Album that changed my life: My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

When I was in middle school, being sad was not just a fashion trend or a mood. Being sad was a lifestyle. This sadness, better described as “emo,” was like a cloak of darkness that cushioned me from the outside world. For once, I had found my spot within the shadows that was the punk rock subculture ringing through my head. Of course, these aforementioned dramatics were only endorsed by what some would call the pinnacle of emo —“Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” by My Chemical Romance.

“Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” changed my life. From the minute I plugged in my headphones, I was hooked. I didn’t understand how Gerard Way could instantly understand my feelings of angst and self-loathing, but I knew that I needed more and more and more. Track by track, I found the sweet spot of music that I had been missing. Every note, strum, and breakdown made sense in my brain.

My favorite track off the album will always be “Thank You For the Venom,” and the song remains a personal favorite of mine to this day. I was an athlete in high school and without fail, when I needed a pump-up or a burst of energy at a swim meet, “Thank You For The Venom” was there to accommodate those desires. My favorite line from the song is when it states, “You’re running after something that you’ll never kill.” That line, in a way, made me feel invincible, despite the fact that when I stepped up to the block I was probably going to lose.

In a weird way, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” shaped a lot of who I am today. The album endorsed some of my sadness and pain but, in a weird way, I liked it. And when I listen to the record today, the music possesses the same effect that it had when I first plugged in — a raw sense of honesty that I had never felt before. Acknowledgment that not everything had to be perfect or beautiful. 

To this day, I still start every morning with “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” because part of me will never want to let go of a time in my life where I felt happy to be angry. 

Perhaps the biggest way that “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” has influenced me is in the album’s ideas. First and foremost: stay angry. But also don’t settle for things and hold others accountable. The world around us would never change if it wasn’t full of angry punk rock kids. The second thing the record taught me was that sometimes you need to be sad, and that’s OK. Emotions should be a spectrum (part of the human experience is the entire emotional spectrum) and only being happy, in a way, is psycho. Lastly, and most importantly in my opinion, sometimes you need to give into things, stop fighting, and let yourself fully dive into something, no questions asked. You’ll never know what you learn about yourself until you’re in your rawest and purest form.

In short, stay angry, keep questioning authority, embrace your emotions, and most importantly listen to “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” by My Chemical Romance.

Sydney Dundon | edinboro.spectator@gmail.com

Graphic: Jalil Robinson

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