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MCR Monday, Helena, Depression, & Guilt
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2017
- Today's MCR Monday, and it's time to explain "Helena" as requested by you guys! Thank you for being a part of this community and don't forget that tomorrow is Twenty One Pilots Tuesday! We'll be talking about "Before You Start Your Day."
Let me know what you think about today's video. I'm trying to change things up a little, so this discussion of "Helena" takes a more serious note, and I try to give some encouragement to those of who are struggling with one of the themes that this song is about.
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"Helena" - My Chemical Romance Music Video: • My Chemical Romance - ...
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Disclaimer: The content of this educational video is covered by fair use. My explanations are transformative and add interpretation and analysis to the original work much as happens when I teach poetry in a university classroom. When I explain songs, I use only the lyrics or short clips of the original song or music video and thus have not hurt this song’s salability or provided a market substitute. All copyright claims will be disputed and appealed. Please see me as your ally in my attempt to use a literary perspective to enable fans to better understand and enjoy your wonderful and interesting piece of music.
Gerard has talked about how his grandmother used to only ever play piano in private but she was really good at it, in interviews in the past, my theory is that the reason she only dances in the video and comes to life when everyone else's eyes are closed, is because its representative of that. :) also, Helena is his grandmas name. XD
Ryan King
Her name is Elena.
omg so sad
hana exactly 🤣🥺 her name is Elena not Helena.
@@Lily-oj9su her friends called her Helena tho, it was her nickname
Usually if you were to use the line "So long, and goodnight" I would mean "Bye, I will see you tomorrow." In this case, he can't see her tomorrow because she has already passed. "So long, not goodnight" is a way of him correcting the mistake he made in the line before, the mistake he is so used to making, by saying "I won't see you tomorrow, but you will be in my memories forever."
This could be a representation on how he took her for granted. Now that she's gone, he has to say goodbye to her physically, but never in his memories.
(I'm sorry if this makes no sense.)
I like that explanation.
@@ThePopSongProfessor can you make a video about the meaning of mama please
can you do "Mama" please?
For those who don‘t know about it: the lead singer and the bassist are brothers ( Gerard and Micheal/Mikey Way , Gerard being the older of the two) and in the beginning of the band, all of them struggled severely and the grandparents helped them to even *BE* My Chemical Romance. So basically the grandparents were heroes to them. Which means that the grandmothers death was a tragedy for all of them. They talk about it in ‘Live at the Murderscene’ you can find it for free on TH-cam btw.
The quotes from gerard about how he wasn't there for the last year of his grandmother's death hit me hard. I purposefully avoided my great -grandmother for the last few months of her life because I couldn't stand the idea of visiting her and her not remembering me like she did with my mother and grandmother. Once I heard she was being put in hospice care I promised I'd go see her as soon as I could, but she died at the hospital the day she was supposed to be moved. I still feel guilt about it from time to time, but I've mostly moved on and got a remembrance tattoo for some catharsis
mcr is the most incredible band. they're so theatrical and meaningful too. I like how every of their albums are just extremely grandiose. I would love it if you did the song Burn Bright. I'm not sure if the meaning of the song
p.s. I'm loving these mcr mondays! And your encouraging part was so nice haha
Thanks, Trash Can. I want to keep it up!
The Pop Song Professor yay! I look forward to Monday
So long and goodnight could be him talking to his grandmother and wishing her well in the afterlife but so long not could night could be him talking to himself and how his feelings of guilt keep him up at night, so therefore it isn't a goodnight
Do The Ghost Of You.
Hatefuck yesss
Mikey 😭
for me "so long and goodnight" means that he has realized that she is dead, that she'll be gone forever and wishes her well, but he says "so long not goodnight" because he is struggling to accept her death and kinda denies it as if to make himself believe that it's a dream and the feeling of guilt and self hatred kept him awake and by not going to sleep (hence why he's saying 'not goodinght') he's hoping he will see her again and continue on with his life normally
Please do Cemetery Drive for MCR Monday!
You should do I Never Told You What I Do For a Living
THE EMPTY SET That's my favorite song from them
YESSSS!
Please do Famous Last Words for next MCR Monday! 🙏
Yes!
