Tag: Bert McCracken

Disenchanted: Friends in Other Bands

The early history of My Chemical Romance is deeply intertwined with The Used a post-hardcore, pop punk band from Utah. The Life on the Murder Scene documentary and several interviews establish the often homoerotic friendship between MCR frontman Gerard Way and The Used lead singer Bert McCracken. My Chemical Romance’s manager Brian Schechter was The Used’s tour manager and had them tour together several times, which built the bond between Gerard and McCracken. Other than their cover of “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, their final connection was that MCR’s second drummer, Bob Bryar, did sound for The Used while the were on tour.

Around this time, Bert McCracken and Gerard forged a fast, if a little crazy friendship that may have been the inspiration for the lyrics of “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison”. McCracken sings backup vocals on that song, but he would take over co-lead vocal duties on “Under Pressure”, which started as a live cover featuring members of The Used and My Chemical Romance. It morphed into a studio recording in 2005, was a part of both the rock and Hot 100 charts, and its proceeds went to a tsunami relief fund. The song was released both as a separate single and as a bonus track of the re-release of The Used’s second, breakthrough album In Love and Death.

Gerard Way, Bert McCracken isolated vocals will take you back to 2004
Gerard Way and Bert McCracken performing “Under Pressure” live with The Used and My Chemical Romance

Mikey Way is relegated to tambourine during the live performance of “Under Pressure” so The Used’s Jeph Howard handles the band’s iconic bassline. Ray Toro, Frank Iero, and Quinn Allman are on guitar while Bob Bryar and Branden Steineckert are on the dueling drum kits. However, this song is really a showcase for Gerard and Bert McCraken’s complementary vocals and general chemistry that can be seen in their offstage joking, and yes, smooches. Freddie Mercury and David Bowie were rock and roll icons to queer kids, outsiders, and misfits in the 1970s and 1980s, and Gerard Way and Bert McCracken played the role in the 21st century and cemented it in “Under Pressure”, which features what producer Howard Benson said were some of Gerard’s best vocals ever.

Gerard definitely hits the high notes in “Under Pressure”, and his performance is soaked with emotion. Blending nicely with these vocals is McCracken, who even though The Used is classified by some as a screamo band, sings in a smooth, warm tone to match Gerard’s energy as he hits the final part of the song and starts screaming while Toro, Iero, and Allman’s guitars get epic. It really feels like Gerard and McCracken are trying to outdo each other vocally, and it captures the fun and “jamming good with Weird and Gilly” (Had to throw in a Bowie reference.) feel of the live version.

My Chemical Romance and The Used’s cover of bisexual smash hit “Under Pressure” is a worthy homage to two of MCR’s greatest influences, David Bowie and Queen, and is a set-in-wax time capsule of the relationship between Gerard Way and Bert McCracken as they supported each other in their early days of fame.

This version of “Under Pressure” is also for charity and great to sing at karaoke too! Sometimes, in the midst of crafting complex concept albums, it’s nice to just rock out to you favorite songs with your friends, who happen to be multi-platinum recording artists. Now kiss!

Disenchanted: Punk Goes Broadway

Content warning: sexual assault, rape

“He had it comin’ “-“Cell Block Tango” from the musical, Chicago

So, from the title, it’s pretty obvious that “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison” is about being sexually assaulted and abused in prison. It’s very dark subject matter even for a concept album about a man, who has to kill 1,000 people for the devil, for the opportunity to be reunited with his dead love. However, My Chemical Romances tonally counterbalances this with a few tricks up their sleeves including guest screamed vocals from Bert McCracken of The Used and a little cabaret style piano intro played by Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge‘s producer, Howard Benson.

And I really want to dig into the sound of “Prison”, which has nods to their punk roots as well as their more theatrical future. Thanks to Frank Iero’s speed and energy on the rhythm guitar, MCR would never be far from punk. However, their vocals, lead guitar, and later their rhythm section with the addition of Bob Bryar on drums would be more rock opera than posthardcore. And you can see this turn in “Prison” with Gerard Way and McCracken duetting about life in prison like if John Waters directed a gender-bent version of Chicago.

Gerard and Bert McCracken singing live.

Gerard does vocal runs and has an earnest delivery while McCracken brings the roar and swagger that made The Used the definitive screamo band as well as some of the more messed up lines about burning down hotels. In a 2013 Grantland interview, Gerard talks about his close relationship with Bert McCracken as their bands toured together that involved raiding the minibar, going on benders, and kissing each other during a game of Spin the Bottle. But there was also real companionship, and Gerard compared McCracken to a “cellmate” in an interview for a book about My Chemical Romance. MCR and The Used would even record a cover of “Under Pressure”, which will be the subject of a future essay.

From what I’ve read, it seems like Gerard and McCracken had a deep, almost homoerotic bond that got played up by the fans (*shudders at Frerard*) thanks to the queer content on songs like this one. They were Bowie and Jagger, or Bowie and Iggy of the 2000s punk rock set. However, the gay content on “Prison” is unfortunately not consensual, especially in the post-chorus where Gerard sings, “What they ask of you will make you want to say, “‘So long'”. It’s tough, and the wall of sound created by Ray Toro and Frank Iero gives it a pained, emotional tone like some of their earlier songs for Bullets.

MCR really walks a line between real pain and dark tongue-in-cheek humor, and honestly, Gerard’s vocals and the little one-liners that Bert McCracken bring the verdict down on that side. My Chemical Romance’s has a well-documented interest in “bad movies”, and there is a reference to the gun fu revenge films of John Woo in the opening of “Prison” (“Like a bullet through a flock of doves”).

With this evidence in hand, I think that this song is a bit of a gender-bent homage to the exploitation genres of women in prison and rape and revenge done through the lens of five or more men in close quarters together. Gerard sings about all the little annoying bits of touring life using the heightened metaphors of prison life like the campy line about “pushups in drag” and sharing spaces with gamblers and serial killers. And there’s also the “revenge” bit at the end about hotel arson in which the protagonist gets his agency back and plays catch up on the souls he has to kill. This is while getting vengeance against the folks that took advantage of him like the traditional third act of a rape and revenge film. (I studied this genre and vigilante films in a film elective class during college, and wow, was that a fucked up, not really nuanced semester.)

As you can tell, this song is a little uncomfortable for me to write about. I have been groped and sexually assaulted (Not raped, thankfully.) by men at gay bars and clubs in the past so this subject matter isn’t something I like to think about. However, “Prison” has a really fun intro with the piano and action movie references kicking into the guitars and Matt Pelissier and Mikey Way’s groovy rhythm section and is generally a catchy song. So, it’s not one I skip while listening to Three Cheers or My Chemical Romance’s greatest hits album May Death Never Stop You, but it is a song whose deeper implications I try not to think too hard about.