Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

Album: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a man and his wife who run away while trying to hide from vampires. Unfortunately, his wife gets bitten by a vampire, and though she says she loves him very much, he is forced to kill her before she becomes a vampire. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Laura - Toronto, Canada
  • Monroeville is the town in Pennsylvania where the mall scenes from the movie Dawn Of The Dead were shot. Lead singer Gerard Way said the song was inspired by the movie. "The man and his love are hiding from the living dead, who are coming to kill them," said Way. "Since the town is surrounded by mountains, they cannot get out. The living dead attacks the woman, and she turns into one of them. Though he loves her, he is faced with the difficult reality - he must take a gun to her in order to survive and 'End this direst.' Because she loved him and he loved her, the decision to kill her made 'things harder at best.'" >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Ophelia - Jerusalem, Israel
  • This started out as a tender ballad, but producer Geoff Rickly sensed there was something darker brewing under the surface and encouraged Gerard to tap into it. "Just go with what's inside your head. Don't even listen to the music," Rickly recalled telling him before his explosive performance. The producer told MCR biographer Tom Bryant (Not the Life It Seems: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance) the rest of the band was left shaken in the aftermath of the rage-fueled session. "Afterwards, everybody just left and went outside to smoke cigarettes because they couldn't deal with looking at him after he had sung that," he explained. "He had just ripped himself open in front of everybody. He'd taken it so far that it was uncomfortable for anyone who was friends with him. They hadn’t seen him as Gerard the singer, they still saw him as their buddy Gerard. It's a little scary to see someone do what he did."

Comments: 41

  • UmmVampires? It's about zombies!
  • Otto from DenmarThat last sentence really hits hard.
  • Rae from Buxton, NcThose movies in the song were made in my grandparents town! I love this song one of my favorites. It makes me emotional but that just shows how amazing they are
  • Vicky from Chesapeake, Vai love this whole album. its MCRs best! its the begining of the art they hav created!!!!!! !
  • John from Sylvania, OhAlso, I have no idea where anyone got vampires out of (besides Vampires Will Never Hurt You). The song makes a lot of references to zombies (there's no room in this hell, there's no room in the next="when there's no room left in Hell, the dead will walk the earth"--or something to that effect) and Dawn of the Dead (Monroeville was the town in which they shot the mall scene in).
  • John from Sylvania, OhAs others have said, the song is based on Dawn of the dead. However, we all know that Gerard isn't writing random songs about zombies. So let's think here:
    My take on it is that it's about a man who has a girlfriend whom he tries to isolate from the people he believes could ruin their relationship (the zombies). Somehow or another, the "zombies" make their way to his girlfriend, and influence her to do something the man doesn't like or simply becomes like the "zombies" (Hence the reference to her changing with a single bite). The man is heartbroken and upset, and harms his ex, figuratively or literally killing her ("But does anyone notice there's a corpse on this bed?"). This may be evidenced by how the song goes from being about hiding from zombies and being bitten and shooting your lover to suddenly being worried about a corpse on your bed.
    Before you call me crazy, the music video for Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two of Us is based off of The Audition, which has a similar plot to the scenario I described, so my theory isn't to much of a stretch...
  • Alex from Mesa, AzThis song is about Zombies and getting infected sadly and having to put a gun to her head :(
  • Danny from Oakland, CaIt's not about vampires, it's about zombies, the song is named after the original Dawn of the Dead, and Jon from Texas, "counting your face among the living".....I'm positive that your interpretation isn't right. It probrably means that (from the idea of the movie) they were counting how many people were still alive and she was one of the people he saw while looking around.
  • Elle from Monroeville, PaI think this song is about being stuck in a place that is so perfect and 'plastic' and not being able to stand it and killing yourself, but that's just my interpretation. I read somewhere that when Gerard sings about 'vampires' it actually symbolizes stingy, lucrative people...
  • Rose from Dumfries, United KingdomErm.... I think this song is about being thrust into a so-called "perfect" life and never feeling like you never really fitted in. In the first and last parts of this song the other person could almost be a metaphor for hope and individuality and "them all" a metaphor for depression.
  • Merissa from Grosse Pointe, Mithis song is named after a horor movie DAWN OF THE DEAD,a favorite of the band's and the song was pretty much written because gerard is so into horror movies and this being one of his favorites.
  • Ashlee from Aberdeen, ScotlandThis is mainly directed at Joey.


