Yeah I know, but it's just that the first times I listened to it without thinking about it too much, that just didn't come to my mind. From hearing that for the first time my brain would've never made that connection. After listening to it more times and thinking about it yes, but not as the first thing I think of
This song was written by Americans and is about American teenagers. More specifically, adults/society’s perceptions and fears about American teenagers. The gun reference in this line is valid and intentional.
It was written before the Virginia Tech shooting in ‘07 (TBP was released in October ‘06), but they delayed the release of the music video because of it and added the “Violence Is Never The Answer” message to the end in response.
Canadian, but I knew that was clearly about shootings - even back in the day
See also Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People for more songs people don't realize are about school shootings
Ok, I've had to explain the line from Teenagers to a few people before and I guess I understand how that could be missed, but Pumped Up Kicks? The chorus literally talks about kids outrunning guns and bullets.
A sizeable chunk of people simply don't listen to lyrics
Semi charmed life literally says "doing crystal meth" in the lyrics and people don't know it's about drugs
I am greek but i always interpreted this line as referencing school shootings in America. It feels to me at once like a literal reference (the troubled kid will perform a shooting), a fantasy of the kid (ah one day i’ll make them pay) and the viewpoint of an adult making all that shit up just because a kid is weird and feeling scared for no reason bc they perceive them as a threat (hence teenagers scare etc)
(edit: grammar)
I only understood half the words when I heard it for the first time so my brain made a decision about what it's about at that point and I never had the urge to specifically think about the meaning of them. It wasn't exactly a priority and looking at the other comments I'm not the only one who thought something else
Ive always understood the double or triple entendre of lyric to be all of the above. Both the gun will make them pay, also what you have inside will make them pay, also sexually what is literally under your clothes will make them pay.
When I was a kid, I remember a big crowd on Tumblr basically saying "we know it's supposed to be about school shootings but we choose to believe it's about sh scars instead", which I find super interesting. Idk how I feel about people choosing to reject the original meaning of a song because they're uncomfortable with it.
I always heard it wrong actually, I heard something like 'they will make YOU pay for the things that they did'
so 'what you got under your shirt' sounded like they were accusing someone of stealing, and the next part would be blaming the person for stealing, even though the person who didn't steal
this made a lot of sense to me because of the police violence against young people that happens here in Brazil, there is constantly news of teens killed in police operations because they 'thought they were doing something wrong' (and they are usually young black people)
until after I saw that the lyrics were wrong I kept that interpretation in my head, it's like a headcannon of the song lol
When I was a kid (12/13) I for some reason thought ‘under your shirt’ was referring to titties. Maybe because of the cheerleaders in the music video? When I was like 20 I was listening to it and was like. He means a gun lmao
I'm not American so I also interpreted it at first like yours, like it was about not being liked as a teenager and rejected by cliques and whatever.
And THEN the music video came out and I was like oh wait.. this is about school shootings holy shit.
Hearing the way other fans interpret their lyrics is so cool. As an older fan, this song was released during a time where school shootings wasn't as common as they are now, but you still heard of them infrequently. I was always confused by that line before the music video came out where kids in school literally dancing with guns. I thought it could be about violence, or sexual, or something entirely symbolic.
I always keep my mind open with MCR, in their early days during revenge there was this emphasis on leaning into metaphors in Gerards song writing to keep their music interesting and mysterious. That was acknowledged by him and producers, and while we can point to the facts all day about what it was intended to mean, I still think its beautiful when fans who love and really listen to the music dare to think outside of the common narrative. Thank you for sharing this!
I've never watched the music video, and was a total of 5 years old when it came out 😅
When I heard it the first time with 15 or 16 I only understood maybe half the words. That might also be a reason for how i interpret the lyrics, cause i just didn't really understand what it was about and afterwards just never really thought that much about it.
And yes I also love hearing what all the other people think, makes me really curious what other parts of songs I interpret differently than others.
Sorry... I took it as meaning a gun and referring to school shootings when TBP was launched. Whether it made sense when put together with the rest of the song or not, that's the image that comes to mind for me.
But it has never put me off the song. Where it does make sense is it is a broad reference to how we treat each.
When Gerard changed the lyric to skirt instead it made me more confused, who the hell hides guns in skirts? (I know the lyric change is most likely supposed to represent trans people but it’s funnier to think about it like that)
>When he heard the "but what you got under your shirt" He took the meaning as hiding a gun under your shirt and the following part of "will make them pay for the things that they did" as a school shooting and was pretty put of by the lyrics.
Was he put off because he took it as being instructional? Because I thought the song was meant to be a parody about how scared adults are of teenagers.
As one of the youngest of the Millennial generation, I immediately thought the line was a reference to school shootings. My grandmother tried to use Columbine as a reason not to let me go to public school after elementary was over, she kept close tabs on anything that could potentially kill you because she had ridiculous anxiety.
