February 28th, 2012 
Jacob Tender 
When I was in the 6th grade, things were far simpler than they are now. These things were undemanding in most respects, but growing more socially complicated by the day. Middle school was that time in my life when girls became attractive, attitudes changed, friends changed, and growing up truly began. I recognize the growth that began in junior high as a part of who I am. In conjunction with my social growth, came my newfound hunger for music.
I found the cure to growing older and you’re the only place that feels like home…
In my youth, I was heavily guarded by my parents in most aspects of life. I was a Boy Scout and church-going boy with straight A’s and soccer as an interest. I was a good kid. The kind my mother was proud of. I didn’t swear or get into trouble, I had good friends and made responsible decisions. My internet access was limited by dial-up, AOL child-locks, and previously determined web-browsing time. Middle School was pretty normal for me until something new came along. That thing was Chicago based, pop-punk band Fall Out Boy and they were not allowed. My first illegally burned album was Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree and when I received my copy, I learned a few things.
I’ll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake…
The first was that my friend Josh could not properly operate Windows Media Player. My copy of FUCT was missing track 1. For those who have heard “Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued,” I’d appreciate if you didn’t play it for me when I’m riding in your car at high speeds or locked in a bomb shelter with you. It isn’t that I don’t like that song. In all likelihood, I’ve probably heard it. Upon hearing my tale, people have offered to send me the track to complete the CD. That’s, of course, very nice of them but you see, From Under the Cork Tree is still a very special album to me and my copy is complete as far as I’m concerned. Adding that unknown song to the beginning of it would ruin the feeling that I still get from hearing the first guitar rip on “Of All the Gin Joints in All the World.” My From Under the Cork Tree is only 12 songs long and that is how it will stay.
You only hold me up like this ’cause you don’t know who I really am…
The second thing I learned was that my mother is not a fan of obscure lyrics referring to sex and blasphemy. I recall a car ride with my mother that featured me sitting in the back seat (like I said, I was guarded) with my portable CD player spinning my incomplete copy of FUCT quite loudly. It was early summertime. During a pause in-between tracks (again, Josh sucked at Windows Media Player) I heard my mom cycling through radio stations as she usually does. Upon hearing a snippet of “Sugar We’re Going Down,” I immediately paused my disc and told my mother to go back to that song. Yes, I paused the CD that song was on to hear it on the radio. Back then, hearing a band you know about was exciting, not depressing. After years of listening to bands my parent’s knew that I didn’t on national radio, I finally had one on them! My mom went back to the station (Q 104.1 for any Akron/Cleveland area readers) and listened along as I watched her face in anticipation. Perhaps I hoped she’d like it and take me to a concert, or maybe I wanted her to know I was listening to something a bit more risqué than pop-country or Jason Mraz. Regardless, she listened, the song changed, and I went back to my CD.
I know this hurts, it was meant to (it was meant to). Your secret’s out and the best part is it isn’t even a good one and it’s mind over you don’t, don’t matter…
Upon returning home that night, My mom called me into the dining room where the computer cabinet was contained. Curious, I answered her call to find her looking at the lyric sheet for “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” This is when she asked me, “Jake, what do these lyrics mean?” I was 12, I had no clue. They were catchy and the music video had a deer-boy in it. That was enough for me. Hell, I thought Patrick Stump was british for a full year and that the singer always wrote the songs. I was in ignorant bliss. My answer didn’t appease my mother who had a concerned and irritated look on her face. This face remained as she told me, “I don’t want you to listen to this band anymore.” Luckily, my mom wasn’t aware that I had my coveted burned CD, so I continued my listening in secret. The songs were even better than before. Why? Well, that’s because I wasn’t supposed to have them of course. The “forbidden fruit” effect was placed on pop-punk music and thus, my departure from good boy Jake began.
Are we growing up, or just going down? It’s just a matter of time until we’re all found out. Take our tears, put ’em on ice, ’cause I swear I’d burn the city down to show you the lights…
I’ll admit that FOB was not my first banned artist. Rap was an absolute no-go in the Tender household and my friend Jimmy was a big Eminem fan. I listened to Slim Shady’s music every time I was there while playing Duke Nukem, Grand Theft Auto, and a plethora of other blood-filled first person shooters. The difference here is that I was listening ONLY because I wasn’t allowed. Rap wasn’t my thing. Granted, everyone has a rap phase, but the semi-censored Curtain Call never stood up to the lasting influence Cork Tree had.
