Gerard Way - The Truth Remains

What is truth?

The dictionary has much to tell about this undeniably perplexing word. The state or quality of being true to someone or something, or faithfulness, fidelity; a pledge of loyalty or faith; conformity to fact or reality, or correctness, accuracy; true facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality; that which is real, in a deeper sense, a spiritual or genuine reality; something acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom. But, looking back on this list of definitions, one cannot help but wonder if the people who said all these weren’t lying themselves. They were merely human, and because one must admit that our brains are indefinitely biased, there is no way to know if their statements were just their opinions of what truth really is.

What is truth?

Surely, this question is among the unanswered ones of the universe, despite everything humanity has attached to it over the years. Truth, like love and life, is unexplainable and meaningless, but perhaps it’s the only thing that really matters.

What is truth? In an age of false prophets and misleading beliefs, it’s hard to discern from the liars bearing their lies, and those rare extraordinary people who arm themselves with truth. This being said, one must meet a man who started as one of the broken, the beaten, and the damned.

He grew up in a dangerous neighborhood, where children disappeared off the streets and people are lost, and soon found dead. He had a talent for performing, but abandoned this in favor of art, partly in an effort to appear invisible and fit in among his peers. During his teenage years, he was sucked into the abyss of numerous vices, plagued by alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, and depression. After graduating from college, he pursued a career in art and got a job in a popular animation company. And it was while working on a cartoon did he see something that changed him dramatically.

He became witness to the catastrophic 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the sight of buildings collapsing and hundreds of people hurtling to their deaths made him decide, there and then, to do something significant with his life, a sudden desire to make a difference. He dropped art, and started a band.

Months after they formed, the band released their first album, along with a song written about 9/11. They had just begun composing songs for their next record when tragedy struck him once again.

His grandmother, who taught him how to sing and perform and paint, was dead.

In his grief, he wrote as a tribute to her, which was included in the second album and was released as a single. It was this song that made them leave their underground roots and brought them on the surface of the industry. Soon, they weren’t just playing gigs at random places but actually touring and opening for other bands. They even collaborated with another band to cover one of the greatest songs in history, which was also a project of two famous artists, to raise money in order to help the victims of the disastrous tsunamis that hit several Asian countries.

Meanwhile, as more people listened to their music, they gathered fans who claiming that the band’s music actually saved their lives, and he was admired for being their hero. Though their music explored the darkest of human emotions, like anger and loss and pain, the lyrics he wrote were beautiful, filled with metaphors and duality, and these were the words that stopped many suicide attempts and saved the fans from themselves. His quotes were uplifting and inspiring, urging people to be themselves, to stand up for what they believe in, to break society’s given stereotypes and to treat everyone equally.

Then, while working on what would be their best selling album to date, the band was creatively paralyzed. His brother, who was in the band as well, was diagnosed with a psychological condition, and had to see specialists to treat him. He himself was experiencing something similar to a withdrawal, his mind blank and his nightmares were full on terrors. The rest of the band could only play chords they already knew from heart, the sound frustrated and enraged. From this grueling phase, he wrote a line that soon became their mantra. That was the breaking point, and soon they recovered and set a goal to aspire and make something big, something they’ve never done before, something they’d be proud of when they’re older. Then, after years of putting the record on hold, it was finally done.

They released the record’s most important song, which told the climax of the entire album’s concept. Their fan base expanded drastically, the album immediately went platinum, and suddenly the world knew their name and everyone was listening to their songs. Their success wasn’t without criticism, and they were bad-mouthed by other bands, but they overcame this, as they did everything else.

He wrote and sang about carrying on even when all hope didn’t seem to exist, to keep on living even when fear seemed too overwhelming, and these words became what their fans lived by. He and another band mate encountered a near death-experience while shooting a video, but nothing could possibly hold them back from conquering the world with their music when they’ve gone through so much.

Now, they’ve just finished their tour, but certainly not their quest to touch more lives and share their message to the world, and have already began work on yet another album. All this, simply because he chose not to give up, and make his dreams a reality.

What is truth?

Not many have the sheer will and passion to search for the answer to this question, but those who have are kind enough to share their discoveries with the rest of the world.

Truth is none other than the one thing we live by, the one thing that binds us all together, the one thing that’s real. It should be our purpose, the only thing that remains when everything is twisted and distorted. It is indescribable, in a sense, but those who know it would not need words to express the sentiment that resides in their hearts. The knowledge that would make them defend it, the reason they strive to let others know, so that truth wouldn’t be just another lost cause in the course of history.

It is the truth that will always carry on, and he was one of the few who realized this, and did something about it.

He looked for a way to let it be known.