Desolation Row
My Chemical Romance Lyrics

They're Selling postcards Of the hanging They're painting The passports brown
People are selling postcards of hangings while also repainting passports to brown.

The beauty parlor Is filled with sailors The circus is in town
Sailors are filling up the beauty parlor while the town is excited about the circus being in town.

Here comes The blind commissioner They've got him in a trance One hand is tied To the tight-rope walker The other is in his pants
The blind commissioner is being led by someone, with one hand tied to a tight-rope walker and the other in his pants.

And the riot squad They're restless They need somewhere to go As Lady And I look out tonight From Desolation Row
The riot squad is restless and needs somewhere to go while overlooking Desolation Row.

Cinderella She seems so easy "It takes one to know one" She smiles And puts her hands In her back pockets Bette Davis style
Cinderella appears easy-going while knowing that other people are also easy-going.

And in comes Romeo He's moaning "You Belong to Me I Believe" And someone says "You're in the wrong place My friend You better leave"
Romeo enters, singing about a belief that he belongs to someone else, but someone else tells him that he is in the wrong place and should leave.

And the only sound that's left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row
After the aftermath of a crime scene, with ambulances long gone, Cinderella is still cleaning up the mess that happened on Desolation Row.

Now the moon is almost hidden The stars are beginning to hide The fortunetelling lady Has even taken All her things inside All except for Cain and Abel And the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody is making love Or else expecting rain And the Good Samaritan He's dressing He's getting ready For the show He's going To the carnival tonight On Desolation Row
The moon and stars are hidden, the fortunetelling lady has left, but some people are still around, either making love or waiting for rain. The Good Samaritan is dressing up for a carnival on Desolation Row.

Now Ophelia She's 'neath the window For her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday She already is an old maid To her death Is quite romantic She wears an iron vest Her profession's her religion Her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes Are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking Into Desolation Row
Ophelia is near a window and is already perceived as an old maid at 22 years old. Her profession has become her religion, and although she is staring at a sign of hope, she sometimes looks into Desolation Row.

Einstein Disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend A jealous monk He looked So immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off Sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet Now you Would not think To look at him But he was famous long ago For playing The electric violin On Desolation Row
Einstein, dressed as Robin Hood, was seen recently with his friend, a jealous monk, while being immaculately frightful. Even though he looks ordinary now, he was previously famous for playing the electric violin on Desolation Row.

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They're trying to blow it up Now his nurse, some local loser She's in charge Of the cyanide hole And she also keeps The cards that read "Have Mercy on His Soul" They all play On penny whistles You can hear them blow If you lean Your head out far enough From Desolation Row
Dr. Filth keeps his world in a cup while his patients, angry about their sexless lives, are trying to destroy it. His nurse has the responsibility of managing the cyanide hole while also keeping sympathy cards, and they all play penny whistles. If you lean out far enough, you can hear them blow from Desolation Row.

Across the street They've nailed the curtains They're getting ready For the feast The Phantom of the Opera A perfect image of a priest They're spoon feeding Casanova To get him to feel more assured Then they'll kill him With self-confidence After poisoning him with words And the Phantom's Shouting to skinny girls "Get Outta Here If You Don't Know Casanova is just being Punished for going To Desolation Row"
Across the street, someone is preparing for a feast, where the Phantom of the Opera, who is painted as a priest-like figure, is feeding Casanova to make him feel more confident before killing him with words. The Phantom yells at skinny girls, essentially saying that Casanova deserved to be punished for going to Desolation Row.

Now at midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory Where the heart-attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see That nobody is escaping To Desolation Row
At midnight, agents and a superhuman crew come out to round up anyone who knows more than them, bringing them to the factory where the heart-attack machine is strapped to their chest. Finally, insurance men bring kerosene and make sure no one is escaping Desolation Row.

Praise be to Nero's Neptune The Titanic sails at dawn And everybody's shouting "Which Side Are You On?" And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot Fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea Where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much About Desolation Row
The Titanic sails at dawn, and everyone is shouting about which side they are on. Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot are fighting in the captain's tower while calypso singers and fishermen look on. Between the windows of the sea, mermaids flow while people don't have to think too hard about Desolation Row.

Yes, I received your letter yesterday (About the time the door knob broke) When you asked how I was doing Was that some kind of joke? All these people that you mention Yes, I know them, they're quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can't read too good Don't send me no more letters no Not unless you mail them From Desolation Row
The singer received a letter but wonders if it was a joke since it arrived just as the doorknob broke. The people mentioned in the letter are familiar and need their faces rearranged and names changed. The singer is unable to read well and doesn't want any more letters unless it's from Desolation Row.