I feel so bad for the boys. In the Life on the Murder Scene documentary they talk about how close they all were to her and how miserable they all were while shooting the music video. The worst part is when Gerard talks about how he would have to take breaks and it would show clips of him walking aWay or tearing up. I miss them so much😭😭😭😭😭😭
its just so long and goodnight twice, i looked it up
tw suicide
i know this is old but i wanted to thank u for this video, for using this song to try to help ppl dealing w guilt. helena has always been one of my favorite songs, filling me with a sense of security and a feeling of being loved/cared for. for that reason it was the song i put on repeat and listened to during both of my suicide attempts, which-obviously among other things-were largely fueled by feelings of guilt and shame. basically i’m just saying this video hits home, thank u for making it. i love listening to this song even more now (post recovery), because-even if gerard didn’t intend it-listening to it feels like victory. “so long not goodnight,” to me, is an acceptance of the fact that things come to a close, but it doesn’t have to be the end.
Weeeelll dang. I can't believe how much I can relate to a song I've listened to forever. I had no Idea. I missed the last year of my grandfather's life and the guilt has never left me. Thank you for making this video and giving one of my favorite songs a deeper meaning.
You should do Disenchanted, one of their most emotional songs buhh yet idek the meaning
Well the song is about Gerard and Mikey Way's grandmother passing away but what the song means to me is about about being rejected by not just people I thought cared (for example a girlfriend, best friend or sibling) and how it can change your life and the ways I took that stuff in my life at first was not good I became depressed and very irritable and a few months later... (and I'm surprised I made it that long) I began self harm and luckily I stoped before it became to serious and now I am feeling the best I have in my entire life and I owe some of that to you Clifford thank you you've helped me with some problems in my life by helping me to start thinking about the music I'm listening too and that has built me up over the past few months since I've found your channel (and I know I didn't put in any punctuation and as an English teacher that probably frustrates you to no end but I was just in a bit of a rush) thanks again your amazing keep up the good work man 😄👍🏻
Thank you for the pep talk at the end... seriously it’s awesome.
And one way to deal with it is maybe writing a song/poem or if you’re able to talk to the person u hurt then do it.
can you explain sleep for next mcr monday?
cmajorlips_ aren’t u the one who commented on girls/girls/boys about coming out
Yesss
For twenty one pilots tuesday can you plz do "the judge" or "air catcher" PLEEEEEEAAAAASE!!!
air catcher!
Gotta vote on the TOP Tuesday video itself. :)
I'm commenting to feel special. I haven't watched the video yet but I'm commenting.
I don't mind. lol
I shall also be special
I’m grateful for MCR, their music has helped me through some hard times, always. Glad they are together once again! So many of us were hoping for this. I feel like “so long, not goodnight “ means like this isn’t goodbye it’s see you later kinda thing. Helena is on every single playlist of mine, you all are maybe going to laugh but I bet I’m not the only one 😜 subscribed! MCR 🤟🏼 🕷
l've always thought that it's not just about his grandma. I think it might be about a person he knew who killed themself, someone who was kind of messed up and used their pain to manipulative people: "every heart you break", "blade you stained", "hurt you sold". He's saying goodbye to this person, but also saying "things are better if I stay", meaning he's going to hold on and not give in to his own feelings and suicidal urges. But tied in with that is him missing his grandma and wanting to remember her. (This was my impression before watching the video. Apparently I've been getting some of the lyrics wrong this whole time though; I thought it was "so long and goodnight" twice, but now I feel stupid. :P)
The real question is why does everyone forget the fact that Elena/Helena was Mikey Way's grandma as well
I own the CD lyric booklet and it says "So long and goodnight" twice
I just want to say thank you so much for sharing such a positive message for not only young people, but for everyone. I am a young person and it's really nice to have an adult who shares the same interests as me and can give me advice through my music. I know that I don't know you but I find it very helpful when adults can relate to the youth and connect to them on a more personal level. Also, your videos are just great in general😄. I've been a fan of yours for a while now.
Oh gods, my chest hurts so much at 5:10.
