Tag Archives: fall out boy

#1196: Fall Out Boy – She’s My Winona

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Fall Out Boy have been together longer now since reforming in 2013, than they were after initially forming in 2001 and breaking up sort of acrimoniously eight years later. I can’t say any of the albums released in this second stint have had quite the lasting effect for me as those, I guess, “iconic” ones they did in the first. Mainly I’m referring to that trilogy (you could call it that) of 2005’s From Under the Cork Tree, 2007’s Infinity on High and 2008’s Folie à Deux. It’s the latter of the three where today’s track can be found. Fall Out Boy aren’t the band who are considered to have classics in the canon of pop-punk, alternative rock, whatever you want to name the genre. But if they were to, Folie… would be my nomination. Out of those three “best” albums, it’s definitely the one that holds up. Still strong after almost 16 years.

And I can sort of remember listening through the record for that first time. I think I would have been 14, Folie… would have been out for a few months at the time Popped the disc into the computer, got quite hyped after the celebratory opener which abruptly but effectively transitioned into ‘I Don’t Care’, the “comeback” single that everyone knew by that point. ‘She’s My Winona’ begins right after that, flowing with the same tempo and starting on the pickup of what would be the next measure of ‘I Don’t Care’. So there, something was established. This was an album filled with transitions where songs would start while the previous one was still ending, or the beginning of track would actually begin in the one that preceded it etc. And I was a sucker for those kinds of things even then. ‘She’s My Winona’ carries on the pumping, upbeat energy of the album’s opening moments, filled to the brim with vocal adlibs where there would maybe usually be empty spaces in the music. Patrick Stump really wanted to let you know that he had some singing chops on this album.

On the Genius page for the track, Pete Wentz actually added in personal annotations behind his thinking for a number of its lyrics. So if you want to get the verified, solidified meanings behind those, go right ahead and check it out. My work here’s done pretty much. But if you want to get my take, I’ve come to think of ‘Winona’ as Wentz’s general take on life, at the time of writing, and also something of a mission statement. He explains it in his annotations, so there’s not much reason to get into much depth here. The reason He he gives as to why the song is named the way it is can be found on there too. The explanation kind of opened my eyes a little while also leaving me a bit confused. ‘Winona’ can be anything you want it to be, and to him ‘Winona’ is reality, but he’s his own Winona. That’s what he said. I want to say I understand. Must be a lyricist thing. Their minds work in ways that I’ll never get.

#1019: Fall Out Boy – Pavlove

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Getting the deluxe edition of Fall Out Boy’s Folie à Deux for my 14th birthday in ’09 wasn’t what I had planned. The standard version would have been enough, but the deluxe was what I got. And alongside a couple remixes, alternative acoustic versions, and the band’s cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, came ‘Pavlove’ – another new track, left off the album for reasons that no-one apart from those in the band will ever know. Fall Out Boy fans have come to discover the track over the years, begging for it to become widely available through streaming services. It’s one of those times where I’m very grateful for that physical copy I have stored in my bedroom. I feel those fans’ frustration, though.

Really, I don’t think I even appreciated the track fully until maybe about a year later, when the track came up on shuffle in my iTunes library on the computer while I was simultaneously playing FIFA on the TV. That was what I did when there was no one at home when I was a teenager. There’s something about it that sets it apart from the other tracks that made it onto the final album. Those that did have a large, grand production behind them whereas this one seems much less so in comparison. There’s a lot of empty space occurring during the verses where Patrick Stump sings and there’s the sole guitar in the right playing its riff. But that emptiness and the tone of that guitar is something I greatly appreciate. Stump’s vocal delivery isn’t as extravagant here as some of the album cuts, but again that in itself is something I particularly enjoy. There’s no special featured guests, no gang vocals, no lengthy instrumental breakdowns. There’s a piano, some ‘We Will Rock You’-esque stomps and claps and multi-tracked Stump ‘oh-oh’ vocals. But apart from those, it’s a sleek band performance and a song that follows a simple ‘verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-end’ pattern. Maybe they wanted to develop it more, but couldn’t, and so left it off the album. I don’t know, I’m just throwing out possible answers.

As to what it’s about? The title is a combination of the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, who discovered classical condition through his experiments with dogs, and the word ‘love’. But the title doesn’t have anything to do with what’s happening in the song. A case of a few Fall Out Boy song titles. What I theorise is that it’s a track about a cocaine addict. It’s all there in the lyrics. I don’t know about Pete Wentz’s drug habits. Could have sworn I’ve heard a story or two about him dabbling in some substances or others. But what he portrays is a narrator who’s head is blurring and chest is stirring from the cocaine consumption, who knows they could have an early death because of it, but can’t help but get right back to the habit because of the high it gives them. They describe themselves as ‘the invisible man who can’t stop staring at the mirror’. Invisible, cause of the skinniness, and ‘staring at the mirror’, the mirror they snort the lines off. And this narrator wants to make whoever’s in their company ‘as lonely as [them]’ by inviting them to join in. It’s pretty dark. Maybe that’s why it was left off too. Regardless of reasons, I’m all for this track. A deep, deep cut – let’s make it available for the people.

