How 9/11 Pushed Gerard Way to Start My Chemical Romance
The singer was on a commuter train from Hoboken into New York the morning of the attacks, and the lines he wrote that night became "Skylines and Turnstiles"
In 2001, Gerard Way was interning in New York City and trying to pitch a show to Cartoon Network. He lived with his parents and commuted daily from the Hoboken, New Jersey, train station toward the World Trade Center area. On Sept. 11, he was on one of those trains.
Way didn't see the planes hit the towers, but he watched alongside other passengers as the buildings collapsed. In a resurfaced interview, he described the scene as unreal, likening it to being inside a science fiction or disaster movie. He said he felt nauseous, and also aware that many of the people around him had friends and family inside the buildings.
After the ride back to Hoboken and the long trip to his parents' house, Way went down to the basement and started writing as a way to process what he had just seen. Four lines from that night became "Skylines and Turnstiles," the seventh track on 2002's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, My Chemical Romance's debut album.
The band has spoken more openly about the subject in recent years. In 2021, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, My Chemical Romance posted a long statement on Instagram saying the day changed their lives and every aspect of their consciousness, and that forming the group was a direct result of what they experienced and witnessed.
Those basement lyrics became the prelude to the mission the band would later take on: giving the world something better. As the statement put it, the world changed that day, and the next day they set out to change it.
Reported from Loudwire
Read the full story at LoudwireNewsroom copy, published with prior review. Editor in charge: Remy Zdrojeski. Spotted an error? Write to sociais@remyzdrojeski.com.br and we will fix it.