They call kids like us vicious and carved out of stone. But for what we’ve become, we just feel more alone…
From Under the Cork Tree was the first CD I listened to on repeat for days, months even. It was the first album for which I memorized all the lyrics, inflections, and harmonies. Fall Out Boy was the first band I learned all of the members names for. Patrick Stump was my “favorite singer” for at least 2 years. I joined AIM chat rooms and sought out others who listened to FOB. I didn’t like those pretentious assholes who didn’t like anything after Take This To Your Grave. I now recognize that I’m one of those assholes, but I still fume when some of my favorite records are so easily discredited by ignorant semi-listeners.
I’m the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends, and I am sorry my conscience called in sick again, and I’ve got arrogance down to a science. Oh, and I’m the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends…
From Under The Cork Tree transformed me from book-worm to music-nerd. I began to seek out related and unrelated music and bands. My library grew, my media player changed (WMP, MusicMatch Jukebox, and finally Winamp), and my focuses changed. From this album on, my conversation starters turned to be band/song based, my friendships started revolving around similar musical tastes, and my music library’s correctness took precedence over my homework’s. Without Fall Out Boy’s influence in middle school, I would have never taken that leap into alternative music and my favorite artists today may have never found their way into my ear canals, I would most definitely not be writing this or any other music-realated article or review. From Under the Cork Tree is one album I will always cherish and it’s due credit. After all, without it, you’d have never read this.
Written by Jacob Tender (follow him on Twitter)
- UTG INTERVIEW: Lydia Talks ‘Run Wild’ On Their Headlining Tour - October 20, 2015
- UTG’s 31 Days Of Halloween: ‘Alien 3’ - October 5, 2015
- SINGLE REVIEW: Jonny X Kyle X Midnite – “Party And The Dream” - January 6, 2015
Posted in 
Tags: 
I didn’t hear a Fall Out Boy track until I turned 30 (a couple years ago). They apparently arrived, peaked and went on hiatus while I was in grad school and starting my family. Regardless, their songs remind me of high school and growing up and dealing with puberty. I have this weird nostalgia for a band I never listened to it its proper time frame.
I just thought you might find it interesting that those feelings are coming from the music somehow, it’s not just your childhood. The stuff is just pure genius.
p.s. Thank you for inspiring Patrick a little. I’d hate to think the spoiled FOB fans might kill his fire.
Fall Out Boy made music fun for me. FOB was the band that made me love music more than anything, and I couldn’t have thanked them enough. I really don’t think Patrick understands how he has affected so many people. It’s insane, but it makes me proud as well. He is just a humble guy who wants to make music, and people won’t give him the chance to do so. It angers me so god damn much how he says in his blog that people went to their shows just to boo at them! I live in Norway and have never had any chance at all to go see them live, and when some prats pays for a ticket and goes just to boo!! I owe them so many thanks, ’cause without them I do believe my life would be emptier.
I remember going through the same exact thing with these guys, only with me it was Take This To Your Grave and the 7th grade. You must be pretty young then since I’m only 21. It was exactly 8 years ago tonight that I discovered the band and I can remember it vividly. I was some depressed middle-schooler going through what I still consider today to be my worst heartache, standing in a night club waiting for the opening acts I knew nothing about to finish so I could listen to a band that never really made it on the radar (I still have the ticket stub around here somewhere too). And then Fall Out Boy came on. From that moment on, I was in love. I wasn’t sure what it was, but they spoke to me. A short amount of time later, I was sleeping on the couch when my father was flicking through channels and landed on FUSE for a little too long. I woke and jumped up when I recognized Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy and demanded that he kept the channel on. I begged him to take me to the local record store so I could buy their CD. Every lyric seemed like it was written just for me. They were my little treasure and I was so proud to have found something so golden all on my own. I can still pick up the album and just relive my years in middle school. On Friday, I will be doing a presentation on “The Pros And Cons Of Breathing,” my all-time favorite song since the moment I heard the line “I wish that I was as invisible as you make me feel,” something that represented everything a 13 year old girl who followed around a cute upperclassmen who didn’t notice her and who she swore she was in love with could have ever felt. These boys mean the world to me and I’ll always hold a soft spot for them. To this day, I still defend them with all my might, even if I was 60/40 over Folie A Deux.
This is real, this is me.