1. I listened to this song so often when my dad was in the hospital before he passed (along with I'm Not Okay). I'm still a little raw, and I haven't listened to it since (and I even hesitated about watching this video because of it). I do adore this song, though. I think it helped me come to terms with my emotions while we were... basically waiting for my dad to pass on. He and I had a rocky relationship: we seldom had a conversation that didn't at least rattle *my* nerves, he didn't really understand me or the struggles I faced regarding my mental illness(es), and his values and the culture he grew up in (since he was born in '47, iirc) were completely dissonant with my values and how the world was changing. In the end, though, he was still my dad. I love him and I still miss him sometimes. Anyway, I already liked this song as a teenager, but I definitely developed a greater appreciation for it during that particular event in my life.
2. I'm sorry, but I'm not really sure what "So long, not goodnight" means. I'd only ever seen the lyrics read as "So long *and* goodnight". I suspect Nyla has the right of it, though.
3. I struggle with these things too much to be able to give an answer I feel I can stand behind. Sorry.
I feel like 'so long not goodnight' means they won't come back, she won't awake in the morning to say good morning again for another day. It's the end and she's not ever going to come back.
This explanation is great. I have always been drawn to the video and the lyrics.
Yess! Gotta love MCR!
I just finished listening to it! I'm really excited for the video now.
I love this video, this song is very special to me, I listened to it when my grandma passed who meant the world to me. It's nice to see someone explain this song so beautiful.
Happy to do so. It is a beautiful song.
Can you do I'm Not Okay(I Promise)?
I love this song too
Prof, I need to say so much. Tbh and as somebody else said in the comments, this song for me has a meaning not given by words, it's the overwhelming power I feel when I listen to it, it is like it releases so many emotions I can't even describe it. // So long and/not goodnight might mean something among the lines "Ok, you are dead I wish you the best in afterlife *BUT* this won't end for me." As Gerard said, this song is about guilty and not goodnight might be him refusing to let go those negative feelings. Like when you feel you deserve to feel bad for a mistake you made, therefore you put yourself through that pain. Which leads me to the end -of this unnecessary long comment- I don't know how to deal with guilt. And you almost made me cry because I am hurting myself so bad right now, even my healthiest coping mechanisms are hurting me lmfao, so since I don't quite like talking to my friends about it I prolly should go to therapy. I mean this by heart, this video, your speech was what I needed to hear right now so thank you very very much and sorry for writting so much. ♡
I'm glad I could help. I'll send up a prayer for you too. :)
I think your right about the song being about guilt, shame and depression. I think the phrase so long, not goodnight is a play on words from the previous sentence. Sometimes, when people are parting ways for an extended period of time, they'll say (like in older movies): "I don't like to say goodbye; let's just say goodnight."
"So long, not goodnight" means it did become a permanent goodbye because his grandmother died.
Then he sings "Is it enough to let you go? Can you be near me?" Because he's mourning and somewhat trying to move on but holds on to his grief and the memories he has of her. "When both our cars collide" suggests he's an emotional "wreck" when he thinks of his memories of her and his guilt of not being there her last year.
Interesting video, I really like what you do!
Thanks!
Love love love this !! I jammed to MCR last night . My favorite is I'm Not Okay. :)
Such a great song
Thank you for doing this :)
this is so great. i really love your channel, your videos are good, you're so nice.
also i knew that this song refers to Gerard and Mikey's grandmother who inspired them, but your explanation showed the meaning of this song in a bit different light for me)
I have a portrait tattoo of a still from this music video. To me it represents the 5 stages of grief. Notably during the end when she’s alive to him and dancing representing denial. She then falls in the coffin dead- meaning he’s accepted her death as a reality. Leading to when he has closure by closing the coffin door. I got the tattoo to represent loss-which I think is the main point.
Hey Cliff, it's me again. I was wondering when you're going to be livestreaming again. I'm hoping it's soon. I LOVE your song tournaments!
Thanks! I really want to.
could you please do early sunsets over monroeville? thank you ❤️❤️
It’s about “Dawn of the Dead” it was filmed in the Monroeville mall
These are so interesting! 😄
Thanks!
i like that playlist idea at the end of the vid!
Thanks!
