What does Helena mean?

My Chemical Romance: Helena Meaning

Album cover for Helena album cover

Song Released: 2005


Helena Lyrics

Long ago
Just like the hearse you die to get in again
We are
So far from you

Burning on
Just like a match you strike to incinerate
The lives
Of everyone you know
And what's the worst can take
From every heart you break
And like the...

  1. anonymous
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    Nov 13th 2006 !⃝

    I'm gonna say this once
    its about his girlfriend now I live and breath on this song if I don't listen to this once daily I die
    or at least I try to. I cut myself . This is about his girlfriend why would he write a song I live on about his grandma he dedicated the whole album to all the people who died in his life.And if you people who obviously haven't seen the video.(hint hint grandma thinking,zorro people)its not zorro or a grandma is it!?!Bcuz I don't think so that song in particular is about his girlfriend who died!Thankz

    -mel (mcr addicted)

  2. anonymous
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    Oct 16th 2006 !⃝

    Okay stupid people. Their grandma's name was elena. They changed so it wasn't so obviose to their family.

  3. anonymous
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    Oct 15th 2006 !⃝

    This song is an angry open letter than gerard wrote to himself, because since my chemical romance getting so big he never get to spend as much time as he wanted with his grandmother elena in the last years of her life.

    It's a tribute, and if you ever go to any mcr shows before they play this song he always gets the crowd to say "hi grandma!".

    This song could possibly be called "helena" because of it's links to the name elena, and because the misfits also had a song called helena.


    I agree with the above, and I thik all of you need to stop saying things you don't know anything about. Ask gerard himself, or shut the fuck up.

  4. anonymous
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    Oct 5th 2006 !⃝

    Other then the people who are saying it's about gerards and mikeys grandmother. Haven't any of you ever heard of metaphors, just because when you first read it sounds like someone commited suicide cos of the blade thing, it's a metaphor for pain.

    Burning on just like a match you start to incinerate
    the lives of everyone you knew
    and whats the worst to take, from every heart you break (heart you break)
    and like a blade you stain
    well I've been holding on tonight

    see this verse is saying that her death caused a lot of pain in a lot of peoples lives. The match is a metaphor for her actual death. Not every song is literal...

  5. Evanescencefreak
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    Sep 24th 2006 !⃝

    I've heard a billion different opinions on what this songs meaning is...But I still say it's about gerard's and mikey's grandmother who died, and how angry they were when they couldn't make it to thier grandmothers funeral. That's just my interpretation.

  6. anonymous
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    Sep 12th 2006 !⃝

    ************look people get it straight****************
    gerard is upset that he won't be able to afford a flying mount in world of warcraft, the burning crusade. He is only lvl 34 and only has 22gold. The funeral is for his character name in warcraft, helena - undead shadow priest. He decides to delete his character, thence the hearse, and disenchants all of his items. He then takes his money from all the disenchants and shoves them up his ass. Because all the stories he has told everyone about this song are misguided and ficticious. After he pulls the money out from his ass he gives it to someone else that is close to affording one. Thence, "it doesn't matter if I stay." meaning: he doesn't need to travel that quickly to get where he's going. Hes probably better off ganking lowbies in duskwood.

  7. anonymous
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    Sep 5th 2006 !⃝

    Gerard himself stated in an interview that "Helena" is like an angry note to himself for not being able to attend his grandmother's funeral, due to being on the road. If you people would read and watch actual interviews, you would know it isn't about zorro...Not even close! Like I said, I heard it in an interview, straight from the mouth of gerard way, it's an angry letter to himself for being abscent from her funeral. Thank you!

  8. anonymous
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    Sep 2nd 2006 !⃝

    Okay, people. Gerard has explained this at least a billion times. It's about his grandmother. According to disorder magazine, he did have a girlfriend who committed suicide while she was in college. He wrote cemetery drive for her. Get it straight.