Your editorial is the greatest thing I’ve recently read. Sugar, We’re Going Down was the first FOB song I heard and it changed my life forever. I owe them so much.
I remember when I heard FUTCT for the first time, and it coincidentally was while I was going through a really rough period. The angsty lyrics helped me get by. Without that record, I probably would have took my life.
I absolutely loved reading this. It was Patrick Stumps essay that led me here, and both of these have made me miss this band so much. They were they first band that helped me discover what kind of music I was genuinely into. They are the reason that when I listen to a song, the first thing I listen for are the lyrics. I am someone who fell in love with From Under the Cork Tree and Infinity on High before I had ever had their previous albums. Now I am someone who has every single album of theirs on my computer. And I listen to them nearly every day. I am a die hard Fall Out Boy fan who definitely enjoyed reading this.
I’m so glad that I took the time to read this because of the rush of nostalgia it gave me. I grew up in a small, rural town in North Carolina, and music was never really a huge part of my life. Even though it’s been around seven years and I’m no longer an eleven year old boy, I remember going downstairs one summer morning and turning on MTV to see this strange music video with a boy with antlers and a girl. As a kid who mostly only heard classic rock playing in the car as my mom drove me to school in the mornings, this music was entirely foreign, but it was infectious and I couldn’t stop listening to it. Soon after I was able to convince my parents to buy the CD for me. As I laid there in bed that night with my CD player listening to the whole album, I experienced something that I had never felt before. Up until this point in my life I had always thought of music as just something to listen to and nothing more, but the lyrics and the instrumentation behind it literally spoke to me and brought me to tears that night as I listened to it. From Under the Cork Tree kindled my interest in music and led me to a love for Fall Out Boy, Blink 182, and similar pop-punkish bands. While it might be true that the other albums did not touch me as deeply as FUCT, Fall Out Boy has always been one of the greatest bands in my eyes, and no amount of criticism from anyone will change that for me. Patrick’s god-given gift of a voice, Pete’s impeccable lyric writing ability, Joe’s infectious guitar riffs, and Andy’s dynamic drumming create a sound that is distinguishable from all other music that I’ve ever heard. Even though the guys might get a lot of criticism and anger directed towards them, the love and emotion that their dedicated fans feel towards them is so much greater than any negative feelings anyone could have for them. I read Patrick’s essay from the other evening, and it made me so sad and upset that anyone with so much talent in his trade could ever consider giving up on it. Soul Punk was Patrick putting it all on the line to do his own thing, and the product was something so incredibly astounding that I have trouble putting it into words (and this is coming from an 18 year old who isn’t really a huge fan of that genre of music). All I know is that Patrick and the guys from FOB have secured a special place in my heart, and I would be crushed if Patrick or FOB as a whole went away for good.
Great article, Mr. Tender. Looking forward to reading more of your stories.
I bought TTTYG shortly after it came out and I liked it, but didn’t really LOVE the band until FUCT. I had a similar experience as you – that second album really opened the door for me musically. That being said, when I bought the first album, I totally thought Patrick was British too. It was his photo on the front of TTTYG, he just *looked* British. I love that you mentioned it in your article, because I haven’t met anyone else who said the same thing
I love Fall Out Boy to bits, and for me it was hearing ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ on a Pop Party CD that genuinely opened my eyes to a new kind of music. I loved it, bought all the CDs and learnt them. Fall Out Boy changed music for me, every single one of the albums. But it really does upset me when people hate on Patrick for doing what he loves, they’re obviously not in their right mind. Patricks solo stuff is fantastic, and I love it as much as FOB. People need to be less about the hardcore fan thing, more about the music.
Right when FOB was going on tour for this record, they played a show at the Riviera in Chicago and came out on stage to “Livin’ On A Prayer.” I was immediately hooked from TTTYG, and it was the most exciting feeling seeing them about to pop. The song was so fitting, and to this day, I’ve never gotten chills at any other concert like I did that night. So happy this band came around.
First off: I love Fall Out Boy. I remember watching Fuse at my dad’s house when “Sugar…” came on and flipped my world upside down. Sadly at that age (I was in middle school as well when FUCT came out) I was more concerned with being completely different than anyone else and my musical taste kinda suffered from it. When the popular kids picked up on the greatness of FOB, I put the cd down and tried to find anything I knew they wouldn’t listen to. Thankfully I grew up, an one of my close friends reintroduced them to me about two years ago. Since then it’s been me singing along with them in the car as loud as I can wherever I go.
