“The Ghost of You” by My Chemical Romance vs. “Ghost of You” by 5 Seconds of Summer

Fallon:

“Ghost of You” by 5SOS is a classic breakup song, a simple tune about remembering a lost one and savoring their memory. But really, you don’t even need to have been recently un-cuffed to listen — and connect to — this song. I know, I know, I’m writing about another song about loss, but these are the songs that incite deep, somehow comforting emotions. This idea is only deepened by the song’s lack of a music video. It’s just a raw, lonely song that doesn’t need a visual.

Darina:

“Ghost of You” by My Chemical Romance is a song familiar to The Guardian, as it was number one in my Top Five My Chem songs. “Ghost of You” by MCR is about memories, the  macabre, love, pain, everything you’d expect. The song revolves around the theme of the “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” album. MCR wrote the record based on a man and a woman in love who experience everything great until she dies, and he has to kill 1,000 men to get her back. The song consists of the man basically going back and forth on his decisions regarding the devil taking his love away. Lines can make or break a song, and MCR did not disappoint when it came to this tune. “All the smiles that are ever going to haunt me,” and “You are never coming home… Should I? Could I?” Gives me goosebumps every time I play the CD in my car, or whenever it pops up in my playlist. I adore it with all my heart.

Fallon:

Doesn’t that seem a little specific? If I listen to a song and the ONLY thing that comes into my mind is a war and 1,000 dead men, I probably won’t listen to the song again. Music’s meaning is meant to be personal, but I’m not haunted by the faces of murder victims. Call me a ‘Prep,’ but my idea of a good song isn’t the spartan story of warrior Romeo and Juliet. If I’m going to listen to a song about heartbreak or loss or death, I’m going to bang my head to 5SOS’s song because it can be about whatever I want, whenever I want. Want to fantasize about two princesses torn apart by the plague? An old woman who’s lost her lover to time? Great! Listen to my favorite “Ghost of You” song.

Darina:

This is why I am never letting you type first. Constant complaining. “I,” “Call me a Prep,” “MY idea,” just please, no more. 5SOS’s song has a lame beat and is probably one of the worst songs they have put out. I like them, do not get me wrong. Their debut album is on my downloads in Spotify, but this song hurts to hear so bad. It’s one of the boys just pulling a fourth-year Neville Longbottom practicing his waltz in the dorms before the Yule Ball. That’s the whole song. I don’t know, Fallon. I don’t know how this song can be put into someone else’s perspective. It’s so obviously about a girl and her stupid coffee mug and her dumb ghost in his stupid apartment. My song is a continuation of a storyline, and if you didn’t know about the storyline, you can still find some type of placement in it for your own storyline.