What does Early Sunsets Over Monroeville mean?

My Chemical Romance: Early Sunsets Over Monroeville Meaning

Album cover for Early Sunsets Over Monroeville album cover

Early Sunsets Over Monroeville Lyrics

Late dawns and early sunsets
Just like my favorite scenes
Then holding hands and life was perfect
Just like up on the screen
And the whole time while always giving
Counting your face among the living

Up and down escalators
Pennies...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 1st 2007 !⃝

    Rainbowbelt, you are a retard. Dawn of the Dead was released in 1978. The film you are referring to a remake. Go here and be enlightened: http://imdb.com/title/tt0077402/ or even here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_dead Now, for those arguing that it is not about Dawn of the Dead...watch the movie! It's probably not meant to be a literal translation and probably has some sort of metaphorical meaning behind it but it is clearly (at least loosely) based on the Dawn of the Dead storyline. There are several references to it in the song.

    here goes my analysis:

    Early Sunsets Over Monroeville:
    (first off, the mall in the movie is called Monroeville Mall)
    Late dawns and early sunsets, just like my favorite scenes
    (I believe this line gives an indication that he is referencing a movie. keywords here: DAWN, "my favorite scenes")
    Then holding hands and life was perfect, just like up on the screen
    And the whole time while always giving
    Counting your face among the living

    Up and down escalators, pennies and colder fountains
    (escalators and water fountains: found in most malls, including the one featured in Dawn of the Dead)
    Elevators and half price sales, trapped in by all these mountains
    (once again he mentions objects which are found in malls: elevators, sales. The "trapped by mountains" refers to the fact that the mall was surrounded by hills and fields)
    Running away and hiding with you
    I never thought they'd get me here
    Not knowing you'd change from just one bite
    (as in change into a zombie from one bite)
    I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight
    (here is what I believes gives an indication that while it is based on Dawn, it is not literal. The character who gets bitten and dies on a bed had no love affair with the person who shot him)

    But does anyone notice?
    But does anyone care?
    And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
    But would anything matter if you're already dead?
    (would it matter if I shot you if you are already a zombie and therefore dead?)
    And well should I be shocked now by the last thing you said?
    Before I pull this trigger,
    Your eyes vacant and stained...

    But does anyone notice?
    But does anyone care?
    And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
    And would anything matter if you're already dead?
    And now should I be shocked by the last thing you said?
    Before I pull this trigger,
    Your eyes vacant and stained...
    (a reference to the blank lifeless stare of zombies)
    And in saying you loved me,
    Made things harder at best,
    And these words changing nothing
    As your body remains,
    And there's no room in this hell,
    (the movie's tagline was "When there is no room left in hell, the dead will walk the earth." still think it's not at least based on Dawn? If not, you are brainless.)
    There's no room in the next,
    And our memories defeat us,
    And I'll end this direst.

    But does anyone notice?
    But does anyone care?
    And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
    But does anything matter if you're already dead?
    And should I be shocked now by the last thing you said?
    Before I pull this trigger,
    Your eyes vacant and stained...
    And in saying you loved me,
    Made things harder at best,
    And these words changing nothing
    As your body remains,
    And there's no room in this hell,
    There's no room in the next,
    But does anyone notice there's a corpse in this bed?
    (the character Roger is bitten and subsequently dies and reanimates in a bed.)

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    naturepants9
    click a star to vote
    Apr 9th 2006 !⃝

    I think it's about her symbolically being dead. He had thought that his girl is different from everyone else. He had thought she's not just a conformist clone like everyone else. He had been thinking she had genuine deep thoughts, but then he realizes that she's just a shallow, hateful person like everyone else. Too different from him.

    "And the whole time, while always giving, counting your face among the living"-- he is remembering when he thought she was actually alive, when he thought she was like him.

    "Running away and hiding with you, I never thought they'd get me here. Not knowing you'd change from just one bite, I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight."-- He thought that they could just run away from the world, and they'd be safe from being warped by the way the world is, but they changed his girl and made her just like the masses. She changes after just one taste of what the world is like.

    "But does anyone notice? But does anyone care?"-- here he's realizing that no one notices any difference in her except him

    "Should I be shocked now by the last thing you said?" She's been this way all along, so why should he be shocked she's this way?

    "And if I had the guts to put this to your head, would anything matter if you're already dead?" she's been figuratively dead for so long, so why would it matter if he just shot her?

