16 Years Ago, My Chemical Romance Refused To Be Part Of A $700m Success Story They Were Begged To Do

16 Years Ago, My Chemical Romance Refused To Be Part Of A 0m Success Story They Were Begged To Do

Fans of My Chemical Romance are not going to believe the movie soundtrack the band was almost attached to. The punk sensations certainly are no strangers to attaching their names to soundtracks, as their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” made its way onto the official Watchmen soundtrack, playing over the adaptation’s end credits. It may be overlooked, but their inclusion helped launch the band to new audiences.

My Chemical Romance is a great fit for movie soundtracks: their rich narrative style is always deeply emotional and includes both characters and full stories. The Black Parade is obviously a concept album by the oldest definition, but it came with a discernible aesthetic and symbolism that made it a cinematic experience in its own right. MCR isn’t even opposed to lending their tunes to comedies, and some downright ridiculous ones at that. You can catch the band’s tunes in Bruce Almighty, American Reunion, and Clerks, and not even the OG of Clerks, not even the sequel, but Clerks III! If this doesn’t come as a surprise, perhaps nothing will.

The band came close to another marriage with Hollywood though, when they were asked to produce a song for the soundtrack of Twilight: New Moon. However, not only did the MTV Award winners turn the offer down, but later, they took the offer as enough of an insult to write a whole song about the ordeal.

How My Chemical Romance Was Linked To Twilight

MCR Was Part Of Twilight’s Origin Story

The connection between My Chemical Romance and Twilight isn’t just about spiritual similarity. When speaking to EW about her inspirations for writing the franchise, Twilight author Stephanie Meyer cited My Chemical Romance as one of her sources for inspiration. Specifically, listening to the music of MCR is what helped Meyer write for the character of Jacob, the foil of Edward and alternative love interest for Bella, who was played by Taylor Lautner in the movies. This is what Meyer had to say on the matter:

This band is so in touch for me with Jacob’s character. This really raw, uncontrolled emotion — where it’s not about some person who’s grown up and callused over and learned how to control things. It’s someone who’s feeling it for the first time and just wants to go out and blow things up. The song ‘Famous Last Words’ is a really romantic version of Jacob saying, ‘Okay, I’m putting myself out there, and you’re probably going to break me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still going to make the offer.’

Given that the band served as direct inspiration for the books, it made sense for My Chemical Romance to naturally receive an offer to make music for the movie adaptation for the first sequel. However, ultimately, MCR turned down the offer, and instead, Muse—another band that was prevalent for Meyer during her writing process—would perform for the soundtrack. Other bands included were Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, The Killers, Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Lykke Li, Death Cab for Cutie, Sea Wolf, OK GO, and other brands of rock and pop punk.

Why My Chemical Romance Turned Down Twilight

Vampires Just Weren’t Cool Anymore

Gerard Way in the music video for My Chemical Romance "Famous Last Words" — Gerard Way in the music video for My Chemical Romance “Famous Last Words”

My Chemical Romance reached the peak of their fame in adopting the dark, gothic aesthetic akin to vampire lore, a la Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge – namely their breakout hit, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”—had captured the world’s attention, while The Black Parade – sporting classics like “Helena,” “Welcome to the Black Parade,” and the Saving Private Ryan-inspired “Ghost of You” – established them as a band that was here to stay. However, by the time that Twilight: New Moon was being adapted, My Chemical Romance was adopting a new style.

In 2009, My Chemical Romance was a year away from releasing Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Their fourth album was set to have My Chemical Romance change their tone both sonically and visually. Sonically, MCR would start to experiment with power pop, electronica, psychedelic rock, and propunk. Meanwhile, their visual style took inspiration from a post-apocalyptic era. It was clear that MCR had abandoned their gothic roots, and as a result, had no interest in gothic vampire movies. This is what Gerard Way told Q Magazine at the time:

With things like Twilight, the idea of anything gothic like vampires wasn’t scary anymore, they were sexy or contemplative. To me vampires are the new Jonas Brothers. So we’ve gone the opposite way.

MCR Dodged A “Sell-Out” Bullet By Avoiding Twilight

Just Ask Hayley Williams

For anyone who thinks that My Chemical Romance was foolish to turn down the chance to join a project that took $700 million, look no further than Hayley Williams’ account on the matter. The previous Twilight movie’s soundtrack was bolstered by Paramore’s lead single, “Decode.” The Grammy-nominated record sold 2,000,000 units, going double platinum in the process. This proved to be a runaway hit for the band, especially coming right after the recent success of “Misery Business.” However, according to Williams to Rolling Stone, “Decode’s” success gifted more issues to Paramore than joy:

There was part of me that read the books, I loved them, they were easy reads and they were fun. It was: holy s***, we have a song in a movie – that was crazy. And then the resentment set in like, ‘oh my god, we’re the Twilight band’. It took a long time to get over that part of myself that wanted to be like ‘you’re a poser’.

Hayley Williams and her band feared that having a major hit record on a major hit movie only painted them in a box. They were no longer just a punk band, but the “Twilight band.” It was hard to be a part of a music genre that prides itself on being anti-establishment only to, essentially, become part of said establishment for one of the biggest movie franchises on the planet. MCR would have struggled to shrug off the same accusations.

That kind of desire is what inspired the final track on Danger Days, “Vampire Money,” a song parodying bands jumping at the chance to work on profitable tie-ins because they “wanna be a movie star.” The phrase itself comes from people approaching MCR wanting to help them get some “vampire money” following the success of their 2002 debut single, “Vampires Will Never Hurt You.” Vampires may never hurt them, but producing a song for Twilight certainly would have hurt My Chemical Romance, as far as the band is concerned.

Source: EW, Rolling Stone