My sister introduced me to Fall Out Boy when I was about 5 or 6. I was a toddler singing “Saturday” while playing with dolls. Pretty weird right? I practically grew up listening to Fall Out Boy. The first CD I bought with my own money was FUCT. I got some weird looks at that cash register. I’m 15, and without Fall Out Boy I would’ve done some pretty stupid things really young. I met Patrick Stump in Chicago during his solo tour and I poured my heart out to him in little under 45 seconds. All I could say to him was “Thank you, thank you, thank you..” Without those 4 guys, I would be lost.
Thank you for reading anyway.
GRITS was my jam for a very short time as well, Rob. I also had several friends who ridiculed me for listening to FOB. That’s fine, I told them 50 Cent sucked. Thank you for reading.
That is so awesome. On a scale from 1 to awesome, it’s unbelievable. Thank you so much for taking the time to read.
Haha I’m not afraid to admit that I enjoyed Hillary Duff in my days of youth. Thank you for sharing!
That is very interesting, Matt. Thank you for sharing. I’m glad Patrick is starting to relieve that pressure that has obviously been building for some time. No person should have the amount of expectation that he does.
I sincerely hope that he is looking at comments and replies like these. That band has more support than I could even put a number on.
I’m now 19 (my birthday was yesterday). Your story is a good one. Thank you for sharing it with me.
Thank you so much for saying that, that means the absolute world to me, you have no idea.
THIS is why music is so important. It saves lives. I’m thankful that you are here today to tell me this. Thank you for reading.
Thank you so much for sharing and for your kind words! The stories that have been shared here, on Patrick’s blog, my email, or my @ replies have all been incredibly inspiring and I’m glad I could play a part in bringing those stories out.
That always drove me nuts! When I found out more about the band and read Chicago as their hometown, I face-palmed. *shrugs* He sounded british to me */shrug*
this.
That is awesome. Your name is very fitting. That is a very long time to have listened to them, you were very young indeed.
This is so funny because the same situation happened to me exactly. Church school boy, straight A’s and nothing but 90’s pop like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC were allowed until that one fateful day I discovered blink-182. They had the same effect on me as Fall Out Boy did on you. First band I ever new all the members to. First band that I listened to every single CD and knew every single song. First band that I would identify in conversation with friends. That as 7th grade for me. Now I am a college sophomore with an incredible love for music. Unfortunately as a blink-182 fan in 2005, I was unable to ever see them play live, so my first priority was to see their new respective bands +44 and AVA. I bought tickets to the Honda Civic Tour to see +44, even though Fall Out Boy was headlining. I was always one of those Fall Out Boy haters prior to that show. Oh that band with that loaded god complex song on the radio, they’re stupid. Until I saw them live. I literally could not help but sing along. I never expected a band with such energy and emotion live. One of the best shows I have ever been to and since I have been an avid FOB fan and even saw them again when they supported blink. Great article Jacob. This one really hits home!
Ok, stupid was too strong of a word. I enjoy the piece as a whole greatly and I’m glad patrick replied to it (though I was saddened by what he had to say). Keep up the good work. And give that song a chance bro!
Thanks Pat! My first cassette was the Self-titled Backstreet Boys album and I played it nonstop. The same can be said for ‘No Strings Attached’ by N*SYNC.
I was never a big Blink 182 fan (My favorite album is their latest one), but I’ve grown to adore quite a few of your songs. Thank you for sharing with me your experience. I envy you because I never was able to see Fall Out Boy in concert.
Thank you. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the song. What I’m trying to say is that because I didn’t have that song during those pivotal years of listening, that CD is set in my mind the way it is. Adding something unfamiliar to it would ruin the way I remember it.
Thank you so much for writing it.
Jacob, the is an excellent editorial, and I pray you read my comments. In 24 years on this planet I’ve never read anything that I’ve connected with so deeply and fully empathized with. While reading your editorial I felt like I was immediately brought back to my own childhood. The only difference being that the album that shaped me and my musical interests was blink-182’s “Enema of the State.” (Having said that, “From Under the Cork Tree” was also one of my favorite albums growing up.) For a while now I have felt like I am the only person I know that music has played such a vital role in development both in tastes in general and maturing as a whole. I thank you for bringing me back to a point in my life, if only temporarily, when music was everything and reminding me where I came from. Since “Enema” and “Cork Tree,” times have changed greatly both in how people listen to music and in my own personal life. I lament that today’s music audience has the attention span of a rock and cannot listen to two consecutive songs by the same artist. They will never understand the power of fully connecting with an artist, understanding their message, and applying it to their own lives. As a child, I remember the excitement I experienced when discovering new bands that seemed to be playing to my own experiences. Woefully, enduring the time constraints of a grad student, I no longer have the opportunity to search for new bands to fall in love with like I once did. But as my boys from blink wrote a long time ago, “well I guess this is growing up.”
