Song · My Chemical Romance
“I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance
From the album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)
“I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance appears on 36 radio countdowns from 23 stations between 2004 and 2024. It was first released in 2004 on the album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Its best result is #21 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2006. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #56 alternative song of 2004, #1,134 alternative song of all time and #250 of the '00s.
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My Chemical Romance built "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", the lead single from 2004's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, out of a scrap: A&R man Craig Aaronson and producer Howard Benson heard a vocal line on an earlier demo and pushed the band to make a real song of it. All five members share the writing credit, and the result is pop-punk with an emo heart, Gerard Way yelping over Ray Toro and Frank Iero's buzzsaw guitars while Mikey Way and Matt Pelissier drive it home.
It became their first Billboard Hot 100 entry and went triple platinum, and Marc Webb's Rushmore-inspired video, shot like a movie trailer with the band as nerds getting pushed around by jocks, sealed the deal. It has since been credited with pulling emo into the mainstream, and they opened the first show of their reunion tour with it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 60 | The Edge | KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio | 103 |
| 2007 | 92 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 401 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) | 500 |
| 2008 | 170 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 154 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 138 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 122 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 121 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 116 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2014 | 292 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) | 500 |
| 2015 | 323 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) | 500 |
| 2019 | 423 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) | 500 |
| 2023 | 380 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) | 500 |
| 2024 | 564 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
Also listed as: I'm Not Ok (I Promise); I'm Not OK (I Promise); I'm Not O.K. (I Promise); It's Not OK (I Promise).
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