#1002: Fall Out Boy – Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued

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Another album opener, ‘Our Lawyer…’ is the first track on Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree. It’s an album that many a fan of the band’s hold dear to their hearts. Has the well-loved classics like ‘Dance, Dance’, ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles…’ and of course, ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’. Can’t say I hold the same regard. If there is a best Fall Out Boy, it’s clearly Folie à Deux. Cork Tree for me sounds a bit dated in comparison. A lot of the sentiments on there I just can’t vibe with anymore compared to when I was, let’s say, 13. But it sets off with a great start and a whole lot of self-deprecation and sarcasm, which I’m always all in for – especially when it’s done right.

“Brothers and sisters put this record down / Take my advice ’cause we are bad news” are the opening lines to this track, and for the rest of the track Patrick Stump sings bassist Pete Wentz’s lyrics which further go onto to tell the listeners the myriad ways in which the band will let them down and the superficial things that they’re good for – like celebrity status and fashion sense – that don’t really amount to anything properly meaningful. The track is set to a swinging tempo, but there’s an aggression and heaviness to the way the guitars are played that enables automatic headbanging among the instinctive swaying motion that you have to do with those types of tempos. Patrick Stump sounds like a kid, and he pretty much was – would have been 20 during the making of the album – but for a guy who supposedly wasn’t too confident about his singing, I’d say he does the job well. He’d only become better as the years went on, full embracing his inner soul-singer on Folie à Deux.

The song’s title is one of truth. Its original title was ‘My Name Is David Ruffin And These Are The Temptations’, but the band’s lawyers intervened and made them change the name. Either way, it’s another title of the band’s during that time that were very long, were usually never mentioned in the lyrics at all, and were probably named as such just to get some reaction from the listener. Funnily enough, I think one of the band’s shortest song title is on the same album too, with ‘XO’. That’ll be the next one from the record I do a post on. As I said earlier, not so much a fan of it now. But there’ll be more Fall Out Boy in between, for sure.

#568: Fall Out Boy – I Don’t Care

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A lot of Fall Out Boy’s stuff I don’t care for anymore, though there was a time (as I’m sure there were for many going through their teenage years) when I thought all of their songs were great. I had friends in secondary school and we would talk about their stuff, casual sing-alongs here and there when we should have been listening to the teacher. Now I can say that some songs of theirs have aged much better than others. ‘Dance, Dance‘, ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down‘, and ‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race‘ are three in particular which I just can’t listen to anymore. The majority of From Under the Cork Tree and some of Infinity on High I haven’t listened to in years.

Folie à Deux, however…. Man. That album still holds up today. I think it’s the band’s best one, though fans seemed to hate it when it was released in 2008. I haven’t listened to it in full for ages either, but I feel as if it was the album that the band had always wanted to make at that point in time. It has great production, the songs just flow right into each other, Patrick Stump is singing melodies all over and Wentz’s lyrics aren’t so angsty. They are actually quite funny in some places. Unfortunately they burned themselves out creatively and personally, which resulted in a break-up the following year. They returned in 2013 with a new sound and single, but by then I was listening to other stuff. Though along with My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy will always be a source of nostalgia.

Oh yeah, the song.

So ‘I Don’t Care’ is the second song on Folie à Deux, and was released as the album’s first single. Being a thirteen year-old then, I felt the video was amazing. The band members acting like pricks and cameos from Mark Hoppus and Pharrell? Get outta here. That stuff was funny. Doesn’t really match the song which is essentially about someone who shares no compassion for other people and thinks they’re the shit. But still, the band actually looked cool and sounded slick. It marked a somewhat darker era for the group which I kinda wish they could have gone further down, but hey those are the brokes.

One thing I have against the track is that the whole call-response ‘I Don’t Care’ bridge goes on for a bit too long, but it’s worth it just for that drop into that final chorus with the ending guitar solo.

My iPod #469: Fall Out Boy – Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy

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I haven’t listened to this song in a long time. Doesn’t feel the same as it did when I was younger. Maybe because I’ve heard it too many times. The bite it used to have isn’t as sharp anymore. I can still write about it though, even if my heart won’t be into it so much.

So “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy” was Fall Out Boy’s second ever single, released in 2003 on the group’s first album Take This to Your Grave. It may as well just be called “Where Is Your Boy” because that’s the main line of the chorus. Not sure what the “Grand Theft Autumn” part means. Possibly the song was recorded during the season, or it’s inspired by the rapid guitar introduction. Whatever it is….. it just sounds good for some reason, even if it doesn’t relate to anything in the song.

A lot of people will know the track. For those of you who don’t, it’s about wanting to be in a relationship where you feel you would treat the girl better than the guy she’s already with. It is also possibly the poppiest-punk track the band have done to this day. Not that that’s bad. Its relatable subject matter in the lyrics matched with its upbeat tempo and nice melodies make it very accessible. Probably why it’s one of the band’s most popular songs. Just sounds a bit dated to me, I’m just saying.