This article…oh gosh. It reminds me so much of myself. I grew up in the tiniest town in Virginia and was such a quiet, shy, little girl who NEVER talked to anyone. I first heard Fall Out Boy in 03′ and I swear listening to that album [Take This to Your Grave] was the single greatest decision I’ve ever made. After I found other kids who were into the group it was like a whole new world I never knew existed popped up in front of my eyes; kind of like the Matrix ya know? Like, listen to the red CD and go back to being the shy awkward kid you were OR listen to this blue CD and let your life change forever (ironically speaking the album cover is in fact blue). I was surprised by how many other kids were already fans of this new band. I felt like part of some kind of elite group of kids who had the greatest taste in music. Needless to say, most of my shyness disappeared after spending so much time with these new friends of mine.
Fast-forwarding to 8th grade; I met my now closest friend. I remember telling my mom I was going to her house to study for some subject I really couldn’t care any less about. In truth I was secretly going over there so we could blast Fall Out Boy for hours while we mulled over the stupidity that was middle school.
As the year went on and I started high school I met more kids who were not only Fall Out Boy fans and were able to chit-chat it up about them with me, but introduced me to new bands and my Matrix experience happened all over again. Fall Out Boy was still my favorite band and I followed their careers as they evolved into the fantastic band they wold eventually become.
In 2009 my mom surprised me with tickets to see them and I swear that has been the single greatest concert I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to some awesome concerts). There’s something about seeing your idols live…greatest experience ever.
Fall Out Boy will forever and always be my favorite band. Regardless if they aren’t together at the moment, what they did for the music scene has been amazing. They’re the kind of band that has their own sound. If you catch them on the radio you kind of instantly know it’s them strictly from Patrick’s vocals and their snazzy melodies.
Not to mention they’ve influenced my music so much. I wish I was as great of a drummer as Andy haha.
Their new projects are equally fantastic. It’s different, yes, but amazing. That’s kind of how you know how talented those guys are; being able to go from this kick-ass band to new projects and still be great.
I guess I’ll stop rambling now because I can honestly go on forever…they rock. End of story. {:
Your article was amazingly well written. I take my hat off in respect to you sir.[:
First of all, pretty good article, man. Now, I could really go on and talk about how this is so related to my own story (FOB being Blink 182 and FUTCT being EOTS) as a lot of people have allready done (not hating, though, everyone’s entitled to an opinion), but I’m not doing that. I wanted to share a story with y’all. I’m 21 years old and I started listening to Blink 182 when I was 9, from then I went with the so called pop-punk scene of the early 2000’s. I really enjoyed FOB’s TTTYG & FUTCT, afterwards not that much. I admit that I even got to “hate” on them (I actually hated on pretty much everyband: The Used, Panic at The Disco, Good Charlotte list goes on and on..). On 2006 I was a freshman in high school. I considered myself way cooler than my friends, and I tought that their 4 chord songs with their typical teenager lyrics sucked. I started to listen to other types of music. I started to be a prick and critize everything I used to stand for. Long story short: some septemberish day on 08 I came across Greatest Romances … from TBS. That day “rechanged” my mind about music. I came back to who I was. I mean listening to Pulp, Joy Division, Explosions in The Sky or Bouncing Souls is great. Not being you is not. Most of you all are younger than me, that does not matter, as you said you had a twet about a Poison CD. There will always be youngsters and there will always be a band/CD. Someone somewhere has had his/her own story. Or will. New bands keep coming and there sure are 13 or 14 year old kids that know every word from a SetYourGoals, Four Year Strong or Wonder Years CD. I just had to say that. Listening to FOB( GTA is on my top 5 songs all time) and the other early 2000’s “emo” bands was a key part for me now listening to Bouncing Souls, Face to Face, Rancid, NOFX and some other truly punk bands. Plus the new stuff, Dopamines, Red City Radio, Menzingers, Riverboat Gamblers(not that new I Know). I now enjoy everytype of music and I still blast FOB, Ataris, TBS, Sum 41 like crazy. Their music has made me who I am.