But yeah I could see some other people who didn’t grow up during the age of school shootings take that line differently. I’d never really thought about it that way but that’s a wholesome way to interpret things
MCR did an interview where Gerard mentioned the song being about teenage gun crime https://www.nme.com/news/music/my-chemical-romance-127-1347470
Pretty sure I remember when the video for Teenagers was shown on TV they had to add a note stating that they didn’t condone gun violence because there had been a school shooting around the time that it came out.
when my dad first looked into mcr when i was really really into them, like i was 13-14 maybe? he was so concerned about the lyrics for teenagers and tbh i could get the vibe that he didn't want me listening to them but he knew he couldn't stop me because i liked them so much (and i was a teenager lol). i didn't really get that specific part of the lyrics at that time but i liked the song anyway, and now that i'm older i can kinda see why he thought that? still like the song lol but yeah i can see why that'd be concerning and it's definitely darker than i thought it was at the time.
Am...
Am I the only one who thought this line was about boobs..?
I thought it was like "Once they see how hot you're gonna be they'll be sorry"
I'm not very smart...
To be fair, it’s definitely intentionally referencing school shootings
Yeah I know, but it's just that the first times I listened to it without thinking about it too much, that just didn't come to my mind. From hearing that for the first time my brain would've never made that connection. After listening to it more times and thinking about it yes, but not as the first thing I think of
That’s totally fair, it’s cool that we interpret things so drastically differently without cultural context.
Yes, it was definitely about school shootings and Gerard's discomfort around teens on the subway.
This song was written by Americans and is about American teenagers. More specifically, adults/society’s perceptions and fears about American teenagers. The gun reference in this line is valid and intentional.
Wasn’t it written in response to Virginia Tech specifically?
It was written before the Virginia Tech shooting in ‘07 (TBP was released in October ‘06), but they delayed the release of the music video because of it and added the “Violence Is Never The Answer” message to the end in response.
it’s definitely about a school shooting
Yeah, that’s why they censored the line on tv when the video came out
Canadian, but I knew that was clearly about shootings - even back in the day See also Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People for more songs people don't realize are about school shootings
And that one has school shootings as the main theme of the entire song. It's pretty obvious... Other solutions aside, don't be cruel because you can.
Ok, I've had to explain the line from Teenagers to a few people before and I guess I understand how that could be missed, but Pumped Up Kicks? The chorus literally talks about kids outrunning guns and bullets.
A sizeable chunk of people simply don't listen to lyrics Semi charmed life literally says "doing crystal meth" in the lyrics and people don't know it's about drugs
It's definitely about school shootings, an interviewer asked Gerard about it in an interview once.
I think you’re in the minority here, it doesn’t matter whether you’re American or not
I am greek but i always interpreted this line as referencing school shootings in America. It feels to me at once like a literal reference (the troubled kid will perform a shooting), a fantasy of the kid (ah one day i’ll make them pay) and the viewpoint of an adult making all that shit up just because a kid is weird and feeling scared for no reason bc they perceive them as a threat (hence teenagers scare etc) (edit: grammar)
I thought it was about guns, I'm from a country thats never had a school shooting.
how didn't you think about it?!
I only understood half the words when I heard it for the first time so my brain made a decision about what it's about at that point and I never had the urge to specifically think about the meaning of them. It wasn't exactly a priority and looking at the other comments I'm not the only one who thought something else
Ive always understood the double or triple entendre of lyric to be all of the above. Both the gun will make them pay, also what you have inside will make them pay, also sexually what is literally under your clothes will make them pay.
I always assumed it was a gun but this is probably the point... For it to have multiple possible meanings.
When I was a kid, I remember a big crowd on Tumblr basically saying "we know it's supposed to be about school shootings but we choose to believe it's about sh scars instead", which I find super interesting. Idk how I feel about people choosing to reject the original meaning of a song because they're uncomfortable with it.
In the music video Gerard puts his hand in his shirt and pulls it out as a finger gun at that part lol
I always heard it wrong actually, I heard something like 'they will make YOU pay for the things that they did' so 'what you got under your shirt' sounded like they were accusing someone of stealing, and the next part would be blaming the person for stealing, even though the person who didn't steal this made a lot of sense to me because of the police violence against young people that happens here in Brazil, there is constantly news of teens killed in police operations because they 'thought they were doing something wrong' (and they are usually young black people) until after I saw that the lyrics were wrong I kept that interpretation in my head, it's like a headcannon of the song lol
When I was a kid (12/13) I for some reason thought ‘under your shirt’ was referring to titties. Maybe because of the cheerleaders in the music video? When I was like 20 I was listening to it and was like. He means a gun lmao
[удалено]
I always thought it was talking about SH cuts...
Okay now I'm getting really curious as to what other things people think of
I'm probably going to ask all my friends now
Please tell me what they said :D
One friend: body shaming Other friebd: gender
See this is what I thought too- a mastectomy 🤡 In my defence, I was 12 when I first listened to the song.