    Yeah, this has nothing to do with the 2004 film. But this IS based on and inspired by the 1978 film. Its just taken from the point of view of a man (could be woman, its irrevevant) who's girlfriend/wife is bitten and he has to make the decision to kill her. It doesnt matter that this doesnt happen in the film, they are creating the situation where it does. Ok?



    There are too many refrences for it to have nothing to do with the 1978 Dawn Of The Dead. Gerard Way said the song is inspired by it too...So.....Yeah?




    :)
  • Merlin from Mount Currie, BcI thought it was about "Romeo and Juliette", well now I know
  • Joey from Seattle, WaI would understand that would be kinda based off the zombie theory but not on the storyline. i really thinks about vampires myself i've seen both dawn of the deads and only one where the girl dies, and that wasn't til 2 years after the album was release. i mean am i making any sense? THE MOVIE HADN'T BEEN MADE!!! im sure its based on some other storyline not the dawn of the dead u are so convinced. or it could be about a woman's point of view it doesn't have to be a male. it doesn't make any type of notification that it's gender specific. so yeah. its not about a mans struggle to survive its a woman's if u think im wrong watch the 1978 version movie FORGET THE 2004 ONE. The movie was made 2 years after this album!!!
  • Joey from Seattle, WaBut to those MCR fans that didn't know when that album was released UR POSERS
  • Joey from Seattle, WaOphelia i beg to differ from what u said about the dawn of the dead thing. the MCR album we are talking about was released in 2002. dawn of the dead was made in 1978 and the new one in 2004. the newer dawn of the dead the guy kills his girlfriend, not wife after she has a baby. the old one the woman survives and the man dies. so yeah thats completely incorrect
  • Marte from Ålesund, NorwayI don't have words for how much I love this song.
  • Sammi from Candyland, FlI like the words to this song but i dont like the boring slowness of it.
  • Holly from Melbourne, AustraliaWords can't descirbe how much this song means to be =] It's got me through hard times in my life and I have to that MCR for writng such an amazing song...
  • Ashley from Ft. Lauderdale, Fli agree with ed i think its was inspired by the movie, but the underlying meaning is how far would you go for the one you love
  • Ed from Rugby, EnglandThis song always reminds me of the idea of euphanasia, and how much it could tear people apart when making the decision..but thats only what i got from the song (and i suppose its sorta right...it kinda goes with what the song is really about.)

    The lyrics are brilliant, excellent use of imagery, and the zombies and vampires are metaphorical to something more darker...again, thats what i'm getting from it.

    And i think Gerard is vocally amazing in this one.
  • Lisa from AustraliaI HEART THIS SONG!
  • Hannah from Hampshire, Englandi think this song is about a failed romance and the guy considers killing himself and her and the whole vampire/zombie dawn of the dead thing is a metaphor for his feelings
  • James from London, EnglandErrrmm... The first song fact bout the man is quite similar to steven kings book Salem Lot. I realise Gerard didnt base the song on this but I found it intresting
  • Ali from Oxford, PaThis is such a beautiful song. Gerard's voice is exceptionally beautiful and pure in this song, but also sad and wounded. I believe that this song is based on the movies Dawn of the Dead, but is also about a relationship that had ended because one person in the relationship had just changed and became like everyone else, sort of like the zombies in the movie, since they all want the same thing:Human flesh. And the part of the song that goes "And if I had the guts to put this to your head" means that the other person in the relationship knows that they have to end it. Just my theory...but this is a great song, no matter what it truly means.
  • Jessa from Pittsburgh, PaOh And That nicki gril is my cousin She lives like 15min. Away from the MONROEville MaLL were the movie daWn of the dead was shot at!!!!!!!
  • Jessa from Pittsburgh, Pathe song is just sooooo terricfic....its great
    !!!!WooT-wOot!!!!
  • Nicki from Pittsburgh, PaWell i'm from Pittsburgh very close indeed to monroeville yes yes very close and yes since im from the local aera i will tell you what the song is based on DAWN of the DEAD there you go you have it i don't have to say it again do i????? KK again DAWN of the DEAD!!!!!!!

