My Chemical Romance vs. Twenty One Pilots | Head 2 Head 🗣️

In the 21^st edition of Head 🗣️ 2 Head 🗣️ (2023), My Chemical Romance and Twenty One Pilots contend for the best rendition of “Cancer.”

Welcome to Head 2 Head! On Head 🗣️ 2 Head 🗣️, we pit at least two musicians singing the same song together, comparing their performances.  Then, after much deliberation, we deliver a verdict of which performance was the best, or at least, subjectively, which performance moved us more.  In the 21^st edition of head 🗣️2 head 🗣️ (2023), 🎙 My Chemical Romance and 🎙 Twenty One Pilots contend for the best rendition of 🎵 “Cancer”. So, without further ado, let the Head 2 Head commence!

1. My Chemical Romance, “Cancer”

💿 The Black Parade • 🏷 Reprise • 📅 2006

“If you could get me a drink / Of water ‘cause my lips are chapped and faded.” Of course, of course – that is not asking much. “Call my Aunt Marie / Help her gather all my things / And bury me in all my favorite colors.” Um, bury? Uh-oh – this is getting morbid! 🎵 “Cancer” is one of the best songs by 🎙 My Chemical Romance.  Arguably, it is the crowning achievement of their conceptual, 2006 album, 💿 The Black Parade. Sometimes, the best songs are sad like “Cancer,” which finds 🎙 Gerard Way portraying a character who is diagnosed with cancer 😢.  The patient understands his cancer is terminal –  his death sentence.  That is incredibly tough to cope with.

“Cancer” is filled with pain, which the listener perceives from Way’s assertive performance as well as the dramatic lyrics.  The lyrics don’t sugarcoat the experience – they keep it 💯 by all means.  In the second verse, the patient sings, “Now turn away / Cause I’m awful just to see / Cause all my hairs abandoned all my body / Oh, my agony / Know that I will never marry / Baby, I’m just soggy from the chemo.” After reading some annotations of this song, specifically regarding the second verse, it is notable that the patient shows some legit disappointment and sadness about his lot before blaming that vulnerable moment on chemotherapy. “But counting down the days to go / It just ain’t living,” the patient – well Way – sings in the chorus.  Also, fittingly, he adds, in his goodbye message, “‘Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you.” “Cancer” is an MCR classic.

Appears in 🔻:

• Simply Morbid: 16 Songs Referencing Various Causes of Death (2017)
• My Chemical Romance, “Cancer”: FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 No. 24 (2023)

2. Twenty One Pilots, “Cancer”

🎵 “Cancer” • 🏷 Fueled Ramen LLC • 📅 2016

“I will not kiss you (Kiss you, kiss you, kiss you ) / Lips are chapped and faded / Call my (Call my, call my, call my, call my) / Clips are chapped and faded.” 🎙 Tyler Joseph sounds absolutely haunting on the 🎙 Twenty One Pilots cover of  🎵 “Cancer”. To recap, “Cancer” was original recorded by 🎙 My Chemical Romance on their 2006 album, 💿 The Black Parade. Joseph provides a stark contrast to 🎙 Gerard Way’s vocals on the original. The TOP edition is much more restrained compared to the boisterous, impassioned MCR original. Lower-pitched vocals and a boatload of effects appear throughout the course of the single, representative of the numerous styles employed by Twenty One Pilots.

It is not only the vocal performance that finds Tyler Joseph distinguishing himself from Gerard Way.  Electronic production work marks another clear contrast from Twenty One Pilots’ take compared to the My Chemical Romance original. This electro-infused sound is clearly in TOP’s wheelhouse – on brand with their eclectic, truly alternative vibes. All told, Twenty One Pilots does a fantastic job covering “Cancer.” This 2016 interpretation is sweet…in an eerie, depressing sort of way, of course.

via GIPHY

The Verdict 👨🏿‍⚖️

🎙 My Chemical Romance or 🎙 Twenty One Pilots? As stated, Tyler Joseph and Twenty One Pilots do a bang up job with their cover of 🎵 “Cancer” – it is sweet in an eerie, depressing sort of way. Still, the original, by My Chemical Romance, remains the standard. The overt approach by Gerard Way on such a dramatic single where the patient knows he’s dying is simply irreplaceable.

via GIPHY

My Chemical Romance vs. Twenty One Pilots: Head 2 Head 🗣️ No. 21 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Fueled Ramen LLC, Reprise; Antoni Shkraba via Pexels, andresilva5, talha khalil, Valentin Tikhonov via Pixabay; Nick Wang on Unsplash]