Haters, prepare yourselves: Fall Out Boy is returning.
This week, emo celebrity group Fall Out Boy announced plans for a North American tour and new album this spring after a three-year hiatus. As a longtime fan, I could not be more ecstatic.
I distinctly remember my early encounters with Fall Out Boy. I was in sixth grade. “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” was big on the radio and I was sitting on my best friend’s front lawn debating what lead singer Patrick Stump could possibly be singing throughout the chorus. Once we figured out what the lyrics were and what they meant, I’ve since become somewhat of an aficionado in deciphering bassist Pete Wentz’s lyrics as they are mumble-sung by Stump, but their meaning still frequently eludes me.
Skip forward a few weeks. I’ve just purchased the band’s major label debut From Under the Cork Tree, and have put it in my parents’ car for a first listen as we drive home from some mini-road trip. The lyrics are just as impossible to understand as in the band’s single and the music is unlike anything I’ve heard before. The song titles are essentially sentences that make no sense. My confusion — mixed with my parents’ disinterest — made for a rather uncomfortable car ride home as I tried to understand what in the world I was even listening to.
But when I got home, I found myself listening to it again. I was intrigued by Fall Out Boy’s message, quirkiness and energy. Though many of the band’s songs would have no practical meaning to me until I gained more life experience, the turns of phrase piqued my interest. For a book nerd like me, the band’s lyrics were short, story-like puzzles loaded with symbolism, the likes of which I believe no one but Wentz will ever truly understand. As a 12-year-old who formerly idolized Aaron Carter and Jesse McCartney, Fall Out Boy’s music was a welcome doorway into an entire rock scene that formulated what I listen to today. I even got my mom into it — when the band headlined the Honda Civic Tour the following year, my entire family had lawn seats as my younger sister and I experienced our first real rock show.
Without Fall Out Boy, many of the bands I listen to today might not have been on my iPod — as the band’s label Fueled by Ramen grew, my tastes widened. I began to dig for music outside of what was just on the radio because suddenly most of the bands I was hearing about weren’t getting major airplay. Fall Out Boy also taught me what I like about music — intricate lyricism, unique vocals, prominent drums and pretty harmonies.
Most importantly, being a Fall Out Boy fan taught me to have really thick skin. I know what I like, and I am not embarrassed about it because I’ve realized that everyone has different tastes and some people will be jerks about it. I got the same response pretty much every time I revealed Fall Out Boy was my favorite band: “Fall Out Boy? They suck!” I could recite pretty much every complaint lodged against the band — its members are talentless sellouts, Take This to Your Grave was the only good record, the song names are stupid, etc. I get it, and sometimes I can see what people are talking about. But never once have I stopped loving Fall Out Boy.
diversionsdbk@gmail.com
