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| Click on the album cover to download Bullets from iTunes. |
Romance:
The album opens with Romance, a classical guitar piece written in the 19th century by an unknown composer. It is written in the style of Parlour music that was popular in Spain and South America during this period. It has been described as sounding like it “belongs in a Mariachi vampire movie”.
Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us:
This song deals with drug use, as seen in lyrics like “The amount of pills I’ve taken Counteracts the booze I’m drinking”. It is one of only 3 songs Frank played on when they were recording. A music video directed by Marc Debiak and Grey Sky Films was filmed, and was first shown at the record release party for Bullets.
Vampires Will Never Hurt You:
If you think this song is about real vampires, you need to wise up dude. The vampires in this song are a metaphor for things like drug and alcohol addiction, and “being involved with really crappy people that have nothing better to do than drink with you and drag you down with them.” It is one of the most important songs on the album as it locked in their darkness.
Drowning Lessons:
Drowning Lessons is cursed. My Chem have played it about three times live, and every time something went wrong.
Our Lady Of Sorrows:
This song is a fast, violent song - 8 f-bombs in 2:09. It has some of Gerard’s favourite lyrics he has ever written, including “Oh how wrong we were to think Immortality meant never dying.”
Headfirst For Halos:
Headfirst For Halos is about depression and suicide, as seen in “And I think I’ll blow my brains against the ceiling”. The lyrics, "Now the red ones make me fly, and the blue ones help me fall" refer to amphetamine and barbiturate pills (uppers and downers or “Reds and Blues” in drug slang). It started out as a joke, but the band said “If we can pull this song off and accomplish this and do it believably… we won’t ever be pigeon-holed.” When played live, Gerard often prefaced this song with an anti-suicide message.
Skylines And Turnstiles:
Skylines And Turnstiles is Gerard’s reaction to 9/11, and was written immediately after the event. Lyrics like “This broken city sky,” and “After seeing what we saw Can we still reclaim our innocence?” reflect this.
Early Sunsets Over Monroeville:
This song was inspired by the zombie film Dawn of the Dead. It is one of only three songs Frank played on. After Ray had laid down his parts, Frank took the recordings into a van with no heating that was parked outside the studio and wrote his parts. Because of the problems he was having with his tooth, Gerard had to sing Monroeville with half a face. He didn’t think it was the best he could do, but “everybody was so psyched on it.” He made Ray and Otter cry, because they’re a band of wusses. It is a slow song, so "Grab your girl... and then shoot her in the head!"
This Is The Best Day Ever:
This Is The Best Day Ever is about Gerard’s visits to hospitals throughout the recording process to get his tooth fixed. It was only finished on the last morning of recording.
Cubicles:
Cubicles is about unrequited office romance (“Water cooler romance”). It also deals with loneliness, as seen in lyrics like “I can’t help but think I’ll die alone.”
Demolition Lovers:
Demolition Lovers captures the whole theme of the album, and is the only song in which the storyline of two lovers on the run can clearly be seen. It is the last of the three songs Frank played on. In the liner notes, Gerard thanks “K”, and says “I’m sorry I wrote all this stuff about killing you, I hope the last song makes up for it.”
Click the image above to download the album covers and lyrics booklet.
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