And I'd give the same advice as you. We're humans, we make mistake. If you can solve it in any way, do it, but if it's something bigger that you regret and cannot fix, now you know what you shouldn't do next time, but you have to make those mistakes to learn.
Didn't know this song... LOVE IT HAHAHA (could you explain emperor's new clothes from Panic! At the disco?)
he never sings "so long not goodnight".. i have no idea where anyone got that idea? it's only ever "so long and goodnight." you can confirm this by watching any live version; it's also in the official lyric booklet of the album.
but this video made me realise something i never thought of in all my years of listening this song, which is that throughout the song gerard is singing to himself from his grandmother's (or family's/loved ones') perspective. i think he's talking about relapsing into self-destructive and suicidal thoughts that he'd experienced in the past ("long ago just like the hearse you die to get in again" / "the blade you stain") as a result of the guilt and grief he felt about elena's death, and trying to keep them at bay ("i've been holding on tonight" / "things are better if i stay") by thinking about the impact on his loved ones if he were to end his own life ("the match you strike..." / "what's the worst you take from every heart you break")
Wow, i just subed, damnnur great man, i understand the song now, really..
I can't even begin to describe what this song means to me. My favorite part is " when both our cars collide" where I always start head banging.. This song is a part of me forever
When you got to the guilt part.
And how you think of something that happened in your life at one point and constantly think about.
I think of something all the time that happened when I was 6 Years Old.
I remember it so vividly.
I had given my best friend a Quarter.
Well, I took the Quarter back from her. And I made her so sad.
She had moved away a year later and we hadn't seen each other again until we turned 27.
To this day, I still have guilt over me taking that Quarter back and making her sad because she's my best friend and I should have never done that to her.
I think the bridge is talking about Gerard Way knowing that he will only meet Helena again when he died too, and the "cars" he is talking about are hearses.
There is a beauty in sadness.
I have musical frission, and MCR allways gets it going. So do other things.
Your explanation here sets it off every minute or so.
good night is like just done socializing for the night
so long is just a good bye and is less temporary
I think "so long not goodnight" points towards his dislike of the permanence of death. It's almost like he wants to join her in the afterlife, which is supported by "we'll meet again when both our cars collide." It's the whole idea of the difference between goodnight and goodbye in the sense of permanence or lack thereof between the two words.
I recently lost my great grandad. This song means a lot to me.
I wish you were my English teacher! My teacher makes us analyze music too...
COUNTRY MUSIC.
When you say goodnight to someone it is different than goodbye. Goodbye means you are not going to see them at the end of your sleep in the morning. You tell a child or someone you expect to see in the morning “goodnight”. You fully expect to see them soon, probably at breakfast. But “not goodnight” acknowledges that he is not going to see her soon. But he does not say goodbye so maybe he is not sure when he will see her again but he is not going to be the one to say “goodbye”
this is awesome, could you do disenchanted
About the cars colliding again I feel like he means that's either how she died or how he will die, and he'll see here
My fav mcr song
I think the phrase so long goodnight so long not goodnight is a phrase that saying at the first he wanted to let her go but it's so hard for him to let her go that he says not good night meaning of him wanting her to stay with him but he knows death can't be stopped .
so long and goodnight so long and goodnight!
My interpretation of Helena is that's it's a sort of storm, a sick and twisted (but beautiful) memory that someone has of someone they loved
I looked through your videos and I didn't see a video about this, but could you do a video about the story MCR is telling about the Demolition Lovers that starts in the Bullets Album is talked about the whole Three Cheers album and ends in The Black Parade. I believe the Three Cheers story and The Black Parade are all connected.
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss! MCR Monday
To me, helena is about someone grieving over the death of a loved one but blames the loved one who died for why he feels this way
Wow. I always interpret these songs so differently than you. Maybe it's because we've had such contrasting outlooks on past experiences. It's nice to hear other peoples' interpretations. :)
Yeah i think that maybe the "so long, not goodnight" could be also somewhat of a denial concept to as if refusing to let her go having conflicting/opposing thoughts. "So long, and goodnight" trying to accept her death but the other half of him can't so he juxtaposes by saying "so long, not goodnight"
Maybe the line 'so long, not goodnight' could literally mean that the death of the person is their night will not be good anymore as the person is no longer around
you should do a fall out boy friday and do headfirst slide into cooperstown on a bad bet plz
My eyes watered during this cause i did the same thing with my grandma😢
MCR save my life!!!
so long not goodnight?
i thought only so long and goodnight?
