"Cancer" is a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song by American

band

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

. It is the eighth track from the group's third studio album ''

The Black Parade ''The Black Parade'' is the third studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance. Released in Europe on October 20, 2006, through Reprise Records, it was produced by the band with Rob Cavallo, known for having produced multiple albums fo ...

''. The song was released on October 23, 2006.

Composition

The original version of the song is written in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

with a

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

tempo of 70

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The vocals span from E₃ to A₄ in the song. A four bar bridge passage prior to the final chorus includes a transposed quotation from the 1958 Buddy Holly hit ''

Raining in My Heart "Raining in My Heart" is a song recorded by Buddy Holly on October 21, 1958 at the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street in New York City, with the orchestral backing by Dick Jacobs. The music and lyrics are written by the songwriting team of Fe ...

.'' Its chord progression (featuring a characteristic rising chromatic figure) is highly reminiscent of that from the verse of ''Raining in My Heart'' whilst the vocal line closely matches the rhythmic pattern and pitch content of the Bryant and Bryant-penned song. The entire song was written in 8 minutes.

Personnel

Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitant Alien'', i ...

– lead vocals *

Bob Bryar Robert Cory Bryar (born December 31, 1979) is an American retired musician and sound engineer best known as the drummer of the rock band My Chemical Romance. The longest tenured and last official drummer, he performed in the band from 2004 until ...

– drums *

Frank Iero Frank Anthony Iero, Jr. (, born October 31, 1981) is an American musician who is the rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist of the rock band My Chemical Romance and post-hardcore band Leathermouth. He is also the guitarist in the metal band L.S ...

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Ray Toro Raymond Toro (born July 15, 1977) is an American musician who serves as lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the band My Chemical Romance. Early life Toro was born July 15, 1977, in Kearny, New Jersey. He is of Puerto Rican-Portuguese herita ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Mikey Way Michael James Way (born September 10, 1980) is an American musician and actor. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He is also the multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist of rock duo Electric Century. Mikey c ...

– tambourine Additional musicians *

Rob Cavallo Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record industry executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in history, and has produced or had creative involvement in albums that have sold over ...

– piano *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, Bob ...

–

B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* David Campbell – strings and horn arrangement

Certifications

Twenty One Pilots version

American musical duo

Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots (stylized in Letter case, all lowercase or as twenty øne piløts) are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris ...

recorded a cover of "Cancer" for British music magazine ''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, e ...

''s 2016 compilation album, ''Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade''. It was teased by lead singer

Tyler Joseph Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...

in January 2016, having uploaded a short clip of himself singing the song. The full version was released on September 14, 2016.

Composition

The cover is played in the key of

D Major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

with a

tempo of 72 to 76

. The vocals span from D₃ to G₄ in the song. It contains a piano part and also incorporates programmed beats and other electronic sounds. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described the song as "synth-laden" and featuring "additional lyric reprises and layered vocals, which gives the song an extra pensive vibe."

Reception

Althea Legaspi of ''

'' wrote that "the duo stays faithful to the already melancholic song while ratcheting up the somberness a tad." Scott Shetler, writing for AXS, wrote that "Twenty One Pilots keep the melancholy while taking the song in a different direction." The lead singer of My Chemical Romance,

, was impressed by the cover, saying in an interview with ''PopBuzz'' "There's a bit of rejuggling of parts and I was like 'Wow, this almost sounds like a remix,' but it's a cover by way of this, kind of, rearrangement and I was really impressed with it". Brii Jamieson of ''Rock Sound'' named it one of the band's best covers.

Music video

On the day of its release, an animated

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was uploaded onto the band's YouTube channel. The video shows floating books and large bookshelves in a library. As of August 2021, its lyric video has received over 61 million views.

Personnel

– vocals, piano,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, synthesizer, bass, programming *

Josh Dun Joshua William Dun (born June 18, 1988) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside Tyler Joseph, and also contributes backing vocals and trumpet to the band's work. He has collabora ...

– drums, percussion

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2000s ballads 2006 songs 2016 singles My Chemical Romance songs Twenty One Pilots songs The Black Parade (rock opera) Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs written by Gerard Way Songs written by Mikey Way Songs written by Frank Iero Songs written by Ray Toro Songs about diseases and disorders Songs about death Songs about cancer