A music video for the track was directed by Marc Webb, inspired by the films Saving Private Ryan and Memphis Belle. The video, set during World WarII, was split between scenes of the band performing the song at a United Service Organizations dance event, and scenes of the band charging onto a battlefield on D-Day. "The Ghost of You" received positive reviews from music critics, with praise towards its chorus and Gerard Way's vocals; it has been deemed as one of the greatest songs in My Chemical Romance's discography. The band has included the song on the set lists of their various live performances, including during the Black Parade World Tour and their reunion tour.
Background and release
My Chemical Romance began writing their second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004), while touring for their first album in 2003.[1] "The Ghost of You" takes its title from a fictional advertisement from the graphic novel Watchmen, reading "Oh, how the ghost of you clings".[2] Initially, the band intended to end "The Ghost of You" with a scream and a guitar-heavy outro. However, during the song's recording process, the producer Howard Benson convinced the band to instead end the song with a final chorus owing to his "formulaic approach" to songwriting.[3] Towards the end of the album-recording cycle, Benson also returned to add harmonies to "The Ghost of You" after learning that Gerard Way could properly sing backing vocals.[4]
A 19-second sample of "The Ghost of You". An emo and gothic rock song, the song relies heavily on guitars and shifts between loud choruses and quiet verses.
"The Ghost of You" is a ballad[19][20] which has been described as being emo[21] and gothic rock,[22] with a hint of the arena rock sound the band would embrace on their subsequent album, The Black Parade (2006).[3] The song's dynamics shift between quiet verses and loud choruses.[20] Instrumentally, the song prominently features guitars: notably, the song opens with guitars made to sound like they are "submerged underwater",[23] they play the same notes as the vocal melody on the line "Never coming home" in the chorus, and the bridge of the song features guitars "weaving over the wails".[24] Mike Diver of Drowned in Sound stylistically compared the song to those by Glassjaw and Faith No More,[25] while Winston Robbins of Consequence compared Gerard Way's "raw" and "frantic" vocal performance to that of Matt Bellamy, the lead singer of Muse.[26] Lyrically, Arielle Gordon of Pitchfork described "The Ghost of You" as being a "seething song about loss",[3] while Ed Walton of Distorted Sound Mag instead characterized the song as an "exploration of grief and the impact of war".[27]
Critical reception
"The Ghost of You" received positive reviews from music critics. Bram Teitelman, writing for Billboard, praised the song for being a strong ballad, particularly highlighting Gerard Way's vocals for being "much less whiny than his emo/screamo contemporaries".[28] Diver similarly praised the single for its "soaring vocals and genuinely rockin' chorus", giving it a 6/10 ranking,[25] while Kaj Roth of Melodic called the song a "beautiful but aggressive tune" uncharacteristic of the emo genre.[29] Both DaveyBoy of SputnikMusic and Andy Greenwald of Blender declared the song a highlight on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, with the former calling it a "cleverly placed mid-album ballad that works a treat".[19][30]
The song has also been deemed as one of the best in My Chemical Romance's discography as a whole. The staff of Billboard included it in their list of the 15 best My Chemical Romance songs, with Taylor Weatherby noting how it "may not be as hook-heavy as the other singles on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, [but its] impassioned chorus makes it just as special".[31] Marianne Eloise of Louder Sound placed the track at #7 in her ranking of the band's 20 greatest songs, calling it an "eerie, earnest love song with tinges of grief",[23] while Sam Law of Kerrang! placed the song at #16 in his list, praising its songwriting.[32] In rankings of the band's entire discography, Cassie Whitt and Jake Richardson of Loudwire and Chloe Spinks of Gigwise placed "The Ghost of You" at #40 (of 71) and #45 (of 79) respectively, with the latter writing that the song "feels a bit flaccid and a musically muddy [...] but somehow is a fan favorite".[33][34]
Near the end of the album cycle of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the band approached Warner Records about recording a music video for "The Ghost of You"; despite the record label's initial hesitancy, the band's A&R man Craig Aaronson convinced them by asking them to consider it as an investment for the band's next album.[47] The band subsequently approached the director Marc Webb to record the music video, after having worked with him on the music videos for "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" and "Helena". The music video was recorded at a closed set in Los Angeles on May23 and 24,2005.[48] It cost just over $1 million to produce, making it one of the most-expensive music videos ever made.[49] Gerard Way first revealed that the video was being created on May24 in an interview with MTV News,[48] and a clip of the video was first officially unveiled during the pre-show of the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards on August28.[50] The full music video was posted on MTV later that month, on August30.[51] A 4K restoration of the video was also released in June 2025, coinciding with the release of the deluxe edition of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.[52]
According to Webb, Gerard Way had long-envisioned how the video would look, taking inspiration from the films Saving Private Ryan and Memphis Belle. Set during World WarII, the video cuts between scenes of the band performing the song at a United Service Organizations dance event during verses, and combat scenes featuring the band charging into battle on D-Day during choruses.[53][49] During the invasion, Mikey Way is shot and killed, leaving Gerard Way "wild with grief".[54] The cinematic nature of the music video led Webb to shoot it similar to a period piece, stressing realism and authenticity throughout the production process.[53] According to Gerard Way, the video was about the fear of losing individuals, reflected through themes of "war and loss and love and everything"; however, as noted by My Chemical Romance biographer Tom Bryant, the music video was also reflective of the band seeing their intense album touring cycle as "going to war".[53][55]
Reception
The music video for "The Ghost of You" has been well-received by critics, with Steven Loftin of Loudwire writing that it "push[ed] the limits of what a music video could be".[56] Weatherby called the video one of the most "cinematic" and "intense" by the band,[31] while Law commented how the video was "a pivotal step in the band's ascent to rock's upper leagues".[32] In rankings of the band's music videos, Aliya Chaudhry of Kerrang! placed it fourth and Alternative Press placed it fifth, with both lauding its scope.[57][58] It has also performed well commercially, becoming the third-most played video on MTV2 during the week of September26,2005.[59] The music video was nominated for Best Video at the 2006 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.[60]
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