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From The Editor's Floor: My Chemical Romance
Alternative Press - Tim Karan on 11/24/09 @ 7:00 AM - altpress.com
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE are putting the final touches to their follow-up of 2007's majestic The Black Parade. During a break in the studio, guitarist FRANK IERO recalls some of the great highs and lows he experienced during their break. Some of those experiences--good and bad--revolved around writing, recording and touring with his side-project, LEATHERMOUTH, whose debut album XO, appeared on Epitaph earlier this year. The good was that he honed his home-recording skills, did a lot of writing (which has helped inform MCR's next disc) and became a maniac frontman while Leathermouth were on tour with REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT during the summer of 2008.
The bad? Well, as the guitarist has made clear in interviews, Leathermouth are his vehicle for unfiltered ranting (i.e. "Sunsets Are For Muggings," "Your Friends Are Full Of Shit"). But it was track No. 4 on XO, "I Am Going To Kill The President Of The United States Of America" (about George W. Bush), which earned Iero a visit from the Secret Service. Wondering what happens next?
"The government comes to your house, searches everything and talks to your wife for hours," says Iero, adjusting the sleeves on his hoodie. "Then you have to get a real expensive attorney to keep you out of prison for five years. I had a long talk with the gentlemen of the Secret Service. [It was the] straight-up dark suits, sunglasses, Men In Black-vibe--I thought they were going to do the mind-erase thing [like in the movie].
"They said, 'Why did you write the song?' And I told them the truth. I was on tour [overseas] with My Chem at the time, and every time I turned around, there were Anti-American rallies. I wrote a song from the standpoint of the rest of the world. It wasn't from my personal point of view--it was just from someone who sees warmongering going on. I wrote the song, and the title is as blatant as humanly possible, because I wanted it to be that way. The Secret Service asked, 'Do you think someone is going to hear this song and kill the president?' And I said if they're going to kill the president, they're going to do it without listening to this song. That's like saying everyone who reads Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal is going to eat a baby. They didn't think that was too intelligent, so they said, 'Well, if you re-release the record with the song on it or perform the song live ever again, you'll be arrested."
What's really perplexing about the whole incident is how the agency even learned about the song in the first place. Iero says he's not sure who it was, but opines that it was a British writer who contacted the Office of Homeland Security looking for a comment. Clearly, Iero could've turned the whole thing into a massively public freedom-of-speech argument; now, he's just happy the whole thing is behind him. "I'm married and I want to have kids," he resigns. "I don't want to go to jail for five years." --Jason Pettigrew
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Holy crap. Just that. Holy crap.
That's hilarious! I'm glad he got out of that though
Secret Service guys are no joke. Be prepared to be searched at airports in the future. Best part, I wouldn't doubt that some of the AF One security guys (USAF cops) probably have Leathermouth on their ipods.
What ever happened to Freedom of Speech! What's this country coming too, musicians should have the right to sing about issues no one else will confront
wOw! Quite shocking! 0o What happened with the Freedom of Speech??!...so now, even musicians can't talk or express themselves???...incredible! Seriously. It's pretty sad coming from a country that promotes liberty and justice, right?
It is disheartening, but not surprising. Freedom of speech has never been what most people assume it to be. There have always been limits, in fact as we have progressed we have seen a widening of free speech in recent years. It is one step forward and two steps back. We got past blacklisting, and the House Un-American Activities hearings. Then 9/11 happens and its the same story with Terrorism as the name in lieu of Communism. This is by no means a new state of affairs. The difference is that globalized mass communication may give the current generation a possibility to make greater inroads this time around.
I can't believe that the US government had nothing better to do, but mess with a musician. I mean do they have any idea how many people have had anti-Bush/American songs, and how people have said those exact words, me included, no one that says those things ever means it. Pretty much everyone hated Bush, and that is how musicians and writers showed what they(or in Frank's case The People) felt. Like yellowshirt says it is like the communist trails all over again since 9/11 happened, and here I thought America was this great pioneer in given people freedom.Here is what I have to say, don't boast about half-truths and I won't be so hard on you.