Tag Archives: fall out boy

#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.

My iPod #454: Fall Out Boy – Golden

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“Golden” is the sixth track from Fall Out Boy’s 2007 album Infinity on High. The awkward de-tuning guitars during the fade out of “Hum Hallelujah” seem into the piano which plays the role as lead instrument in this track.

At two minutes and thirty-two seconds it is the shortest song on the album, though it is one of the more emotional ones on there being about the difficulties of living the glamorous lifestyle, being rich, having the fame, but still feeling worthless on the inside due to the inability to have a normal life outside of it all. It’s very sad. And Patrick Stump puts his heart and soul into his performance, aided by some soaring vocal harmonies during the last chorus.

The song songs very abruptly and unexpectedly giving way to a metronome that steadily ticks and ticks until it suddenly increases in pace. Then “Thnks fr th Mmrs” starts. That’s for another day.

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That’s me caught up then. Daily work will resume as of tomorrow.

My iPod #410: Fall Out Boy – Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

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Honestly, I liked this track much more in the past than I do now. If I had the same attitude towards it like I did then, I would have provided the song’s full title, but that is just too much. I’m tired and burned out. Not to say that this track is bad, ‘cos I’m gonna write about it anyway. It has lost its effect on me, that’s all.

“Get Busy” is a very bitchy track. It appears to be from the perspective of a guy used for sex, and eventually dumped by a girl who he really had feelings for. The guy’s understandably pissed, but feels that justice is served when the girl’s ‘secret’ (what it is, we don’t know) comes out and rubs it in by telling her that the secret was shit anyway. He’s over her. She don’t matter no more.

I have always liked the music on this track. The palm-muted guitars add a very sinister tone to the song’s atmosphere, and the track also showcases Patrick Stump’s vocal talents. He doesn’t just sing on here, but he also (kind of) screams along with Pete during the bridge, adding a real harshness on his voice. It did take me a while that it actually was him who was doing that and not just a guest vocalist from another band they knew.

Pete Wentz also reads out a poem as the final chord is struck and fades out. To this day I don’t know what it’s about, but as he continues reading it his delivery rises in intensity as the guitar fades in again until coming to a sudden stop. That ending’s always made me feel a bit uneasy. But it’s a good lead in to “XO”. Very similar to what they did with “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” and “West Coast Smoker” on Folie á Deux.

A shame I don’t feel as excited by the song as I used to. But those were some good few years I had when I was.

My iPod #280: Fall Out Boy – Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes

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Fall Out Boy time. I listened to “Save Rock and Roll“. Wasn’t too great. And it was their first one after a four year hiatus. Disappointing. Everything sounded so manufactured and poppy, ironically. For me, “Folie à Deux” is the band’s best album. It’s their worst-selling one, which I don’t understand. If you haven’t listened to it, I suggest you should.

The album opens with this track “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes”, a song about imperfection with a title that is a reference to The Flintstones. I don’t get it either, but a lot of Fall Out Boy song titles are weird in that way. I’m not liking the way I’m sounding, I’ll get serious from now on.

The song is another great album opener out of all the ones I have on my iPod. It does use the same chord progression as “Baba O’Riley” albeit in a different key – that’s a random point I chose to throw in there. What I like about the track is how it never slows down or takes a breather for a bit. The track mostly revolves around the drums, played by Andy Hurley, changing in dynamics at various points like in the second pre-chorus where Patrick Stump continues to sing with sporadic multi-tracked vocals along with a noodling electric guitar, or near the ending when the “detox just to retox” refrain is chanted continuously. Plus, Patrick Stump absolutely kills it on the vocals. It seems like all the singing on the previous ones were all leading up to this particular one because here he is at his peak on every track.

“Water Buffaloes” is hard to describe if you couldn’t tell from my convoluted ‘summary’. It’s one of those that I knew was good on first listen. You can’t listen to it by itself though, it doesn’t have a proper ending. Listen to it along with the twelve other tracks that follow. That’s the best way to hear it.