    Tootle Loo <3 *(xNIcKIx)*
  • Tj from Nyc, Nythat song totally rocks
    emotional
    with a purpopse
    everythjing
  • Elizabeth from J-ville, Flthis song has beautiful lyrics. and it's not about vampires or zombies . sure, theres a lot of REFERENCES to vampires and whatnot, but there is an underlying meaning in every reference. either way, the lyrics are beautiful and oh so mournful...
  • Jon from Marfa, Txits about a romance that failed. he loved her and things were great, by him saying "counting your face among the living" means everything reminded him of her. he tried to keep her to himself because he didnt want people to get in her head with wordly things and when he says " changed from just one bite" means all it took was one conversation one person to change her mind about and her get caught up in wordly things. he tried keeping her close and telling her right by fighting what they said but it didnt work. and now he feels alone as if nothing real and the only way to get over her is by her being dead because as long as one of them is alive there will always be hope. as he tries to die she can only tell him she loves him thinking it would help but he sees what she has done to him and it hurts him even more because even though she says it she doesnt mean it.but there's no room for sorry's as his life is hell he keeps thinking about her and thats whats killing him more. until................
  • Mercedes from St. Marys, CanadaThis song is about a man and his lover running from Vampires/Zombies, but the woman gets bitten, and he must shoot her before she turns. "...and in saying you loved me made things harder at best..." means that the womans last words before she was bitten were 'I love you' and although he is glad to hear her say that, it is making it difficult to shoot her. He is also debating, "...but does anything matter, if you're already dead...". This song is so romantic, it makes me cry every time.
  • Chris from Greenville, MiMonroeville, Pennsylvania is where they filmed the mall sequences for the original Dawn Of The Dead, the song makes several references to zombies, such as "and if I had the guts to put this to your head" along with "before I pull this trigger" which are references to shooting her in the head, which by the movies is one of the only ways to kill a zombie, and when he talks about how theres no room in hell, that comes from the famous line "When theres no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth"
  • Lynzica from Knoxvegas, TnIt's about Dawn of The Dead and all of the mall sences. His voice sounds REALLY mournful during the song. I love him...
  • Cheval from Sugar Hill, GaI think it's about someone getting into a lot of trouble,so he ran from the cops.He runs into a mall & hides. He feels really bad, so he decides to kill himself. The bed is the strecher in thre ambulance.
  • Amina from Manchester, Englandok really good song with a great rhythem but why zombies an vampires?that part i just dont understand!
  • Katie from Oxfordshire, EnglandIt's is actually about zombies. If you think about it, it only takes one bit according to Dawn of the Dead, to turn into a zombie.
  • Justine from Lincoln, EnglandI think Its Both Really, From What I've Heard
  • Tina from Philidelpha, Nji think that mabey gerard and a friend had a experence runing away from the fuss(cops)"up & down escalators, pennies & cold fountains.... elavators & half price sales,trapped in by all these mountains" and then hiding out w/his friend & getin caught."running away & hiding w/you"...."i never thought they get me here."
  • Alison from Chesterfield, EnglandI meant that it could be either, not 'I could be either'.
  • Alison from Chesterfield, EnglandI thought it was about Dawn of the Dead. But the lyrics mean that I could be either really. And MCR are more into vampires so...
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