Great Lyrics Can’t Help Against ‘The Foundations of Decay’.

I'm a fan of My Chemical Romance for many reasons, but primarily because I love how they use the power of storytelling in their lyrics.

And, of course, the music is what my heart and soul love to hear.

And, on Friday the 13th, 2022, they dropped a new song – after eight years – finally a new song: 'The Foundations of Decay'!

I was so excited! I started listening to the song right away.

It started so well! The music contributed to my expectations even before I heard the first words.

Their new song promised an incredible listening experience — the mood setting was great, building up to the moment they introduced one of the main characters with the song's first line.

And that first line invited me into the story:

I was soooo curious to learn more about that man.

I immediately thought back to 'The Patient' from their third album, The Black Parade – another broken soul, and I wondered how he'd deal with his specific challenge.

So the first verse and pre-chorus continue, giving me a clear picture of the song's main character, his main problem, and how much he struggles.

And I'm so intrigued to learn more about his circumstances, and what led to the all-is-lost moment he's facing now.

And then the chorus sets in, and GUESS WHAT?!?

The music overshadowed the vocals.

It was too loud and made it so damn hard to understand a single word.

And I felt frustrated and lost.

I couldn't follow along anymore, which made me feel left out.

With every passing line that I couldn't understand, I knew I was missing so much from the story. I hated that!

The music stifled the singing.

And if this hadn't been my favorite band, I would have just skipped to the next song.

I was invested in the story, engaged and interested, and then cut off.

After the song ended, I just sat there with a broken image and not enough puzzle pieces to understand what that song was about.

They want to enjoy the music and follow along with what is being said.

And if they can't, they'll feel frustrated, just like I did.

Control the volume of the music and instruments.

Even if you know the words of the lyrics and can make them out in all the 'noise', ask someone who hasn't heard your song before to tell you what is being sung.

This approach might avoid setting 'The Foundations of Decay' for your audience.