helena - 98.7 FM & WWWYF 2024

a love letter to one of the best MCR songs and how its sounds even better in its live renditions

During the first week of its radio release in 2005, “Helena” was met with little fanfare. According to Frank Iero, it wasn’t until the second week that this second single off the albumThree Cheers for Sweet Revenge finally started getting the flowers it deserved.

The song quickly became an essential part of the My Chemical Romance’s setlist. So, it came as no surprise that 6 years later, in 2011, the band played “Helena” as part of their acoustic setlist at 98.7FM Penthouse.

At the beginning of the video, Gerard Way claims that after an initial failed attempt at an acoustic set in the band’s early days, “We swore to never do it again.” Thank the heavens above that they decided to break that promise.

What’s beautiful about “Helena” is the fact that this rock anthem works just as good, if not better, as an acoustic ballad. (Admittedly, I do have a bias for enjoying stripped-down versions of songs more.)

The melodic keyboard intro to “Helena” in the 98.7FM performance is gorgeous enough to bring tears to one’s eyes. That’s even without considering Way’s impressive vocals that bring an element of raw yearning to the song, supplementing the powerful lyricism.

When the guitar, drums, and bass properly kick in during the second verse, the song becomes much fuller, awake with life. The instrumentals continue to carry the unstoppable wave of emotion through the bridge, but the last chorus really brings it home.

Throughout the song, Way chooses to sing a lower melody for the choruses. He saves the melody from the recorded version for the very last chorus and delivers it, thanks to the support of the crescendoing guitars, with a punch. If listening to the rest of the song feels like metaphorically getting stabbed in the heart with a knife, then the last chorus is the twisting of the knife to drive the point home.

While the studio version of “Helena” can be an end-of-the-night closing song for partygoers to scream along to, the acoustic version from the 98.7FM performance feels like a song best experienced listening to it alone in an empty church (perhaps the one from the music video?).

Way wrote “Helena” about his late grandmother who had been an important figure in his life. With every “so long and goodnight” he sings, any listener can tell that this song is a deeply personal song about grief and loss. Maybe that’s why the song hits even harder after the band’s break up in 2013.

In 2024, over 11 years since the disbandment and 19 years since the song first came out, My Chemical Romance performed two nights in a row at When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas. On both nights, they closed their set with “Helena.”

While this performance more closely resembles their studio version rather than the 98.7FM set, what made me tear up was the fact that in every video of the performance, you can hear the audience singing along with every lyric.

My favorite video is actually a Tiktok someone took from their apartment balcony of the crowd during “Helena.” You can’t even see the performance, but you can hear the crowd singing all together in unity, their faces illuminated by the red glow of the stage.

It’s a true testament to how timeless “Helena” has become. From the classic studio version to the acoustic 98.7FM version to the latest performance, this song has been a rallying cry, a heart-wrenching ballad, and most importantly, a beautiful way to say goodbye.