Bulletproof Heart

The big thing that's been happening in Carlisle this week was Radio 1's Big Weekend.  Unfortunately, because I didn't cheat and apply 20 times, I wasn't lucky enough to get tickets.  However I did enjoy watching my favourite acts live from the comfort of my own home.  I'm not going to lie though, I'm pretty bitter about not being able to go, and not because of Lady Gaga.

If you know me at all you should know that I love music, especially rock.  It just transports me into a whole other world and gives me a way of knowing that there are other people out there feeling exactly like me, that I'm not alone.  Music was my support system throughout some tough times in my teenage years and it continues to be the thing I always turn to in times of need.  Why am I telling you this?  Well one of the bands I listened to a lot during some tough times was My Chemical Romance.  Go ahead and call them emo or whatever, I don't care.  I love their music, so what?

They played in Carlisle last night.  I live in Carlisle, but did I get to see one of the bands who I've loved for years?  (And when I say years I mean about 7, which is a long time when you're almost 21.)  No I didn't get to see them.  Life isn't fair like that, but hey ho.  I settled for watching them on TV, dancing around my living room like a loony and singing along at the top of my voice.  Have to say I think I may have enjoyed it more than some of the people there!  Whenever they did shots of they crowd they always looked a bit glum..

There's always this stigma that follow My Chemical Romance.  It's called pretentious people wanting to put everything and everyone into nice neat little boxes.  My Chemical Romance happened to be thrown into the box labelled "Emo".  Which, apparently, gives everyone the right to take the piss out of them and anyone that likes their music.  I find it ridiculous in this day and age when everyone talks about equality and freedom that it's still so easy to feel like a complete outsider, simply for liking a band's music.  Why people still can't accept that everyone has different tastes I don't know, and I find it pathetic.

I know I take it more personally than I probably should.  Ever since I first saw the video for I'm Not Okay on the TV I've loved them.  I feel like I've grown up and evolved with their music and it holds a very dear place in my heart.  It was their music that helped me get over the death of my granddad.  Just being able to listen to their songs and know that there is someone out there feeling the same things I'm feeling when I felt like I had to be strong for the people around me.  I admire them so much, not just because of their music, but because there's these 4 guys who have stuck together through thick and thin for years and I hope they continue to do so no matter what people say about them in the press.

Yes I'll admit that their first 2 albums (I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge) do have emo tendencies.  Is showing extreme emotions through your music a bad thing though?  It's not just emo bands that do that so I don't understand what the problem is.

Their newest ventures however, they're something completely different, and at no point have they written typical emo songs about how their gf/bf has left them.  They always tackle the more important things in life.  Yet always keep that personal feeling to their music.  I challenge you all to truly listen to The Black Parade and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.  By listen I mean to everything, the melodies, lyrics, just take in the whole experience and put out of your mind the fact that this is MCR and they're "emo".  If you don't like it, that's fine, but you have to admit it's some pretty damn awesome music they've created.

Be yourself, don't take anyone's shit, and never let them take you alive.  ~Gerard Way.