Jump to content

Skylines and Turnstiles

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Skylines and Turnstiles"
Song by My Chemical Romance
from the album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
ReleasedJuly 23, 2002
RecordedMay 2002
StudioNada Studios, New Windsor
GenreHardcore punk
Length3:23
LabelEyeball
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Geoff Rickly

"Skylines and Turnstiles" is a song by the American band My Chemical Romance, released as the seventh track from their debut studio album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002). A hardcore punk song whose lyrics focus on the September 11 attacks, "Skylines and Turnstiles" was conceived when Gerard Way witnessed the attacks and consequently decided to form a band. The song was written by band members Frank Iero, Matt Pelissier, Ray Toro, Gerard Way, and Mikey Way, and was produced by Geoff Rickly. The track has been identified as one of the best songs in My Chemical Romance's discography, with music critics highlighting its role in establishing the band and its sound. A demo of "Skylines and Turnstiles" was later released on May Death Never Stop You (2014), the band's greatest hits album, and the song was included in the setlist of their reunion tour.

Background, writing, and composition

[edit]

Prior to the formation of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way was an action figure-designer for a New Jersey company. However, upon witnessing the September 11 attacks, Way decided to begin a band instead in an attempt to "take stock of his own life".[1][2] The same day, he penned "Skylines and Turnstiles" in his parents' basement with a guitar and practice amp in reaction to the attacks.[2][3] He then recruited Matt Pelissier, who played in a local rock band, to bring percussion onto the track.[4] Later, Way and Pelissier played "Skylines and Turnstiles" to Ray Toro — who was in the local band with Pelissier — whereupon according to Way he "improved it tenfold instantly".[5] The group subsequently recorded The Attic Demo in Pelissier's attic, a set of three demos including that of "Skylines and Turnstiles".[6] My Chemical Romance would later record the song, as well as the majority of their debut studio album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, in May 2002 at Nada Studios in New Windsor, New York.[2][7]

"Skylines and Turnstiles" is a hardcore punk[3][8] and pop-punk song,[9] described as being "horror-punk" by Sam Law of Kerrang!.[10] The song contains "scabrous and shimmering" guitar and "throat-shredding screams", which would go on to be staples of My Chemical Romance's music.[9] Lyrically, "Skylines and Turnstiles" focuses on the fear, uncertainty, and hope Way felt as a result of the September 11 attacks.[10] The lyrics include references to the fall of the Twin Towers and the "futility" of daily life;[11] Tyler Golsen of Far Out described the song as being the story of how "a mundane Tuesday became a hellscape [of] 'steel corpses' and 'fallout vapours'".[12]

Release and reception

[edit]

"Skylines and Turnstiles" made its live debut in October 2001, being the first song performed during the band's debut show.[13] The song was later released on July 23, 2002, as the seventh track on I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.[14][15] The demo of "Skylines and Turnstiles" was later included on May Death Never Stop You, the band's 2014 greatest hits album, alongside the other "attic demos";[16] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters panned the inclusion of the demos in a review of the compilation, writing that they were "weak and disposable" and "for completists only".[17] The band also included "Skylines and Turnstiles" in the setlist of their reunion tour,[18][19] notably as the second song of their performance on September 11, 2022 at Barclays Center in New York City.[20][21]

The song received mixed retrospective reviews from music critics, with Austin Saalman of Under the Radar praising it as a standout track[22] while a 2008 review for Sputnikmusic instead described it as being unpolished and "of poor quality in almost every department".[15] Writing for The Ringer, Rob Harvilla emphasized that the track was not the best on I Brought You My Bullets, yet as a first song it "got [Gerard Way] where he needed to go, which was firmly on the road to leading everyone where they needed to go".[9] This sentiment was shared by other critics, who have placed "Skylines and Turnstiles" among the best songs in My Chemical Romance's discography as a whole due to its role in establishing the band and its sound. The staff of Billboard included the song in their list of the 15 best My Chemical Romance songs, praising its emotional resonance and writing that the song would "largely inform the group’s music for the rest of their career".[23] Cassie Whitt and Jake Richardson of Loudwire similarly declared "Skylines and Turnstiles" the fifth-best song by the band, with the former writing that it was "perhaps the most important song" in their catalog due to being their first written.[24] Law ranked the track at #19 in his list of the band's 20 greatest songs, writing that it was a "jagged work in progress, but glowed with undeniable burning promise".[10]

Credits and personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from iTunes.[25]

References

[edit]

Books

[edit]
  • Bryant, Tom (2014). Not the Life It Seems: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance. Boston: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306823497.

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 22
  2. ^ a b c Shepherd, Tom (November 1, 2024). ""You can hear the nervousness and excitement": The story of My Chem's debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on December 6, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "My Chemical Romance: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  4. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 23
  5. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 26
  6. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 27
  7. ^ Blistein, Jon (October 25, 2021). "How a Sucker Punch Fueled the Rise of My Chemical Romance". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 29, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  8. ^ Haag, Stephen (December 1, 2003). "My Chemical Romance: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". PopMatters. Archived from the original on November 26, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Harvilla, Rob (July 26, 2022). "The Eternal March of the Black Parade". The Ringer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Law, Sam (April 9, 2021). "The 20 greatest My Chemical Romance songs – ranked". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  11. ^ "11 things you might not know about MCR's 'I Brought You My Bullets...'". Alternative Press. July 21, 2017. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  12. ^ Golsen, Tyler (September 12, 2023). "10 essential post-9/11 songs". Far Out. Archived from the original on June 8, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  13. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 31–32
  14. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 60
  15. ^ a b DaveyBoy (July 1, 2008). "My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  16. ^ "My Chemical Romance reveal 'May Death Never Stop You' tracklisting, comment on their final song". Alternative Press. January 21, 2014. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  17. ^ Sawdey, Evan (April 16, 2014). "My Chemical Romance: May Death Never Stop You: The Greatest Hits (2001-2013)". PopMatters. Archived from the original on December 26, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  18. ^ Childers, Chad (May 20, 2022). "My Chemical Romance Play Classic 'Three Cheers' Song Live for First Time Since 2007". Loudwire. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  19. ^ Robinston, Ellie (October 19, 2022). "My Chemical Romance perform ultra-rare 'Sister To Sleep' for the second time ever in California". NME. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  20. ^ Spanos, Brittany (September 12, 2022). "My Chemical Romance Brings Back Brooding Emo Angst at Barclays Reunion Show". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  21. ^ Chelosky, Danielle (September 12, 2022). "Review: My Chemical Romance's 9/11 show was a cathartic, raucous trip down memory lane". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  22. ^ Saalman, Austin (July 22, 2022). "My Chemical Romance – Reflecting on the 20th Anniversary of "I Brought You My Bullets…"". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  23. ^ Weatherby, Taylor (November 14, 2019). "The 15 Best My Chemical Romance Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  24. ^ Whitt, Cassie; Richardson, Jake (March 24, 2019). "Every My Chemical Romance Song Ranked". Loudwire. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  25. ^ "Skylines and Turnstiles — Song by My Chemical Romance — Apple Music". Archived from the original on January 6, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skylines_and_Turnstiles&oldid=1268038575"