    I think I'm not being very specific here, but it makes sense to me... In summary, it's not about her being an actual zombie, but being a figurative zombie. Sort of a "But though you're still with me, I've been alone all along" concept.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 1st 2015 !⃝

    I really think people are overlooking this one a lot. It's different for everyone, but I kinda sounds like this girl is so depressed and "already dead" inside, seemingly because of the general world and all of the agony and sadness it places on her. It changes her personality. ("not knowing you'd change from just one bite, I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight."so she wants her best friend/maybe boyfriend to kill her. It's really hard for the boy. He goes back and forth from thinking it's the best thing for her ("there's no room in this hell"), to finding it harder to do this because she says she loves him and they both think of all the good memories they shared ("our memories defeat us, I'll end this direst") He finally does it ("these words changing nothing. As your body remains.")and wonders if anyone else will care or even notice.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 15th 2011 !⃝

    I think it would be good for everyone to read this interview with Gerard

    http://hotguitargirl.tripod.com/welovemychemicalromance/id6.html

    As Gerard said, it's nice to leave songs up to interpertation! :) And everyones is different.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 7th 2011 !⃝

    its about the movie dawn of the dead the original because they hide out in monroeville mall and its two lovers one of them gets bitten and the other one has to kill them before they completely turn into a zombie but the one that gets bitten says that she loves him which makes it harder to shoot her also the mention of escalotors elevators, fountains half price sales shows they are in the mall hense the connection to monroeville mall <----like in the movie



    your eyes vacant and stained
    (zombies eyes dont actually look and are normally off colour)

    and in sayin you love me made things harder at best
    (she said she loves him which made it harder to kill her)

    and these words changing nothing
    (it doesnt matter what she said, he still has to do it)

    and theres no room in this hell theres no room in the next
    (the conception of zombies spilling out of hell and onto earth but earth is getting overloaded)

    but does anyone notice but does anyone care
    (a cry for hel basically can anyone help does anyone notice this can anyone see what is going on?)

    would anything matter if your already dead
    (your dead so does it matter if i kill you after you have changed)

    sorry if its the wrong order

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 24th 2010 !⃝

    I'm with naturepants9. His/hers Sounds so much more realistic than the dawn of the dead thing that's going on. Or maybe it's just that I can relate to that interpretation more.
    May I just ask why Vampires have to be evil? Why are the vampires always the bad guys? Mythical creatures aren't the ones fucking up the planet.

  7. jlml14
    click a star to vote
    Jun 16th 2010 !⃝

    i strongly agree with naturepants and anonymous. as if they were lovers but the girl is very diffrent since she was bitten as what naturepants said. and the songs are connected as to which ever albums they make. i love mcr! their minds are extremely great!

  8. pretty.odd
    click a star to vote
    Nov 17th 2009 !⃝

    uh im confused people keep saying vampire the last time i checked dawn of the dead had zombies....dont say its about some evil thing getting you like a vampire just say its about zombies getting u...

  9. pretty.odd
    click a star to vote
    Nov 17th 2009 !⃝

    uh im confused people keep saying vampire the last time i checked dawn of the dead had zombies....dont say its about some evil thing getting you like a vampire just say its about zombies getting u...

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 17th 2009 !⃝

    The way I see it, This girl he loves is a Vampire. At the start of the song, he's saying how everythin was perfect for her, with her boyfriend and the sunsets and holding hands and all, but then it went wrong. He (the vampire) wanted her too much. He thought "well, one bite can't change her," but it does. He has to take her away from the town and hide with her, but put her back in the town as soon as she can handle being near people. But when he has a loo, no-one seems to notice or care that she's gone. She'd be a threat if he put her back with the people of the town, so he decides that she can't live any longer, can't threaten any more lives. He spends the rest of the song trying to convince himself it's the right thing to do to kill this girl he loves. Her eyes are vacant because she can't think of anything except the blood she needs and stained because she obviously wants to live. He sayis "Would it even matter if I killed you, because technically you're already dead, so i shouldn't feel guilty." She tries to stop him, by telling him she loves him too, but he still has to do it. He says she can't go to hell, because there's no room, so what will she do? But he still has to shoot her. There's now a corpse in their bed.

