Draft:Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

My Chemical Romance formed after front man Gerard Way experienced the destruction of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.{{Cite web |last=Harvilla |first=Rob |date=July 26, 2022 |title=The Eternal March of the Black Parade |url=https://www.theringer.com/2022/07/26/music/my-chemical-romance-debut-anniversary-best-album-black-parade |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250107051750/https://www.theringer.com/2022/07/26/music/my-chemical-romance-debut-anniversary-best-album-black-parade |archive-date=January 7, 2025 |access-date=January 7, 2025 |website=The Ringer}} The band began working on three demos, one of the demos, "Skylines and Turnstiles" would eventually end up on I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.{{Sfn|Bryant|2014||p=35}} Guitarist Frank Iero played additional guitar on the song, one of only two of his contributions to the album, as he stated: "When we started recording songs like "Honey, this Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" and "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville", there was more room for me to write. So I wrote parts to those and also some of "Headfirst for Halos". Those were the first songs that I really got involved in."{{Sfn|Bryant|2014|p=55}}

The recording of the song was straightforward, at which Way "howls his way through the song in an emotionally charged performance." as My Chemical Romance biographer Tom Bryant described his performance, "Afterwards, everybody just left and went outside to smoke cigarettes because they couldn't deal with looking at him after he had sung that," commented producer Geoff Rickly, "He had just ripped himself open in front of everybody. He'd taken it so far that it was uncomfortable for anyone who was friends with him. They hadn't seen him as Gerard the singer, they still saw him as their buddy Gerard. It's a little scary to see someone do what he did."{{Sfn|Bryant|2012|p=60–61}}

The lyrics of "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville" talk about a couple experiencing the events of a zombie apocalypse. The band took inspiration from the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead.

The song appears on their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. It has been described as a ballad,{{Cite web |last= |date=July 21, 2017 |title=11 things you might not know about MCR's 'I Brought You My Bullets...' |url=https://www.altpress.com/my_chemical_romance_i_brought_you_my_bullets_thing_you_didnt_know/ |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=Alternative Press |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |author=DaveyBoy |title=My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (album review 8) {{!}} Sputnikmusic |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/26159/My-Chemical-Romance-I-Brought-You-My-Bullets-You-Brought-Me-Your-Love/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.sputnikmusic.com}} and a waltz. Cassie Whitt of Loudwire ranked it number 19 of all of the band's songs, calling it a "painful ode to romance in a trying situation. Well, more than trying." and praising it for having "created unbelievable vocal moments on Bullets that will never be replicated."{{Cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Jake |last2=Whitt |first2=Cassie |date=2019-03-24 |title=Every My Chemical Romance Song Ranked From Worst to Best |url=https://loudwire.com/every-my-chemical-romance-song-ranked/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Loudwire |language=en}} The Recording Academy stated that had a "breezy, bass-forward" sound, while commenting that it "references the classic zombie flick and raises the question: If your lover becomes a zombie, will you take them out?"{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Desiree |date=July 22, 2022 |title=How My Chemical Romance's 'I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love' Redefined Emo Music |url=https://www.grammy.com/news/my-chemical-romance-i-brought-you-bullets-you-brought-me-your-love-redefined-emo-anniversary |access-date=January 29, 2025 |publisher=The Recording Academy}} My Chemical Romance bassist Raymond Toro called it "unlike anything we’ve ever done since"{{Cite web |date=2024-11-01 |title="You can hear the nervousness and excitement": The story of My Chem's… |url=https://www.kerrang.com/my-chemical-romance-debut-album-story-interview-gerard-way-i-brought-you-my-bullets-you-brought-me-your-love |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Kerrang! |language=en}} Under the Radar magazine stated that it "stands among emo’s all-time great anthems"{{Cite web |last=Saalman |first=Austin |title=My Chemical Romance – Reflecting on the 20th Anniversary of "I Brought You My Bullets…" |url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/my_chemical_romance_reflecting_on_the_20th_anniversary_of_i_brought_you_my/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Under the Radar Magazine |language=en}} The Forty-Five critic Marianne Eloise stated that it "brings things down a notch for a melodic, slow, almost-love song, with a murderous twist." and calls it "one of the most standout tracks on 'Bullets'.", ranking it number 31 out of all of My Chemical Romance's tracks.{{Cite web |last=Eloise |first=Marianne |date=2020-08-30 |title=Every My Chemical Romance song ranked from worst to best |url=https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/best-my-chemical-romance-songs/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=The Forty-Five |language=en-GB}} Gigwise's Chloe Spinks ranked it number 54 of all the band's songs, stating that My Chemical Romance "whip out their secret weapon: the "does anyone notice?" section."{{Cite web |title=Every My Chemical Romance song ranked from worst to best {{!}} Gigwise |url=https://www.gigwise.com/features/3419918/every-my-chemical-romance-song-ranked-from-worst-to-best |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.gigwise.com}}

Credits are adapted from Apple Music:{{Citation |title=Early Sunsets over Monroeville by My Chemical Romance on Apple Music |date=2002-07-23 |url=https://music.apple.com/song/early-sunsets-over-monroeville/1157610143 |access-date=2025-06-09 |language=en-GB}}{{col-begin}}

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My Chemical Romance

• Gerard Way – lead vocals, songwriting
• Matt Pelissier – drums, percussion, songwriting
• Mikey Way – bass guitar, songwriting
• Raymond Toro – background vocals, guitar, songwriting

Additional personnel

• Frank Iero – background vocals, guitar

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Producing and engineering

• Geoff Rickly – producer
• John Naclerio – mixing engineer, recording engineer
• Ryan Ball – mastering engineer
• Alex Saavedra – producer

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== References ==

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=Tom |title=Not the Life It Seems: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0306823497 |location=Boston}}

{{My Chemical Romance}}

{{Draft categories|:Category:My Chemical Romance songs

:Category:2002 songs

:Category:Songs written by Frank Iero

:Category:Songs written by Ray Toro

:Category:Songs written by Gerard Way

:Category:Songs written by Mikey Way

:Category:Zombies in popular culture

}}