I BROUGHT YOU MY BULLETS, YOU BROUGHT ME YOUR LOVE

— — — —— — — —— — — —— — — —— — — —— — — —— — — —

Arguably one of the best MCR albums to date, yet their least popular, ‘bullets’ was my chemical romances debut album and featured hits such as ‘early sunsets over monroeville’, a song inspired by one of Gerard's favourite films at the time and ‘vampires will never hurt you’, a song fighting conformity and heartless greed at the same time!

The album cover features a photo of Harry Houdini hanging upside down in a straitjacket. Gerard himself made the image using watercolor, borax, dish soap, plastic wrap and a color photocopier in the Eyeball Records office.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The writing and development of bullets is said to have been ‘rushed’ and they ‘struggled with direction’ due to their experimentation of what music they wanted to make.

Gerard wrote the songs on the album akin to each song being individual short stories, reusing titles from his own previous works to title the songs. The album title itself comes from a short story Gerard had written prior.

Gerard would write the lyrics from the perspective of the characters he wanted to portray, and then whilst recording, would act like the characters.

A few days before the recording started in may 2002, frank iero was added to the gang after his previously mentioned band Pencey Prep broke up. Frank joined as rhythm guitarist and even though he joined a few days before recording, he was only featured on two songs, ‘Early Sunsets Over Monroeville’ and ‘Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us’ due to time restraints as the recording was done on a VERY strict budget.

The recording process took a week and was first released on eyeball records but due to it being a small company with a low budget, there were only around 100 copies in the original pressing. A lot of these being misprinted and actually being mariachi music.

During the period after bullets’ release, mcr would play in whatever venues they could get, varying from garages and basements to dive bars. Eyeball records would also send copies of the album to radio stations for them to play, resulting in ‘vampires will never hurt you’ being the very first MCR song to be played on public radio. It was played on WSOU by Mario Comesanas.

TRACK LIST

— — — — — — —

Heads up! - I am NOT genius lyrics nor my chemical romance. I do not know the intended meanings of the songs and don't see what others think are the meanings in a few. I have patchworked my own meanings together via various sources and my own listening, but I HIGHLY encourage you to go find your own meanings!!!!

1 - Romance ~ intro track. Guitar with distortion in the bg. The guitar repeats once before the track ends. Distortion gets worse at the end. This song actually is an acoustic cover of an instrumental piece known as “Romance Anónimo,” “Romance d'Amour,” or “Spanish Romance,”It is likely that this song was chosen as it appears in the film Dawn of the Dead, which influenced another track, ‘early sunsets over Monroeville.’

2 - Honey, this mirror ~ very strong opening. Frank iero’s guitar is the main instrument you hear within this song, other than Gerard Way's vocals. Backing vocals there but not understandable. The song is about a toxic relationship/break up (likely Mikey's, as the song was written for him), with a lot of references to Gerard's drug usage ”the amount of pills in takin’/ counteracts the booze im drinkin’” being the opening lines. 6.5/10

3 - Vampires will never hurt you ~ opening features drums and guitar, then slowly grows as Gerard's vocals are added and the pace of the music ramps up. 14 different guitar parts were recorded by Ray Toro, most of which overlapped each other. This song is about POV turning into a vampire and begging their partner to kill them before the sun goes down, when the POV knows they will attempt to kill their partner. It is also about the early signs of Gerard's alcoholism and his feelings of wasting his life, and "feeling generally like a scumbag". 6.6/10

4 - Drowning lessons ~ opening features guitar and drums. Song about POV possibly killing his wife on their wedding day/just after and hiding her body in a well. POV is forced to relive this day over and over. Also has a reference to the connected narrative between revenge and bullets, “i never thought/1000 bodies piled up/ would be enough to say/ just what iv been thinking”. Guitar is peak here, Ray Toro is a god vro. 11/10

5 - our lady of sorrows ~ angry guitar/bass and drums. Lyrics are POV calling for someone to trust and believe in him so that they may be saved. I personally think it conveys an unstable relationship and shows the demolition lovers arguing with each other, knowing one has to go to hell and the other, heaven. The band has very little to say on this song. A very angry one though. The song shares its name with Mary, mother of Jesus and her seven sorrows. 10/10

6 - headfirst for halos ~ guitar and drum intro again!!! Lyrics are about suiside and drugs “the red ones make me fly/ and the blue ones help me fall/ think ill blow my brains against the ceiling.” lowk giving christmas rock after the first half of the intro. Instruments alone would have you think it's a happy song. It also sounds like someones venting as well as their internal monolog. 8.9/10

7 - skylines and turnstiles ~ annoyed guitar intro. Feelings of angst, fear and pressure, but hope woven within. Written about Gerard's 9/11 experience and his fear of the future. 9/10

8 - early sunsets over Monroeville ~ warmer intro, vocals a lot quieter. The song is inspired by a film called Dawn of the Dead, a 1978 zombie film telling the story of a group of lovers attempting to survive the apocalypse. After the halfway point (song) it becomes sadder and more desperate as POVs lover gets bitten and POV argues with themself about whether or not to shoot their partner until it reaches its climax and starts calming down, the instruments fade and the last line is sung acapella. This song was so emotional during the recording that a few members had to make excuses to leave the studio to cry. 10/10

9 - This is the best day ever ~ guitar and very angry drums. Past paced and angry song about the idea of trying to break free from everyday life, and features additional vocals by Geoff Rickly, who produced the album. The song is about meeting your love at hospital and telling each other about how they'll run away and break free. 9.8/10

10 - cubicles ~ cubicles tells a story of longing over a previous coworker POV had feelings for that were never revealed. POV says “this happens all the time/ and i cant help but think ill die alone” meaning people come and go at POVs office loads and POV cant help but fall in love with the people until it's too late and they leave. He becomes so depressed within this cycle that he comes to say “I think I'd love to die alone”. 9.2/10

11 - demolition lovers ~ Tells the story of the demolition lovers whom this album has followed and whom the following album will follow. It tells of their devotion to each other and the desire to keep moving, their murder spree and their death in a hail of bullets and sets up the narrative for three cheers. It stops just before halfway and calms down before booting up again a minute later. easily the best song from MCR (argue with the damn wall.) everyone is ON POINT!!!! 13/10.