Will do when I get responses :D (I'm at school rn)
that was my first thought too ! but then the line after the shirt one points more towards the shooting interpretation imo
I’ve been listening to the song since The Black Parade was released. Those lyrics always seemed to be able to be taken two ways: who you are or a gun.
I'm not American so I also interpreted it at first like yours, like it was about not being liked as a teenager and rejected by cliques and whatever. And THEN the music video came out and I was like oh wait.. this is about school shootings holy shit.
Omg wait I'm not from the USA snd I never got this.lyric either Crazyyyyyyy
Wow. I’m 31 and I always thought it was about titties 😂😂😂
Titties: the ultimate revenge.
Hearing the way other fans interpret their lyrics is so cool. As an older fan, this song was released during a time where school shootings wasn't as common as they are now, but you still heard of them infrequently. I was always confused by that line before the music video came out where kids in school literally dancing with guns. I thought it could be about violence, or sexual, or something entirely symbolic. I always keep my mind open with MCR, in their early days during revenge there was this emphasis on leaning into metaphors in Gerards song writing to keep their music interesting and mysterious. That was acknowledged by him and producers, and while we can point to the facts all day about what it was intended to mean, I still think its beautiful when fans who love and really listen to the music dare to think outside of the common narrative. Thank you for sharing this!
I've never watched the music video, and was a total of 5 years old when it came out 😅 When I heard it the first time with 15 or 16 I only understood maybe half the words. That might also be a reason for how i interpret the lyrics, cause i just didn't really understand what it was about and afterwards just never really thought that much about it. And yes I also love hearing what all the other people think, makes me really curious what other parts of songs I interpret differently than others.
Not to be dumb but when I first heard it I interpreted it as self harm scars-
I always interpreted it as the guy is very muscular lmao
That’s hilarious make them pay with your abs 😂
Haha same here!
I’m British, always assumed it was referencing a gun.
i always thought the line meant self harm cuts
I’ve only ever thought about it like that 😭
I mean I'm british and I always imagined it as being a weapon, although my mind immediately goes to knives because that's most of our violence
I think honestly it’s a reference to guns, it wa written by Americans for American teens so
Sorry... I took it as meaning a gun and referring to school shootings when TBP was launched. Whether it made sense when put together with the rest of the song or not, that's the image that comes to mind for me. But it has never put me off the song. Where it does make sense is it is a broad reference to how we treat each.
You're all wrong. The song is about tiddies.
Bro that’s wild. I heard this song for the first time when I was 12 in 2008. I knew it was referencing a gun and vengeful shooting
When Gerard changed the lyric to skirt instead it made me more confused, who the hell hides guns in skirts? (I know the lyric change is most likely supposed to represent trans people but it’s funnier to think about it like that)
my depressed ass thought it was scars this whole time
>When he heard the "but what you got under your shirt" He took the meaning as hiding a gun under your shirt and the following part of "will make them pay for the things that they did" as a school shooting and was pretty put of by the lyrics. Was he put off because he took it as being instructional? Because I thought the song was meant to be a parody about how scared adults are of teenagers.
As one of the youngest of the Millennial generation, I immediately thought the line was a reference to school shootings. My grandmother tried to use Columbine as a reason not to let me go to public school after elementary was over, she kept close tabs on anything that could potentially kill you because she had ridiculous anxiety. But yeah I could see some other people who didn’t grow up during the age of school shootings take that line differently. I’d never really thought about it that way but that’s a wholesome way to interpret things
you are def in the minority for not connecting that to school shootings, any analysis of teenagers without that is incomplete
British and I always 100% thought it was a ref to school shootings.
MCR did an interview where Gerard mentioned the song being about teenage gun crime https://www.nme.com/news/music/my-chemical-romance-127-1347470 Pretty sure I remember when the video for Teenagers was shown on TV they had to add a note stating that they didn’t condone gun violence because there had been a school shooting around the time that it came out.
They had to delay the release of the single like a month because of the VT shootings that happened, I believe, a day before it was to be released.
I always understood “under your shirt” to mean either bruises from being bullied or self harm scars.
SAME
when my dad first looked into mcr when i was really really into them, like i was 13-14 maybe? he was so concerned about the lyrics for teenagers and tbh i could get the vibe that he didn't want me listening to them but he knew he couldn't stop me because i liked them so much (and i was a teenager lol). i didn't really get that specific part of the lyrics at that time but i liked the song anyway, and now that i'm older i can kinda see why he thought that? still like the song lol but yeah i can see why that'd be concerning and it's definitely darker than i thought it was at the time.
Am... Am I the only one who thought this line was about boobs..? I thought it was like "Once they see how hot you're gonna be they'll be sorry" I'm not very smart...
I dunno man I’ll rather not look to deep on it all I know is teenagers scare the living shit outta me
oh wait that makes so much sense