Whoops, I said that wrong, I meant to say it's "I'll be forgiven", not "forgiving", so we both got it wrong, my bad, and I'm positive about that, I got the little pamphlet from the CD

I see this whole album as another way than most. I see tracks one and two being him in the hospital dying, one being where he believes he'll make it and two being where the black parade comes to take him away. Track three I see as him crying out to those around him in a vain attempt to save himself. He's trying to deny he's dead. From here, the procession carries him off into the streets where he walks in the rain (track 4). Track five is where he remembers his father bringing him to see the marching band, and realizes this is his own form of "death". Now knowing what he needs to to survive, he tries to get back.
I see track 6 as being his lover and family grieving for him, and slowly leaving. During this, his funeral is occuring. Track seven involves two parties, one in the underworld, and his funeral party. At the dead party the procession is embracing their death at the house of wolves. This serves as the halfway reststop for the parade as they make it to the actual afterlife with the patient. Meanwhile at the patient's funeral party, his loved ones discuss their opinions of the patient, most of them being negative.
After the funeral party, the patient's lover goes back home and has a flashback to his final days. This is when track eight, "Cancer" occurs. The lover is feeling guilt towards the patient's death.
Somewhere between tracks seven and nine the patient learns that the key to him returning to the world of the living is in the hands of Mother War. The rest of the black parade aside from Mother War and her troop of dead soldiers leaves here, and they continue on their path. During track nine, we hear Mother War explain that she is indeed the concept of death itself. She made the dead soldiers "famous" in the sense that they were remembered by fighting in her battles. The patient, knowing she's the key to him returning to his lover- decides to trick her. So, he engages in a relationship with her as to gain her favor. When Mother Death realizes this, she becomes violently angry and expells him to walk the road to the afterlife alone.
Distressed by being left alone at hell's door, the patient attempts to reach his lover, who out of saddness and exhaustion has fallen asleep.
In a sort of Six Sense scene, the patient's ghost talks to his lover at her bed. He feels bad at what he's put her through and all of the nightmares she's having. Here, he decides that he has to indeed, with the line "the hardest part is letting go ...of your dreams". Comforted by this, his lover is able to finally sleep in peace.
I see track eleven, "Teenagers" as a sort of side-plot involving one of the soldiers in Mother War's army, who in life- was extremely afraid of children. The patient- who is now following the army, hears this and has flashbacks to his own childhood. Now, he becomes angry at everything.
Track twelve is all about the patient standing at the gates of hell and evaluating his life. He flashes back through everything, in front of Mother War and her army. Still in her sleep, his lover yells through the afterlife that he shouldn't be so hard on himself, and the patient decides for her sake to try and return to the world of the living after all.
Mother War is now franticly trying to keep the patient to stay, and the whole black parade confronts the patient on his decision to go back, and tries to force him to stay. Meanwhile, he faces both Mother War and his Lover's cries for him to stay with each of them respectively. Mother War is in trouble for leaving him and for everything she's done, and believes if he stays in hell, she'll be forgiven. Meanwhile, his lover still believes she's the cause of his death and believes if he comes back, she'll be able to forgive herself. Now, the patient turns to Mother War and tells her that he's made up his mind and nothing she says will be able to change it. "These bright lights have always blinded me", means he's woken up to the light of Earth. "I see you lying next to me ...with words I thought I'd never speak, awake and unafraid, asleep or dead." Means that he's woken up, and the whole ordeal has been changed to seem like a nightmare and he is with his lover once more. Even if she's still angered by the things he's done, he's ready to live on.

i love this new music video. but i dont think they should show it on mtv and stuff because then posers like one song and they call themselves fans.

along with 2 other songs on this album this is a fave. i woke up from very deep sleep to listen to this song.
also when they performed it on news years eve i was jumping around on my bed.

This song to me is about The Patient freaking out and saying that he is going to make it no matter what, just like totally going crazy because he is now relizing that this really is happening. But when he see's "her" then he just breaks down and is ready to go as much as he doesn't want to. She brings him back to reality because he loves her and he knows she is just as unhappy about it as him so he wants to be strong for her. Idk thats just what i think and i cry just about everytime i hear it.

I loce this song i love my chemical romance they are way up there along with AFI

my god this song is amazing, i love the way mcr gives such meaning to their songs, musical poets

Fucking amazing song!!! I can't get it out of m head!! Fucking amazing album too!! and FUCKING AMAZING BAND!!! :D :D gotta love 'em!

This song si not about the patient.
It is about the band.
Gerard and Roy wrote it when Mikey left the band to seek help for his depression, and everyone was scared that the band was going to break up. Gerard basically poured all of his fears into this song: about the band, about mikey, about death. When Mikey returned, he heard this song and fell in love with the band again. This song is an anthem for My Chemical Romance and it means the most to the band of all of the songs.

((Btw: I got all this info from a magaze called "Blender"))

This song is my new theme song after I figured out it was this that my boyfriend's band played one night. I'm kinda slow.

"But where's your heart..."

the "i can't make you stay" part reeeeeally reminds me of a different song i love. but i can't... remember... what... it... is!

anyway, i love this song too.

