Kill All Your Friends

Album: The Black Parade (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about how the only time you see all your friends is when one of them dies - and how you want to party when it's over. So why not just kill your friends to save time. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Ang - St. Louis, MO
  • This was released as the B-side to "Famous Last Words," but didn't appear on the album, which is something frontman Gerard Way regrets. In 2013, he tweeted that the song should have been included on The Black Parade. It does, however, appear on the iTunes deluxe edition of the album and is included on the EP The Black Parade: The B-Sides.

Comments: 24

  • Vick from Idi think that this song is great. It is not meant to tell people to kill all their friends, i mean, it talks more about the fake friendships. If you understand this song like you probbably should kill all your fake friends, youre crazy.

    All mcr songs talk about death and killing people, but that doesnt mean you should kill people like in the songs.

    I also thank mcr for all the good things that it brought me, i really really love mcr and i hope mcr5 is coming soon. Gerard sang this song greatttt¡!¡!
  • Frank from Salt Lake CityIdea: Watchmen? When the Comedian dies all the former masks come together to go to his funeral, even though many of them haven't seen each other since the Keene Act. And how one of the masks (no spoilers here) killed his former friend? Just a thought.
  • Corbyn:) from Tyler Txthis song is so beautiful but yet heartbreaking at the same time, in such a realistic and relatable way. like all the friends you had in high school will all go their separate ways, and eventually the only time you’ll be reunited with everyone is when one of them dies. the narrator is basically killing all of his friends to save everyone time, almost as if doing everyone a favor and taking them out of the f--ked up earth so maybe eventually they’ll all be able to see each other in heaven or whatever you believe is after death. but at the end of the chorus he says “you’ll all get away, and i will die in this place.” meaning he’s saving all of his friends the time and burden of living and dying, but at the end of the day he’s gonna kill all of his friends and there’s not gonna be anyone left to kill him.
  • Ricy from United KingdomThe song is literally about the title. "Kill all your friends"

    The narrator of the song is literally killing all his friends to get to the one he loves, potentially he sees them at the funerals or something along those lines. He wants to go get his love and that means killing his friends. Notice how he says "8 bitter years" and then "9 bitter years" and then "10 f--king years" each time they get together to Bury their friends. Because the narrator is killing them one by one literally. He says how they are all a bunch of liars as they pretend to not be responsible and if you read into the lyrics you will see they fit this quite well.

    However, metaphorically:

    The song is also tied to the Black Parade, and Gerard (singer) says he regretted it not being in the main album.

    I like to think this is the Soldier (Subject of the album whis dying with cancer) who is trapped in say purgatory and is watching all of his friends die and pass to heaven whilst trying to find his lover. So he keeps passing by his friends souls and tossing them away to find the one he is looking for. Which is the equivalent of killing all your friends.
  • Jay from Someplace In The NeverwasI think my favorite comment on this song is the one from someone in Australia complaining about how 'music is gonna make kids shoot up a school'.

    You know what really makes people do awful things? BOOKS! We should ban all the books, based on this person's entirely subjective and narrow idea of what gets people to do awful things!

    Anyways, what this song is more likely about is the fact that some people will 'kill' themselves to avoid their past, including cutting themselves off from people they used to like or love, and when they're confronted with those people during extremely stressful circumstances, like a funeral for instance, sometimes it feels like it might be easier to kill everyone else to avoid having to deal with these confrontations.

