But according to Way, the band's "fatalism" was the characteristic that ensured its demise. Sounding like someone explaining the plot of an old Star Trek episode, Way claims that he built a "fail-safe, a doomsday device" into the band's DNA to ensure the outfit would "terminate before it becomes compromised."

As you might expect for a post entitled "A Vigil, On Birds and Glass," Way's writing is more expressive than it is direct. He begins with the tale of a bird trapped in his home's library (he has a personal library?!) and says how that recent incident forced him to realize the pop-punk outfit he started 12 years ago was already over.

“ "My Chemical Romance is done. But it can never die. It is alive in me, in the guys, and it is alive inside all of you." ”

That "fail-safe" cyanide began seeping into MCR's veins during last year's Bamboozle set, when Way & Co. filled in for an ailing Blink-182. Although it was a great show—we were there and will readily attest to that—Way reveals he wasn't feeling organic onstage. "I perform, semi-automatically, and something is wrong," Way recalls. "I am acting. I never act on stage… I began to move faster, more frantic, reckless - trying to shake it off - but all it began to create was silence."

It was then that Way and the voice inside him had a little conversation that spelled the end of the band.

Like a mother or father explaining that Rover isn't really dead as long as we remember him, Way closed out his letter with the following: "My Chemical Romance is done. But it can never die. It is alive in me, in the guys, and it is alive inside all of you. I always knew that, and I think you did too. Because it is not a band – it is an idea."

MCR chose to burn out rather than rust, and you can't fault Way for that honest approach to life and music. And fans of the band (many of whom are already petitioning for a farewell tour, probably to no avail) can take some solace in the knowledge that after buying a used amp from an "older self-proclaimed hippie," Way is in no way retiring from music.

You might've forgotten, but we already have a taste of what's yet to come: Way dropped a punk-tastic solo track last December called "Zero Zero" under the comic book-inspired moniker Danny the Street. Fingers crossed that even if MCR is over, Way won't stay silent for long.