  11. pretty.odd
    click a star to vote
    Sep 28th 2009 !⃝

    Okay I'm going to this based on zombies:

    LATE DAWNS ON EARLY SUNSETS JUST LIKE MY FAVORITE SCENE
    THEN HOLDING HANDS AND LIFE WAS PERFECT
    JUST LIKE UP ON THE SCREAM

    (here I think that the couples life is perfect like there in a movie or somthing)

    AND THE WHOLE TIME WHILE ALWAYS GIVING
    COUNTING YOUR FACE AMONG THE LIVING

    (the narrater had know idea that she will end up getting infected or losing her soon)

    UP AND DOWN ESCALATERS PENNIES AND COLDER FOUNTAINS
    ELAVATERS AND HALF PRICE SALES
    TRAPPED IN BY ALL THESE MOUNTAINS

    (and now they are trapped inside the mall surrounded by zombies with no where to go)

    RUNNING AWAY AND HIDING WITH YOU
    I NEVER THOUGHT THEY'D GET ME HERE
    NOT KNOWING YOU CHANGED FROM JUST ONE BITE
    I FOUGHT THEM ALL OFf JUST TO HOLD U CLOSE AND TIGHT

    (here they tried to run from the zombies as much as he tried to keep them away from his lover and protect her they bit her)

    BUT DOES ANYONE NOTICE?
    BUT DOES ANYONE CARE?
    AND IF I HAD THE GUTS
    TO PUT THIS TO YOUR HEAD

    (since she's infected there telling him that he needs to shoot her but they don't understand how much he loves her and doesn't want to)

    but would anything matter if your already dead?
    and should I be shocked know by the last thing you said?
    before I pull this trigger
    your eyes vacant and staind

    (here he's thinking even if I shoot you would it matter becuz your going to die anyways and he sees that she starts to look more zombieish when her eyes change color and stare at nothing)

    and in saying you loved me made things harder at best
    and your words changing nothing as your body remains

    (he can't shoot her because she loves him and he loves her but there's her body starting to not be her anymore)

    and there's no room in this hell there's no room in the next
    and our memories defeat us
    and ill end this direst

    (honestly I can't quite make this part out rite here)

    at the end of the song when he says "does anyone notice there's a corpse in this bed" he shoots her and there's her lifeless body right in front of him, and he can't beleave he did it.



    ok that's what I think this song kind of interpruts to BASED ON BEING ATTACKED BY ZOMBIES!

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 6th 2009 !⃝

    If anyone knows anything about the writers Truman Capote and Harper Lee, they will know they both lived in Monroeville, Alabama - where they were neighbours. Read 'In Cold Blood' (Capote), and let me know if you're as intrigued as I am by the potential allusions to Capote and the ideas of social conflict and challenging the status quo; particularly, direct reference to the family of four slain in Kansas in 'In Cold Blood'.

    'But does anyone notice there's a corpse in this bed? '

    I'm intrigued to know what you all think. Could this inadvertently provide an interpretation of social expectations and the challenges we face to conform unquestioningly?

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 10th 2008 !⃝

    Dude, I've been to the Monroeville Mall. I've seen the movie. They're pretty much the same.

    HOWEVER, that has NOTHING to do with the fact that YOU ARE ALL RIGHT. It's about Dawn of the Dead, but also about losing a loved one, and the dangers of society, and zombies and vampires and the living dead and everything else you mentioned. YOU'RE ALL RIGHT, but bringing up the Monroeville Mall as your "proof" is stupid because It presents NO PROOF about what the song is about. Believe what you want, people.

    Maybe they meant it to be one of those things where you have to take your own meaning, Like John Steinbeck's "the Pearl".

    "If this story is a parable, let each one take from it his own meaning" or something like that.

    You get what I'm saying?

  14. hayxapple
    click a star to vote
    Aug 27th 2008 !⃝

    Alright. one of the first anonymous people, you have no idea what you are talking about. just because you met them, doesn't mean you know. gerard has confirmed it multiple times, that it's about one of his favorite movies Dawn of The Dead.

  15. janesgenes
    click a star to vote
    Aug 22nd 2007 !⃝

    It is about "Dawn of the Dead." Monroeville Mall is a half-hour from me. The movie was shot there, in fact if you go there (Monroeville, PA) you can check it out--it still looks pretty much the same-escalators and all!

  16. .ladyofsorrows.
    click a star to vote
    May 6th 2007 !⃝

    This song is a sweet song about the dawn of the dead movie. Gee has said so himself. I don't care if you know them or have met them. That's what it s. It may have some other tings slapped together in it. but it mainly based on the dawn of the dead movie (hehe this song shall be my wedding song) lol.

  17. GibsonGirl64
    click a star to vote
    May 6th 2007 !⃝

    I do think that yes, it has references to dawn of the dead. But I don't think it's ABOUT it. I think it's more along the lines of, she did something to hurt him, and he gets really mad. And he wants to kill her. And she says she loves him, blah blah blah. And then in the end he shoots himself cause he can't take the pain (but does anyone notice, there's a corpse in this bed). That line suggests he thinks no one notices his death, and that he's not really loved, like she told him he was. That's just what I've always thought though.

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