This kind of reminds me of my high school relationship with My Chemical Romance. The first time I listened to “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,” I cried. And the second time I listened to it. And the third. And so on. I had an AP article/photo collage on my wall for them. I made bootleg T-shirts advertising their band. I wore only red and black for all of my junior year. I stood in line for two hours after a concert to meet Gerard Way and give him my terrible fan art. He hugged me in appreciation. His hair smelled amazing. #Idied
And then “The Black Parade” came out and I was like “Yeah, cool, everybody likes Queen, I’m down with this.” But our romance was getting less chemical and more clinical. I was listening to epic songs like “Famous Last Words” and instead of being moved, I would say “Eh, nice chord structure.” I blame Advanced Placement English.
Most recently, “…Killjoys.” *sigh* I cried listening to this album too, but it was because I was THAT disappointed. I HATED it. Hated it. hated. it. And I also felt guilty! These were my guys, man! How could I feel that way? But I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that bands grow and change and you might grow apart from them. They still did some great things for me, and they’re still wonderful people. I wish them all the best in their lives and their career, even if I’m not there to witness it.
Dude Ranch was that album for me, as I’m probably a little older, but it’s nice reading about other folks’ experiences with music. Keep it up dude.
Really liked reading this <3 I remember when I discovered fall out boy . I turned on mtvs trl and they were showing the video for auger where going down it was a strange video I remember thinking , but such a great song . I must of been about 12 years old . After really getting into there music I put a poster on my wall of them I got it from a magazine . I started to love them so much. I even started dressing differently I was in the 8th grade at the time really didn't have a style of dressing .but after listening to fall out boy I started getting into other bands and buying the band shirts and downloading their music.yeah a the beginning of it all I was called a poser many times . And I used to get bullied a lot but fall out boy helped me get through this thing called life . And I will always love them and I will always love Patrick since day 1 I have loved him even got to meet him last year when he first started touring he is a amazing guy/ singer and soul punk is my favorite cd.
Thank you! Born and still being raised in Chicago.. I feel like I can relate to Fall Out Boy a lot because of that!
This was me too. not that I wasn’t allowed to listen to it, I was. But this was middle school where everyone knew I had a crush on a boy a year older than me and while I was typically bullied already, it rose to new heights. This CD fueled me everyday and let me get excited about school despite everything. It was ok because Fall Out Boy understood. I still think of it as one coherent thought Lawyers doesn’t end it just goes into Gin and so on. It still the album my heart beats to no matter what I go through.
Wow, that’s an incredibly huge compliment Drew, thank you so much! I think at this point in our lives, it’s difficult to attach ourselves to a new band as much as we did those in our youth. Would you agree?
This article literally made my jaw drop. THIS IS MY STORY. Well I guess things happened a little out of order, but still: I got my copy of FUCT from my best friend Kraig in 9th grade I believe, and ’16 Candles’ was completely messed up so I never listened to it while learning the rest of the songs on the album… The craziest part is, a kid on my bus let me listen to his edited copy of Curtain Call in eighth grade, and when I heard ‘The Way I Am’ I demanded that he burned a copy for me. That was also my first rap album, and my parents DESPISED it. They specifically told me I had better not ever listen to Eminem… (And before all that, I only listened to John Mayer, which reminds me of your ‘Jason Mraz’ phase haha)
In tenth grade, FOB was officially my guilty pleasure. I still remember buying IOH the day it was released, after months of having ‘This Ain’t A Scene’ on repeat. To this day ‘The Take Over’ remains one of my absolute favorite songs. And I’ll never forget the night I saw that ‘Folie’ had leaked… I tore myself apart for about an hour and a half and finally broke down after listening to the first few seconds of ’20 Dollar Nose Bleed’ (I had already listened to all the snippets so I had a hunch that would be my favorite song) and kept the album on repeat for a week straight until I bought the actual CD when it came out a week later.
Patrick was absolutely right, this editorial is incredibly well written. I love what you said about TTTYG… I’ve heard countless people say they only liked their first album, and I often find myself agreeing with them even though it’s not entirely true. As much as I love their newer albums, if I’m trying to show my friends some good FOB songs, I’m probably gonna play them ‘Tell That Mick’ or ‘The Pros and Cons of Breathing,’ and the usual response is “Wow I actually don’t mind this… I always thought Fall Out Boy was an emo band.” I cringe when I hear that because I hate that word, it was always associated with those ‘weird gotchic kids’ and I was just your average good kid (like yourself) that couldn’t quite explain why I liked that type of music.
