The Black Parade - Musical and Lyrical Themes

Musical and Lyrical Themes

The Black Parade is a rock opera centering around the character of "The Patient". It centers around his passage out of life and the memories he has of his life. "The Patient" dies and death comes for him in the form of a parade. This is based upon Gerard Way's belief that death comes for a person in the form of his or her fondest memory, in this case seeing a parade as a child.

The album also saw the creation of the alter ego band The Black Parade. My Chemical Romance would perform the album live in costume as the Black Parade up until October 7, 2007 Mexico City performance. On stage, the band would don black marching uniforms similar to those worn by The Beatles for the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The live performance was theatrical, with Gerard Way assuming the character of a member of The Black Parade. Way's mannerisms were compared to Bob Geldof in his performance of the lead character in the movie adaption of Pink Floyd's The Wall. His performance was also compared to David Bowie's performance of Ziggy Stardust and Freddie Mercury's stage presence. There are also similarities to Alice Cooper in his "Welcome to My Nightmare" period. The video for Welcome to the Black Parade, directed by Sam Bayer portrays the events of the entire story, starring all its characters, including Mother War, who is primarily involved in the song "Mama". Gerard Way has described this video as "The definitive video for the record" and one that "summed up the album."

The album also has strong influences from 1970s classic rock, glam rock, pop music, punk rock and gothic rock. The album's style is considered pop punk, and alternative rock.

Lead singer Gerard Way has cited the bands Queen and Pink Floyd as major influences on the album. Similarities have been noted between the guitar orchestration in "Welcome to the Black Parade", and the arrangements of Queen. Additionally, Pink Floyd's The Wall and David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars are noted as major influences for the album, which is especially evident when comparing the album's opening track, "The End.", to the first tracks on The Wall, "In the Flesh?", and on Ziggy Stardust, "Five Years". Gerard Way has also stated that one of their biggest influences were The Smashing Pumpkins, often giving them credit for their thematic videos.