Teenagers (song)

"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.[5]

This article is about the My Chemical Romance song. For other uses, see Teenager (disambiguation).
"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)
Additional cover
Promotional cover
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"Teenagers" on YouTube

Despite charting at #67 on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Teenagers" is their highest single on the Pop 100 at #23. It also made number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

Gerard Way wrote the song after finding himself in a New York City Subway car full of high schoolers who were "running around, being all violent [and] breaking shit", which Way felt was very different from when he was teenager himself.[6] As he told The New York Times, "That was the first time I felt old...I was nervous and I was a target. I felt like I had become a parent figure or part of the problem."[7]

About the relationship between the song and concerns about gun violence, Way said:

That song almost didn't fit on the record but it's a topic that's so important to our culture. It's about a really big problem in America where kids are killing kids. The only thing I learned in high school is that people are very violent and territorial.[8]

Critical reception

A reviewer from NME wrote,

"Some bands go out of their way to do a song with a sound they're never bound to do, then release it as a single. They usually fail. My Chemical Romance tried a substantially different sound for this song, and it paid off. The message is simple, the chorus is catchy and Ray Toro's solo joins the chorus and bridge together so smoothly."

The song was rated 5 stars in both NME and AbsolutePunk.net and 4/5 from IMDb.

The song was #25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[9] This song was also #80 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.[10] The single is certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA and 2x Platinum by the BPI.

Chart performance

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

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.[11]

The video was posted by the band via their YouTube channel on May 30, 2007, and has since obtained over 153 million views as of February 2022.[12] 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".[13] The video debuted on Total Request Live.

This video made its world premiere in New Zealand, which was also the first country in which The Black Parade reached number one.[14] Multiple pirated versions of the video surfaced on the Internet days before the American debut.

The music video version of the song (directed by Marc Webb) seems to have some added audio. During and after the lyrics "They say all teenagers scare the living shit out of me", there are piano notes playing in the background in the style of western music (during live performances, the piano plays along to the music even more so). The album version of the song does not have this piano playing until the coda.

Equipment

Track listing
  • All songs written by My Chemical Romance.

Version 1 (promotional CD)

No.TitleLength
1."Teenagers" (radio edit)2:38[15]

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[16]

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[17]

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[18]

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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[36] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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

See also

References
  1. Shepherd, Tom (October 23, 2019). "Every Song On My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, Ranked From Worst To Best". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  2. Burns, Ashley (May 7, 2013). "'Middle School' Is A Mash-Up Of Every Pop Punk Song You Won't Admit You Once Loved". Uproxx. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  3. Cizmar, Martin (March 5, 2009). "10 Emo Songs That Don't Suck". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  4. Melia, Daniel (June 4, 2007). "My Chemical Romance - Teenagers". Gigwise. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  5. "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. May 8, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  6. Take 40 Australia (April 17, 2008). "MCR's Gerard Way - scared of teenagers on the train!". YouTube. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  7. Michel, Sam (October 22, 2006). "Fresh from the Garden State, in Black Leather and Eyeliner". The New York Times.
  8. "My Chemical Romance discuss teen gun crime". NME. October 25, 2006. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  9. No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 21, 2007
  10. MTV Asia. "Top 100 Hits List" Archived December 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 27, 2007
  11. Tibi Puiu (June 18, 2007). "My Chemical Romance with a new single". ZMEmusic.
  12. My Chemical Romance (May 30, 2007). "My Chemical Romance – Teenagers [Official Music Video]" – via YouTube.
  13. "Teenagers: MTV UK". MTV. February 25, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  14. "OFFICIAL TOP 40 ALBUMS". Recorded Music NZ. October 30, 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  15. "Addition Product Information". eil.com.
  16. "The Record Shack". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  17. "The Record Shack". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  18. "My Chemical Romance Teenagers Australian CD single (CD5 / 5") (412774)". eil.com.
  19. "My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  20. "My Chemical Romance – Teenagers" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  21. "My Chemical Romance Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  22. ds. "ČNS IFPI". www.ifpicr.cz.
  23. "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  24. "My Chemical Romance – Teenagers" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  25. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Teenagers". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  26. "My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". Top 40 Singles.
  27. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  28. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  29. "My Chemical Romance Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  30. "My Chemical Romance Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  31. "Pop Rock" (in Spanish). Record Report. September 29, 2007. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007.
  32. "ARIA End of Year Singles Chart 2007". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  33. "Top Selling Singles of 2007". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  34. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2007" (PDF). UK ChartsPlus. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  35. "British single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  36. "American single certifications – My Chemical Romance – Teenagers". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
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