Hear Twenty One Pilots’ Melancholic Cover of My Chemical Romance’s ‘Cancer’

On Twenty One Pilots’ cover of My Chemical Romance’s “Cancer,” the duo stays faithful to the already melancholic song while ratcheting up the somberness a tad. The new rendition hails from Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade, which pays homage to My Chemical Romance’s 2006 LP, The Black Parade.

The song addresses being on the cusp of death and the anguish of saying goodbye to loved ones. Eschewing the original piano-led approach, Twenty One Pilots’ take is synth-laden and features additional lyric reprises and layered vocals, which gives the song an extra pensive vibe.

The primarily black-and-white lyric video, with the occasional hot pink highlights, blends animation into the visuals. The scenes move through a space housing a chess board and books, some of which feature the lyrics on their pages.

Twenty One Pilots recently sat down with Rolling Stone for a podcast where the duo discussed their rise to fame.

Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade will be released on September 14th. Meanwhile, My Chemical Romance are prepping their 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of The Black Parade, which includes a second disc housing unreleased demos and outtakes called Living With Ghosts. The reissue is due on September 23rd via Warner Bros.