The Ghost of You

"The Ghost of You" is the fourth and final single and sixth track from My Chemical Romance's second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. "The Ghost of You" was released to radio on September 27, 2005. The song deals with the fear of loss. The song's title is an allusion to an ad from Watchmen, reading "Oh, how the ghost of you clings". The ad itself was an allusion to the song, "These Foolish Things". The song's lyrics deal with losing a loved one.

The music video was shot over two days in Malibu, California, and cost over US $1,000,000 to make. Marc Webb directed the video. In an interview with FUSE, My Chemical Romance said "We shot a movie and just edited it to be a video. It's like if you put 'Helena' and 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' together to make one long music video, it still would top that." It closely parallels the Omaha invasion scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan. Most of the video takes place at a USO dance where the band is performing, but, often switches over to a D-Day scene, in which the band members play as United States soldiers in fierce combat. (At the dance, one soldier's uniform bears the 101st Airborne Division "Screamin' Eagles" patch, however the 101st Airborne Division wasn't involved in beach landings, but were parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day, suggesting that several units were present at the ball. 1st Infantry Division and Ninth Air Force patches can also be seen)

The video takes an emotional turn when bassist Mikey Way is shot and killed by German fire despite the medic's (played by Ray Toro) attempts to save him, adding emphasis to the aspects of loss in the song. This is foreshadowed in a bar scene where vocalist Gerard Way, his brother appears to be reassuring him at a bar that he'll be alright, and there's no reason to be afraid. He is seen wearing a 1st Infantry Division patch in the video. Mikey "dies" with his eyes open. Gerard is held down by his squadmates/bandmembers in shock as he sees his brother die. Mikey wears a military medal on his uniform for The Black Parade, possibly a throwback to this video. The 1st Infantry Division, the "Big Red One" were among the first wave on Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944. Gerard Way has to be restrained and is seen screaming (although there is no sound other than the song) as he tries to run to his brother. On Life on the Murder Scene, Ray is told to talk to Mikey to look like he's trying to save him. Obligingly, he shouts "Mikey! You're dead! [How do you feel!?]"

On September 7, 2005, on its fourth day, it reached number one on MTV's music-video countdown Total Request Live.There is a cut version for daytime audiences, which leaves shots of soldiers vomiting and Mikey Way's wounds from machine gun firing absent.

Mikey Way, in a recent interview with FUSE, stated that when the trap door on the landing craft opened and the band rushed forward, due to the weight of all the members, extras and gears combined, the craft capsized and filled with water to the point where the band nearly drowned.

On the Life on the Murder Scene DVD, it is stated that during their tour with Green Day, Green Day showed MCR their video "Wake Me Up When September Ends", which also had a war theme. Gerard feared the video would be the same as theirs for "Wake Me Up When September Ends" but "The Ghost of You" was more about the loss of someone you love. Green Day in a way "gave us their blessing", as stated by Gerard.

Music Video