In the lyrics to a 2005 song called "Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year," Fall Out Boy declare that "We're the therapists pumping through your speakers/Delivering just what you need." And what the suburban Chicago punk rockers...
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In the lyrics to a 2005 song called "Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year," Fall Out Boy declare that "We're the therapists pumping through your speakers/Delivering just what you need." And what the suburban Chicago punk rockers have given fans is a consistent blend of cleverly worded self-deprecation filled with humorous pop culture references and lightweight but still genuine angst, as well as a keen awareness of the love-hate politics of the modern rock world. Bassist and chief lyricist Pete Wentz -- who calls on singer/guitarist Patrick Stump to give voice to his musings -- may be a Hollywood-trolling hottie, but he hasn't lost touch with the inner geek who, a few million album sales ago, couldn't get the girl.
Reading Fall Out Boy song titles alone is a hoot, whether it's "World's Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys in a Broken Down Van)," "I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me" or "Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued" -- the latter of which has nothing to do with the song, just that the group originally wanted to name it after the late Motown star David Ruffin. But the words to these songs are generally as entertaining as the titles, as pithy as they are verbose.
Wentz's range has also expanded over time. While early releases such as the mini-album Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girl and Take This to Your Grave navigated the emotional minefields of young adult romance, Wentz found the band's growing fame -- and the world's reaction to it -- to be fertile lyrical fodder. The bassist has never been shy about his, and his band's ambitions; the chorus of of its breakthrough hit "Sugar, We're Going Down" proudly proclaims that, "I'll be your number one with a bullet/A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it," but there's a degree of ambivalence as well -- as in the "Thriller" lyrical assertion, "Make us poster boys for your scene/But we are not making an acceptance speech."
And while Fall Out Boy had Jay-Z call out its haters on 2007's "Infinity on High," the band has also been happy to stick up for itself as well. "Yeah, we're friends, just because we move units," Stump sneers in "Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for my Sham Friends," but those real friends are not unappreciated when he sings that "our hearts beat for the diehards." Fortunately for Fall Out Boy, there's been no shortage of those, either.
