included on the 2008 live album and DVD The Black Parade Is Dead!, which featured the final show performed on The Black Parade Tour.[9] The song and its music video were also included on May Death Never Stop You, the band's 2014 greatest hits album,[10] and the song was released as part of The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts (2016), the 10th-anniversary reissue of The Black Parade.[11]

Composition and lyrics

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"Teenagers"
A 16-second sample of "Teenagers". A punk rock song stylistically similar to T. Rex and Status Quo, the song's lyrics were inspired by Gerard Way's fear of teenagers.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Teenagers" is an anthemic[12] song which has been described as punk rock,[13] glam rock,[14] and emo.[15] The song is in the key of E major and is set in common time, and runs at the moderate tempo of 108 beats per minute.[16] Instrumentally, the song begins with a simple guitar riff consisting of hammer-on notes and palm muting; a vibraslap can also be heard prior to each chorus.[15][17] In addition, the song contains a guitar solo, which Sam Roche of Guitar World described as "sing-along".[17] Both David Fricke of Rolling Stone and Christopher R. Weingarten of The New York Times stylistically compared "Teenagers" to songs by T. Rex,[18][19] while both NME and Bryant compared it to songs by Status Quo.[20][21] Weingarten additionally noted how "Teenagers" seemed influence by the Slade song "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", while NME also compared the track to those by Roxy Music.[19][20]

Lyrically, "Teenagers" was inspired by Gerard Way's fear of teenagers.[2] It is distinctive from the rest of The Black Parade in that it does not directly follow the album's overarching narrative about the death of The Patient; Way instead described the song as a "commentary on kids being viewed as meat; by the government and by society".[22] Sia Michel of The New York Times observed how the song's lyrics "blame adults for engendering teenage violence",[23] while Andy Greenwald of Spin interpreted the song as Way "morphing into an authoritarian military recruiter who smugly drafts kids into 'the murder machine'".[24] The song's lyrics also address teenage gun crime, with Way calling it "a really big problem in America" and commenting on how "violent and territorial" high schoolers are.[25] Way also brought up the Smiths song "The Headmaster Ritual",[25] a song which Weingarten called a "direct lyrical influence" on "Teenagers" due to their similar lyrical content.[19]

Critical reception

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"Teenagers" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its catchiness and wit. In a five-star review for the BBC, Fraser McAlpine lauded the song for how it channeled feelings of teen angst into a "defiant swagger-party".[15] Fricke of Rolling Stone also praised the song in his review of the album, writing how it had a "great punch-the-air chorus" and would have been the best song to close the album with.[18] Wren Graves of Consequence praised "Teenagers" for its "mocking humor" in a retrospective review of the album,[26] while Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly praised the song's "theatrical" nature and Way's "jauntily devilish vocal persona". However, in a review for Punknews.org, Colin Smith called the song "one of the worst" on the album, though conceded that it was one of the catchiest.[27] Sean Howe of The Village Voice also criticized the line "If you're troubled and hurt / What you got under your shirt / Will make them pay for the things that they did" for being "too Trenchcoat Mafia for comfort".[28]

The track has performed generally well in rankings of songs on The Black Parade, with both Robert Christgau and Theon Weber of Stylus identifying "Teenagers" as a standout on the album.[29][30] Lauren Boisvert of American Songwriter called the song the third-best song on The Black Parade in her ranking of the album, noting how it resonated with her both as an adult and as a teenager.[31] Ariana Bacle of Entertainment Weekly ranked "Teenagers" fourth, praising its "confident, captivating swagger".[14] Tom Shepherd of Kerrang! placed the song at seventh in his ranking of the album, recognizing it as a "black sheep" on the album yet praising its "galvanising subject" and chorus.[13] However, Mackenzie Templeton ranked "Teenagers" as the third-worst song on the album, writing that it "didn’t age as gracefully" as other tracks on the album.[32]

"Teenagers" has also been deemed one of the best tracks in My Chemical Romance's discography as a whole, with Rou Reynolds of the band Enter Shikari calling it his favorite due to its catchiness and lyrical content.[33] The staff of Billboard included the track in their list of the 15 best My Chemical Romance songs, highlighting how many fans of My Chemical Romance — being teenagers during the band's peak of popularity — began to "finally understand the fear" of teenagers, causing the song to "slap even harder".[34] Similarly, Marianne Eloise of Louder included the song in her list of the 20 greatest songs by the band, writing how the song is "more relatable than ever".[35] Margaret Farrell of Stereogum ranked "Teenagers" as the band's fourth-best song, calling it a "disturbingly fun anthem for exploited youth".[36] Roche of Guitar World specifically lauded the song as being one of the band's 6 greatest guitar moments, praising the simplicity of its guitar riff and solo.[17]

Chart performance

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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 peaked at #67. It has reached #23 on the Pop 100, and #13 on Modern Rock Tracks. It also debuted at #42 in the UK, and became 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.

Music video

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The music video opens with an almost shot-for-shot tribute to the first scene of Pink Floyd's film The Wall. Further links to The Wall are seen when cheerleaders don gas masks in a similar manner to the masks worn by the teenaged and young adult fans in the film.[37]

The video was posted by the band via their YouTube channel on May 30, 2007. 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".[38] The video was featured on Total Request Live.

This video aired in New Zealand, which was also the first country in which The Black Parade reached number one.[39]

Equipment

[edit]

Track listing

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  • All songs written by My Chemical Romance.

Version 1 (promotional CD)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers" (radio edit)2:38[40]

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[41]

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[42]

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[43]

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

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[61] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[62] Gold 50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] 3× Platinum 90,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[64] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[66] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format Label
Canada July 9, 2007
United Kingdom
United States
Australia August 31, 2007
New Zealand
Germany September 14, 2007

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Books

[edit]
  • Bryant, Tom (2014). Not the Life It Seems: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance. Boston: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306823497.

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. May 8, 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Bryant 2014, p. 147
  3. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 149
  4. ^ Way, Gerard (April 16, 2008). "MCR's Gerard Way - scared of teenagers on the train!" (Interview). Take 40 Australia. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 178
  6. ^ Harris, Chris (September 13, 2006). "My Chemical Romance Unveil Black Parade Track List, Album Art". MTV News. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  7. ^ "The Black Parade — Album by My Chemical Romance — Apple Music". Archived from the original on January 3, 2025. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
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  9. ^ Bruce, Sophie (2008). "Review of My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade is Dead". BBC. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  10. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 21, 2014). "My Chemical Romance detail 'May Death Never Stop You,' launch pre-orders". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  11. ^ Getz, Dana (July 29, 2016). "My Chemical Romance: 'The Black Parade' reissue gets release date". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  12. ^ Mortensa, Mala (April 11, 2023). "10 essential My Chemical Romance songs that encapsulate every era". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
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  25. ^ a b "My Chemical Romance discuss teen gun crime". NME. October 25, 2006. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
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  28. ^ Howe, Sean (October 17, 2006). "Blackened Meatloaf". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
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  32. ^ Templeton, Mackenzie (January 22, 2020). "'The Black Parade' ranked from good to peak My Chemical Romance". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
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  34. ^ Weatherby, Taylor (November 14, 2019). "The 15 Best My Chemical Romance Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  35. ^ Eloise, Marianne (May 27, 2024). "The 20 greatest My Chemical Romance songs ever". Louder. Archived from the original on August 7, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
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  62. ^ "Italian single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  63. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". Radioscope. Retrieved December 23, 2024. Type Teenagers in the "Search:" field.
  64. ^ "Spanish single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
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  66. ^ "American single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
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