  9. anonymous
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    Aug 30th 2006 !⃝

    My initial interpetation of this song was of an ex-girlfriend who hurt the main character within this story. The video represents his final salut to their relationship. The song opens with "long ago" this indicates past tense, he has already begun to realise that the relationship is no longer. The next line "just like the hearse, you died to get in again" perhaps this is the ex-girl friend's attempt to get him back or maybe the character is fighting his emotions, his thoughts of her keep coming into his head. The next sentance "burning on, just like a match you strike to incinerate the lives of everyone you know" this could represent that this girl is not a very nice person and destroys peoples lifes emotionally including his own. "and like a blade you stain" this line is quite sinister, again it indicates that her actions have caused negative reactions, however the imagery of a blade stained could suggest pre meditation for murder?
    The chorus starts with "what's the worst that I could say" basically the character is saying that he can now say what the hell he likes to her because of what she has done and because they are no longer together. "we are the very hurt you sold " in this line the character is basically saying 'was it worth it?' the hurt is a result of her been unfaithful. She sold his trust for her own pleasure. "please, can we pretend to leave and then we'll meet again" this quote is refairing to her unfaithfullness, basically put, he wishes for it to never have happened. He is also questioning, can we pretend it never happened and start over? However he already knows the answer.
    Going back to the video, when he is behind the alter, he mimics the actions of a conductor and the mourners react to his hand actions, the mourners could symbolise 'emotion' and him conducting them is an indication that he is becoming in control of these feelings.
    During the video gerard prays, whilst he is doing this the dead girl comes back to life, this could be a fantasy of the girlfriend in the characters head. Red flowers fall from her hands, these flowers represent reality, she tosses them aside and starts to dance. Whist she is doing this he is day dreaming of 'what if's' however he wakes from this and realises that it is fantasy, the girl then opens her eyes, the roses appear back in her hands and she falls back into her coffin.
    In the final scene he is loading her into the herse, this symbolises closure for him.

  10. anonymous
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    Aug 30th 2006 !⃝

    Rather than "using" the grandmother to cover up the girlfriend, maybe it's a composite? Maybe the song is about losing both of them but the girlfriend's story is closer to the literal meaning of the lyrics while the grandmother's story is told more through metaphor. I think that makes sense because when you grieve for someone who dies, it often reminds you of other people you lost to death.

  11. anonymous
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    Aug 27th 2006 !⃝

    What is up with you people?Why would they lie and say it's about they're grandma when it's about his gf?You people are...Pycho!Its about they're grandma that past away!Get.It.Straight.

  12. anonymous
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    Aug 20th 2006 !⃝

    The only comment I can say about this song is this song rocks

  13. anonymous
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    Jul 24th 2006 !⃝

    Its about their grandmother. Get it right. Ok. Grandma. Done over. She was there for them when they needed her. She taught them everything. She was wonderful to them. Its about their grandmother. Get it. Got it. Good.

  14. matraxo
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    Jul 20th 2006 !⃝

    I liked the "suicide girlfriend" thing. It sounded cool, but I think it's probably really about his grandma. He's saying she had to die just to get back into his life. "you die to get in again" (die has a double meaning, when he was young she was "dying" to be in his life and now she actually has died to get into his life) and "we'll meet again when both our cars collide". He regrets it took that to get his attention. "things are better if I stay" was said from a distance. It is the "worst thing I could say". They change it up and say "if you carry on this way, things are better if I stay" because if she was still alive he would still think it was better just to stay on the road or wherever his career took him. The first verse is about her leaving her mark on others. She stains like a blade. She doesn't stain a blade. She ignites others lives. She was his fire and she burns on in him. The second verse is about him hurting her by not being there. He's the hurt she sold because she helped him get out there (she sold him, basically) and now she's hurting because he's gone...Or at least he feels that way now that she's dead. He's looking back now regretfully, that's why he doesn't get any answers in the song. Last thing, the worst she could take, from every heart she breaks (anyone who had a broken heart from her dying) was herself. That's what he's holding on to...Her. He doesn't want her death to take her away from him. If you look at it this way I don’t think it sound like he’s criticizing her in any way.

    Finally...This is an interpretation. Even if I think it's a pretty good one, that doesn't mean it's right. I don't really know a lot about the band, I just know I like the song. I would actually appreciate if someone would point out holes in my logic so I could rethink it if necessary.
    Thanks a lot.

  15. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2006 !⃝

    The song is writen for Helen Rush who is the grandmother of Gerard and Mikey. Also the rosary on the actual cd of three cheers for sweet revenge is her rosary. There really is nothing else to say about the song. I think mcr would want the fans to inturpret the song however they want. The only thing we can honestly say about the song was that it was inspired by their grandmother Helen's death (they were very close to her) and that it is an amazing song by the band.
    Forever a fan of mcr Kayelilith




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