Released June 3, 2005 Genre Pop punk | Format CD single Label Epic | |
Length 3:03
15:12 (Australian single) Writer(s) Benji Madden, Joel Madden | ||
“The Chronicles of Life and Death” is the third single from Good Charlotte’s third album, The Chronicles of Life and Death. It was officially released on June 3, 2005. The song was the band’s first single after drummer Chris Wilson left the band (this is noticeable when the band are seen playing in the video because there is no drummer present).
Contents
Music video
The music video shows a dying old man lying in his hospital bed with a robot chained to his left arm. The man is looking through some pictures on a projector. The first few pictures show him being born in a hospital bed with the robot creeping up from behind. On the cue 'into this life', a chain is applied to his hand after a necklace is put around the baby's neck. The video then shows him as a baby and then as a young boy riding a bike with the robot behind him and then on a motorcycle through a graveyard when he's older.
The next few pictures are of him working in a toy factory. The robot is shown next to him in all the photos. The man then goes off to war where he proposes to a girl before it changes so that the man is holding the body of a badly injured friend. This memory makes him shed a tear. The man marries, has three children and is still shown with the robot attached to him.
The final few pictures show him as an elderly gentleman. He is celebrating his birthday in the next picture but then the robot takes him back to the graveyard to lay flowers on his wife's grave.
At this point, the man is in a wheelchair and has white hair. When the lyrics 'and you go out just the same' are said, the man passes away and his heart monitor has a flat line.
The robot notices this and releases the chain from his hand before walking down the room to another baby and applying the chain to suggest that this will happen again.
Track listing
UK CD 1:
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Album version) – 3:03
- “Mountain” (Live from the BNN/3FM program That’s Live) – 4:38
UK CD 2:
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Album version) – 3:03
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Live from the BNN/3FM program That’s Live) – 3:53
- “I Just Wanna Live” (Full Phatt Remix) – 3:25
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Music video) – 3:03
UK 7":
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Album version) – 3:03
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Live from the BNN/3FM program That’s Live) – 3:53
AU Single:
- "The Chronicles of Life and Death’ – 3:06
- "Mountain” (Live from the BNN/3FM program That’s Live) – 4:38
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Live from the BNN/3FM program That’s Live) – 3:59
- “I Just Wanna Live” (Full Phatt Remix) – 3:27
- “The Chronicles of Life and Death” (Music video) – 3:03