cheerleaders
05/31/2007
My Chemical Romance, "Teenagers"
Take an impossibly catchy hook and paranoid-chic lyrics, add joyfully provocative images like mushroom clouds and cheerleaders in gas masks, and -- if you're lucky enough to be fronted by Gerard Way, the man who launched a thousand fanfics -- you've got yourself a hit.
But "Teenagers" is more than just a seductively jaunty anthem of adolescent alienation; it's also Way's commentary on teen gun crime. The video ends with the words "VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER" and a message urging kids to get help if they feel like acting out. Still, there's a fine line being walked here, and when your lyrics go, "if you're troubled and hurt, what you got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did," you're placing a lot of faith in your fans' sense of irony.
Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be singing "Teenagers scare the living shit out of me" softly to myself all day long. Yeah!