Since when was it “so long not goodnight”? I’m so confused rn cause I always here “so long and goodnight” both times and it’s like that in all the lyrics I read, it never says “so long not goodnight”
The same thing happened to me. After my grandpa passed away, I realised that I should have spent more time with him before he passed away.
I dunno what it means but whenever i hear the chorus i get super emotional
The whole black parade album
well, the song is called helena (so long and goodnight) and that it's 'and' and not 'not' so that might mean something
i think the lyrics is "so long and good night"
but if it's "so long not good night" maybe it mean bad things happen for a long time. or he still depressed for losing for long time
Please do It’s not a fashion statement, it’s a deathwish
When I heard this song 4 the 1st time I thought of depression of a cause and moving on from it
I always read into so long not goodnight as in hes accepting it and saying goodbye.
I always kind of thought "so long, not goodnight" meant like she is gone physically but not in their hearts.
sorrow, catharsis, peace
there's a new fall out boy song coming out on Thursday- the 22nd called Champion!! You should definitely do a video on it when it comes out !!
I'm planning on it!
TaeIsn'tOkay your profile picture is great!😂
I think he says, “so long, not ‘goodnight’,” in a way, to say that the grandmother won’t see tomorrow. Both he and she won’t get to reunite in the morning.
could you do air catcher?
can you explain camisado by panic! at the disco
or blood by mcr
YEY
For me the part of "so long and goodnight, so long not goodnight", he's still on the stage of acceptance. And trying to convince himself that helena is already gone.
I will admit that this video was a first for me to know the song was about his grandmother... When i first heard it (out of context) with the video i interpreted it as the authors guilt of the womans death... May be literal but i always thought it involved a car crash he caused that killed the young woman. ( i tend to think rather literally alot)
I think it’s about suicide becuase look at the chorus, “what’s the worse that I can say” let’s complete this verse for Gerard, “about myself”
Then “thing are better if I stay, this is his friend trying to cheer him up and stopping him from killing himself. And then “so long and goodnight”
About suicide again saying goodnight and dieing in his room.
And then “So long not goodnight is again, death.
Man, these songs are sad 😢
Wait in welcome to the black parade when he says "sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me and somtimes I feel like I should go" a reference to Helena
And his gramma
ohh can you do Miss missing you by fall out boy?
pls explain Mama
For tøp Tuesday can you do clear or trapdoor??? Please?!
I think the song is about a man who looses his grandmother, who dies in a car crash. He can't help but blame her for the accident, and hates her for leaving him alone! That's what I think anyway.............
Ghost Of You!
ok but first: its mikey grandmother too, sorry i just have to say it
anyways, i think "so long and goodnight" means something simple as saying goodbye to Helena forever. And goodnight is something you say to somebody who is going to sleep, and here I think sleep is used as a symbol for death. That she is sleeping aka dead.
And that "so long not goodnight" is what the person singing this is experiencing. Like, gerard is saying so long to Helena and "not goodnight" because he can't sleep at night because of the guilt he is feeling towards her death. So it's not goodnight for him because he feel the guilt.
To the part "can you hear me? Are you near me? can we pretend to leave and then we'll meet again when both our cats collide". After what I've heard as a big fan of the band, is that Gerard and Mikey's grandmother, Elena or Helen (sorry I don't remember but I know the name of the song is a mix of those two names) actually died in a car crash and that is what that part is about. And when Gerard sings "Can we pretend to meet again..." - you know - he means that he thinks he also should have been a part of the crash, like he should have died with her. And much like you said about that quote where Gerard said he should have been more with her the last year, and much of that has to do with that line. This also has to do with the guilt again. Guilt for not being there for a person who means so much to him and now he believes that it's his fault that she died when she did.
ok I could be 100% wrong and mess up the facts, but this is my theory about this song.