My Chemical Romance: full lyrics to new MCR song Foundations of Decay, 2022 tour details - how to get tickets

My Chemical Romance (MCR) have made an unexpected return with the release of a new song called ‘The Foundations of Decay’.

The reunited band, who broke up in 2013 after 12 years together, are getting ready to embark on a UK and European tour next week.

The band has revealed their first new material in eight years ahead of those massive shows.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

What is ‘The Foundations of Decay’ about?

The song begins with static noise before introducing a peaceful electric guitar, piano and a laid-back drumbeat, all of which are accompanied by Way's distorted vocals.

It then crescendos into a chorus, with Billboard describing it as a "full-blown head banger with all the anthemic force of MCR’s beloved 2006 track 'Welcome to the Black Parade.'"

MCR formed shortly after the September 11 attacks; frontman Gerard Way has stated multiple times that witnessing the tragedy inspired him to pursue music.

Way also appears to comment on the attacks in the new track, singing: “And he was there, the day the towers fell / And so he wandered down the road / And we would all build towers of our own / Only to watch the roots corrode / But it’s much too late / You’re in the race / So we’ll press / And press ’til you can’t take it anymore.”

What are the full lyrics of the new song?

Here are the full lyrics to ‘The Foundations of Decay’ [via Genius]:

[Verse 1]

• See the man who stands upon the hill
• He dreams of all the battles won
• But fate had left its scars upon his face
• With all the damage they had done

[Pre-Chorus]

• And so time, with age
• He turns the page
• Let the flesh
• Submit itself to gravity

[Chorus]

• Let our bodies lay while our hearts we'll save
• Let our blood invade if I die in vain
• Now, if your convictions were a passing faith
• May your ashes feed the river in the morning rays
• And as the vermin crawls
• We lay in the foundations of decay

[Verse 2]

• He was there, the day the towers fell
• And so he wandered down the road
• And we would all build towers of our own
• Only to watch the rooms corrode

[Pre-Chorus]

• But it's much too late
• You're in the race
• So we'll press
• And press 'til you can't take it anymore

[Chorus]

• Let our bodies lay while our hearts we'll save
• Let our blood invade if I die in vain
• And if, by his own hand, his spirit flies
• Take his body as a relic to be canonized, now
• And so he gets to die a saint
• But she will always be the whore

[Breakdown]

• (Let's flip out!)
• Against faith (Antihero)
• Against all life (As if it must be pure)
• Against change (Wander through the ruins)
• We are free (The guiltiness is yours)

[Bridge]

• You must fix your heart
• And you must build an altar where it rests
• When the storm decays and the sky it rains
• Let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away
• And as we stumble through your last crusade
• When you welcome your extinction in the morning rays
• And as the swarming calls, we lay in the foundations

[Outro]

• Yes, it comforts me much more
• Yes, it comforts me much more
• To lay in the foundations of decay
• Get up, coward!

Will there be more new music?

Fans are now wondering whether the band's upcoming reunion gigs will include more new songs on the setlist - could a fourth album even be on the way?

Despite tour preparations, MCR have yet to say whether or not they will release more new music, though a new instrumental track was featured in a teaser for their initial reunion gigs in 2020

Gerard Way did say in an interview last year that he had been writing songs, but he didn't say if they were for MCR, a solo project, or something else.

'Fake Your Own Death,' the band's last new music, was released in 2014 and was regarded as the band's "eulogy" following their split the year before.

Where can I listen to it?

‘The Foundations of Delay’ is available to stream on all of the major platforms, including Spotify and YouTube.

How can I get tour tickets?

The band had planned to return in 2019, and had managed to play one gig that winter before the pandemic forced them to postpone any upcoming dates.

Tickets for MCR's upcoming shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland are still available here.

The full list of UK and Ireland tour dates are as follows;

• 16 May – Eden Sessions, St Austell
• 19 May – Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
• 21 May – Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
• 22 May– Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
• 24 May – Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
• 25 May – Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
• 27 May – Victoria Park, Warrington
• 28 May – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
• 30 May – OVO Hydro, Glasgow