    A lot of the song sounds like people coming together to mourn someone they really don't want to mourn, but they have to because it's the 'proper thing to do'. One of the biggest problems with life is doing something you don't want to do, because the alternative is that you end up looking bad.
  • Diana from Lake Zurich, IlThis song really speaks to me and has helped me through some tough times. It relates perfectly to a past situation in my life. Back in my freshman year of high school, I had a group of friends who were my best friends at the time. At one point in the year I started dating a guy in the group, but by second semester we broke up and didn't talk to each other anymore. Because of that and other reasons, our group started to drift farther and farther apart, and at the end of the year we made a time capsule together and buried it. We were supposed to uncover it half a year ago, before going our separate ways to college, but we haven't in years and its as if our friendship was buried with that time capsule. Every time I hear this song I think of the friends and relationships I have lost and how they seem irreparable. And it's still painful to think about, but this song makes me happier. Because it acknowledges that we WERE friends at one point and that it is a part of our past. In a way, we are together in that we got together to bury our past "we all get together when we bury our friends." Every word of this song speaks to me like no other. I love you MCR, thank you for giving me something no one else has before; For giving me something that makes me feel understood in this joyful unforgiving world.
  • Rae from Buxton, NcThis song was one of my first by mcr, me and my friends love it, but we sure attract some attention at school while we run around singing it word by word
  • Vicky from Chesapeake, Vapart of the song sounds like the beatles let it be! wierd , huh? but i still love this song!!!
  • Diana from Ridgefield, Cti really love this song........One time i was singing it on the bus ad people were giving me weird looks O.o..xD
  • Jess from Milton, NhI think what he means by "Kill All Your Friends" is find a way to get back together. It's sad, but these days, it seems like we only come together when someone else dies...
  • Rose from Dumfries, United Kingdom"Kill all your friends" isn't about killing. I think it might be about old friends, who went their seperate ways. It sounds like the person is finally telling someone what they think of them, that they think what they've done is sad, selfish and stupid. It makes several references to song writers and poets who write things that exploit things people go through without a full understanding of it. It's about fighting the stereotypes, conformists and pretence to get to the truth in peoples minds. But it's made harder by the fact that there was once a relationship between them and they both still hurt from that.
  • Katie from Central Falls, RiI agree with the first comment. (i think) that is exactly what Gerard Way meant this song to mean. Isn't this song on the Black parade album too? Its to bad the black parade is dead. thats my favorite album from them. =(
  • Ed from Rugby, EnglandIt seems to be about relationships between friends, it definately reminds me of my group of friends XD


    Like, a really cynical, sarcastic song about relationships between friends, how people tend to be so ugly towards each other, backstabbing, bitching, using each other for personal gain etc.
    How people "scrape and sink so low" etc.

    So yeah, I think its looking at how people treat each other these days...doesn't quite fit into the concept of TBP so they left it out.
  • Hannah from Hampshire, EnglandI like to think that teenagers of today are granted a little bit more intelligence that if they like a song that happens to be called Kill All Your Friends they don't literally go out and kill all their friends. It really upsets me when these teengers go on shooting sprees and people just blame the music like they can't be bothered to look any deeper into why they were so upset.
  • Brian from Alluhrst, Njthis song reminds me of death cab a bit for some reason
  • Mandy from Philadelphia, Paleila, i tend to disagree. i am an american teenager and i believe that its actually quiet the opposite to things. really listening to the music helps you feel somewhat better, not telling you to kill someone. and seriously if your having those ideas you should see someone about it.

    Cant blame a person or persons for someones mental break down when it comes to interpretation of art. its like sueing andy warhol because his picture of a cambell soup can makes you go can someone to death! person accountablity.
  • Skyttles from Poolpartytopia, Czech RepublicLOVE mikey in this one!! I think this is one of the easiest songs to understand for me... like no killing 1000 people and stuff...love this song
  • Amber from Birmingham, AlThe reason why kids shoot up their schools is because guns are not allowed in school so the shooters know that nobody is packing so they shoot up the school. Stricker gun laws are not helping, but neither will make everybody have a gun. Also listening to violent music, watching violent movies or tv shows, or playing violent games is not going to make a person kill other people. Only someone who is unhinged would kill people over a song.
  • Chae from Chicago, IlYeah, listening to violent music is SO gonna turn people into homicidal maniacs. *eyeroll*

    Ok, maybe if there was something wrong with the person in the first place, but I don't think a sane person would kill someone just because a song 'told' him to. -.-;
  • Leila from Perth, Wa, Australianot that im blaming mcr exactly.. but why does everyone wonder why so many screwed up american kids shoot up their schools with this music around.. they probaly hear it - think, well why not, go out and have a shooting spree - and then america shows how stupid it really is by saying "but we didn't think that allowing guns all over the place and having songs telling kids to kill all their friends would result in 100's of innocent lost lives"

    wake up america and get a life.
  • Loz from Perth, Australiaworst song lyrically?

    its really good!

    love the bass line XD

    GO MIKEY!
  • V-starr from ?????????, Mihey nate, this is a bonus song from the Famous Last Words single. you can download it from seek a song... hmm i might go and download it now or tomorrow? Mama music video: dabuting November 12!
  • Nate from Cedar Crest, Nmwhat album is this on?
  • Ed from Rugby, Englandworst song lyrically.
    but still a great listen.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn YankeesSongwriter Interviews

Revisit the awesome glory of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees: cheesily-acted videos, catchy guitar licks, long hair, and lyrics that are just plain relatable.

Bob Dylan Lyric Quiz

Bob Dylan Lyric QuizMusic Quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan lyrics? Take this quiz to find out.