Cancer (song)

"Cancer" is a rock song by American rock band My Chemical Romance. It is the eighth track from the group's third studio album The Black Parade. The song was released on October 23, 2006.

Composition
The original version of the song is written in the key of E major with a common time tempo of 70 beats per minute. The vocals span from E3 to A4 in the song.

A four bar bridge passage prior to the final chorus includes a transposed quotation from the 1958 Buddy Holly hit "Raining in My Heart". Its chord progression (featuring a characteristic rising chromatic figure) is highly reminiscent of that from the verse of "Raining in My Heart" whilst the vocal line closely matches the rhythmic pattern and pitch content of the Bryant and Bryant-penned song. The entire song was written in 8 minutes.

Personnel

 * Gerard Way – lead vocals
 * Bob Bryar – drums
 * Frank Iero – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
 * Ray Toro – bass guitar, backing vocals
 * Mikey Way – tambourine

Additional musicians
 * Rob Cavallo – piano
 * Jamie Muhoberac – B3 organ
 * David Campbell – strings and horn arrangement

Twenty One Pilots version
American musical duo Twenty One Pilots recorded a cover of "Cancer" for British music magazine Rock Sound's 2016 compilation album, Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade. It was teased by lead singer Tyler Joseph in January 2016, having uploaded a short clip of himself singing the song. The full version was released on September 14, 2016.

Composition
The cover is played in the key of D Major with a common time tempo of 72 to 76 beats per minute. The vocals span from D3 to G4 in the song. It contains a piano part and also incorporates programmed beats and other electronic sounds. Rolling Stone described the song as "synth-laden" and featuring "additional lyric reprises and layered vocals, which gives the song an extra pensive vibe."

Reception
Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone wrote that "the duo stays faithful to the already melancholic song while ratcheting up the somberness a tad." Scott Shetler, writing for AXS, wrote that "Twenty One Pilots keep the melancholy while taking the song in a different direction." The lead singer of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, was impressed by the cover, saying in an interview with PopBuzz "There's a bit of rejuggling of parts and I was like 'Wow, this almost sounds like a remix,' but it's a cover by way of this, kind of, rearrangement and I was really impressed with it". Brii Jamieson of Rock Sound named it one of the band's best covers.

Music video
On the day of its release, an animated lyric video created by Tantrum Content was uploaded onto the band's YouTube channel. The video shows floating books and large bookshelves in a library. As of April 2024, its lyric video has received over 65 million views.

Personnel

 * Tyler Joseph – vocals, piano, keyboard, synthesizer, bass, programming
 * Josh Dun – drums, percussion