In the 1980s heyday of New Jersey rock, the Garden State's favorite frontmen made videos featuring them posing ironically in front of American flags, masquerading as toothsome cowboys, pulling young girls onstage and soaring high above crowds during sold-out arena tours. In short, it was pretty much all good times.

It's funny how things have changed.

"When I first read the treatment for the new video, I got emotional. I realized it was going to be very sad," Gerard Way, lead singer of Jersey's goth-punk quintet My Chemical Romance explained. "The song is about my grandmother, who passed away. She taught me how to sing and paint and how to perform. She was an artist, and she pushed me to be an artist. We were really close, so making the video was really good closure for me, personally. It's one of those things where I knew I was going to have to face my fears."

The song Way is referring to is "Helena," the shattering and shredded lead track on MCR's breakthrough album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. It's also the second single off the record — following in the footsteps of "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," which, powered by a "Rushmore"-inspired clip, garnered major airplay on MTV2 and mtvU and earned the band a whole bunch of new fans.

Not too shabby for the group's first effort.

"There's pressure, but we know that the video for 'Helena' is our chance to be known as a 'video' band. We could be like the Smashing Pumpkins, a band that always made these movies instead of just a bunch of guys in a basement," Way said. "I think it's going to be very different from 'I'm Not Okay.' It's not funny at all. The best way to describe the video is 'very sad and celebratory, upsetting and uplifting at the same time.' It was a risk, but we've always taken risks. And this video is the biggest risk we've ever taken."

The clip, helmed by Marc Webb (who directed "I'm Not Okay"), takes place in a rickety church and features the band presiding over the funeral of a young girl. The mourners are played entirely by MCR fans, who applied to be extras via the band's Web site. There's plenty of black suits and eyeliner and Gothic-inspired cobwebby umbrellas. Oh, and interpretive dance, too.

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