“The Foundations of Decay” by My Chemical Romance

There’s a whole lot going on in “The Foundations of Decay”, including the lyrics featuring some pronounced religious references. But theoretically, the concept the title is meant to point to is society, if you will, being in some sort of decadent state. And the primary reason the vocalist is making that observation is not in the name of criticizing society itself but rather people who go about their business as if the world isn’t going to hell, or something like that.

Meanwhile concerning the religious connotation, this appears to be yet another song which is espousing a philosophy like secular humanism. For instance, at a juncture, the singer mentions being “against faith”, though it is not clear if he is supporting such a position or mocking those who lack it. But in the bridge that follows, Gerard does proceed to put forth the notion that salvation, so to speak, is in the hands of the individual.

But that is not to imply that “The Foundations of Decay” is so in its entirety. For instance, in the second verse, Gerard alludes to 9/11 and how that terrible incident led to him forming My Chemical Romance.

That particular incident does play into the grand scheme of the song. For what the vocalist seems to be putting forth, in a roundabout way, is that for a lot of us – himself included in fact – it would take something very serious to transpire before we make a power move with our lives. 

With that said, another way of interpreting the title, relatedly, is as pointing to the notion that most of us end up ‘decaying’, i.e. dying, without ever pursuing our calling.

My Chemical Romance and “The Foundations of Decay”

My Chemical Romance is a rock band that has been around since the early-aughts. The group, which hails from Newark, experienced the height of their success during the mid part of that decade. 

In fact as of the issuance of this song on 12 May 2022, the last studio album they dropped is 2010’s “Danger Days”. Prior to 2022’s “The Foundations of Decay”, their most recent single was 2014’s “Fake Your Death”.

That is because the group disbanded in 2013. They got back together in 2019, but of course the COVID-19 pandemic proceeded to stifle their ambitions for a while.

The four musicians that currently make up the band are:

• Gerard Way
• Ray Toro
• Mikey Way
• Frank Iero

Iero, Toro and Way are acknowledged as the producers of this track, alongside Doug McKean. Way also wrote “The Foundations of Decay”. To note, this song was released, as a standalone single, without any fanfare.