I think this song has a double meaning.
It has the meaning that has to do with the album and the whole stoey of this man's life. Then there is one nearer to the heart of the band. In a interview with band says that mikey had quit the band and gerard hadn't seen him in a couple of days when he wrote his . " Now I know I can't make you stay?" does he mean I can't make you stat in the band.

i really really dislike my chemical romance.
this is pretty much the only song i've heard of theirs that i can stand.
harsh but true.
not here to be critical.
actually just want to say this one is alright.
it's catchy.
sort of atmospheric.

Why the hell did MCR go emo? they used to be great. Bloody stupid emo cretins

I love the new MCR they are terrific theyre whole album is good not just the songs they choose to play on MTV and Fuse i seriously love MCR now they now almost tie with AFI and HIM

Im so weak for this song i love this song theyre whole album roz i hate it now though because now evearyones like omg my chemical romance is awesome i love them when in reality they only like one song

xXRADXx, I read that article in blender too =) however, I've read somewhere else too, that this is also about the patient, and it's kind of a double meaning. The concept relates to what was happening to them in real life. Kind of like what midnight_leeds said =D

Ugh. Are you people idiots? Someone analyzes a very self-explanatory, plain spoken song--not a work of poetry--and you commend him and tell him how "brilliant" he is? This song has a ridiculous, hackneyed theme. The analyzer and his advocates should be stoned for their idiocy.
And doesn't anyone else think the chorus is a little too Christian Rock?

And those who like only one song are less damnable than you, who like entire albums and are head over heels despite having heard their entire catalogue of horrible excuses for music.

this is a good song. i just think the lead singer is lookin a lil creepy with lond hair.

I'v checked these lyrics three times over and every line is right except this one >> "Bright lights, they cast a shadow"
I think these are supose to be "Bright lights, that cast a shadow"

Well I interpert this is the words of just a regular person going through hardships.. not the patient (yeah, I know he's also going through hardships..)

"I can't make you stay, but where's your heart?...
There's nothing I can say to change that part.."

His lover doesn't love him anymore and wants out, so she simply leaves him with no explanation, which hurts him and he respects that. But he knows that there's also nothing he can do to change her mind.

"Bright lights, they cast a shadow.."
He's famous (not just celebrity famous but just like popular at school or something)

"Well is it hard understanding I'm incomplete"
He misses having love, not just that girl but he wants loves in general

"A life that's so demanding I get so weak"
People always come to him for help and he's famous on top of that, so people always notice him and want something from him.

"A love that's so demanding I can't speak"
The girl that left him was high matianence, which was hard to deal with.

"I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone"
Just because he lost her doesn't mean he can't function without her, he telling her that he can live.

"Honey if you stay, I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home"
But if she realizes her mistake and comes back to him, he won't take her back, but no one will blame him.

"Can you see My eyes are shining bright
Cause I'm out here On the other side
Of a jet black hotel mirror And I'm so weak"

He can finally see the light and that he's better off without her. He learned that being with her drained him, and learning that made him weak because he realized how bad she was for him.

"These bright lights have always blinded me"
Fame was always tiring him, but he's always been famous...

"I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I'd never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead"

He admits the truth about how he feels about her (With words I thought I'd never speak) being too demanding even though he's a nice guy.
Which he knows that her and anyone else that on her side will hate him, but he doesn't care (awake and unafraid) and he's awake in the sense he understands how bad she is.
He'll tell her the truth no matter what (asleep or dead)



Well, that's how I see it.

Hmmm, well xizziex seems to have the closest ideas to how I had been interpreting the song.

Here's how I had interpreted it:
The song seems to have two parts, divided by "These bright lights have always blinded me," which forms a bit of an anticlimax. That suggests to me that those lines are central to the theme of the song.

Opening:
He has realized the other person is not as involved in this relationship.

"So many bright lights they cast a shadow" brings in the idea that love can obscure the truth.

"But can I speak?"
He feels he needs to justify the effort he's put into this unbalanced relationship, or 'demanding love' that he's been so afraid of losing (presumably because life is tough, and he's admitting he's weak)

Going into the chorus you see signs of strength, then the next verse goes back into the weakness and emotion again.

So, at "These bright lights have always blinded me" strength has won the battle, he realizes that the situation was never all that good to begin with, that the bright lights, his love, hope and optimism ALWAYS blinded him.

Which leads quite logically into the next theme:
"I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I'd never speak"

This realization has come to him in the middle of the night, and it is keeping him awake (still next to her).

"With words I thought I'd never speak"
He wants it to end it NOW.

"Awake and unafraid"
Which is his current state.

"Asleep or dead"
Added for emphasis that he never thought this would happen.

Quite simple really...

Actually, I just noticed a neat bit of imagery here if you interpret the song as I have above.

"Can you see
My eyes are shining bright
Cause I'm out here
On the other side
Of a jet black hotel mirror
And I'm so weak"

Again, he's blinded by love or in denial here, his eyes are shining bright from the light reflected in them. But only because he's on the other side of this jet black hotel mirror. The other side being not in the room, unable to see what's happening in there, (if you're following me, you know she's cheating.) The 'jet black hotel mirror' can be both literal and symbolic, since you find grungy black mirrors in cheap, poorly maintained rooms, and it could also relate to how cheap he feels he's been sold out, as well as adding to the light/dark contrast they have going in this song.

When i first heard it, i thought it sounded like a break up song. Like the famous last words to his lover before they go their seperate ways, and that he doesn't need to be in a relationship to be happy.