Reading his blog post yesterday was one of the saddest things I’ve experienced in quite awhile. I really felt for him. I felt guilty for wanting FOB to get back together. I saw and met him at one of his solo shows this past summer, and he looked so happy… And when I asked him for his autograph, I handed him my copy of FUCT and told him that album changed my life. His facial expression changed instantly; he smiled but I could tell it made him sad. It’s such a shame. He has haters telling him to go back to Fall Out Boy, and then he has another whole group saying Fall Out Boy sucked (or worse) so I really get why he feels so depressed. I really hope he can overcome this obstacle because he is one of the most universally talented musicians out there today…
Your story really hit home for me, so thanks for sharing.
(P.S. You should give ‘Our Lawyer’ a chance, it’s so epic lol)
Thank you Kay! Your story is extremely well written as well and the Matrix analogy is the PERFECT explanation for that. Cliche as it may sound, Music defines us, more-so at an early age than any point in our futures.
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to respond so beautifully.
Like previously stated, everyone has that band that pushed them into broader horizons. You’ve named a ton of great bands here too. Thank you for sharing!
Some bands evolve, some not so much.
Panic(!) at the Disco is a great example of a band in a constant state of change and motion. Each record they’ve released since their debut has received mixed reviews from press simply because it isn’t the same as the album before it. That doesn’t make a record any less enjoyable. I could not choose my favorite from those 3 albums because I enjoy them all for different reasons.
Bayside on the other hand (My favorite band for those who care) has stuck to a recognizable and sustainable sound for years and years. Each record is an improvement on the last.
Some bands NEED to change, others don’t. It’s when the “fans” get selfish and claim the music they make as their own that there is a problem. Fans are not contractors, they are consumers. They have the option to listen to/purchase a cd. Openly telling a band member that the work they poured their heart and soul into for 6 months is absolut shit is THE most destructive thing a person can do to a musician. Often times, performers will put it aside and claim it doesn’t matter to them. That is a lie that fans need to pick up on. Musicians are only human.
Thanks Daniel!
I listened to FUCT on my bike ride to school and often in the courtyard while I waited for the entry bell to ring, usually to avoid those who annoyed or bothered me too. It was a little escape in my backpack.
It was the summer before 8th grade the first time I heard Fall Out Boy. I was already an avid music fan and my favorite band at the time was My Chemical Romance. But once I bought From Under the Cork Tree (from a tiny Wal-Mart in East Texas) and listened to it on the way home from the store (I couldn’t even wait 20 minutes to make it back to the house), all of that changed. I remember the moment I realized they were my new favorite band; the first time I heard “Of All the Gin Joints in All The World.” After that, things escalated to an almost (but never quite :) ) embarrassing level as far as my love for Fall Out Boy went. An entire wall of my bedroom was plastered with FOB posters, I owned probably around 17 t-shirts, every album, every DVD, even the action figures. After I saw FOB for the first time on the Honda Civic Tour, and learned that Patrick himself drove one, I had it set in my mind that that was the car I wanted to own as well. When it came time to go car-shopping the summer before my senior year of high school, that’s exactly what my grandparents bought me (ironically, they also bought me my first FOB album). I still love everything about my ’08 Honda Civic :). But the most important thing to me is how much Fall Out Boy has impacted my life. I had never spent entire nights in my room listening to one CD on repeat before them. I never thought a band’s music could make me feel better when I was sad or angry. I never thought I could have so much respect for someone I didn’t even know, for a lead singer who obviously had so much talent and ability, yet was constantly undermined by the press and even his own fans. Their last album came out a few months after I suffered an awful loss, and I can remember very vividly sitting on my bed and blasting Folie and allowing myself to cry. Without that album and the others, I probably wouldn’t have been able to pick myself off the ground as thoroughly as I was able to, in the end. I can honestly say their music gave me the strength to face another day, every single time I listened to it, and ultimately, it has changed my life for the better. I will never forget the too-short nights I spent in concert arenas getting bruised and sweaty all for the chance to see them play. The years when Fall Out Boy was my world are some of the happiest I’ve ever had. I never imagined that one day I would have Fall Out Boy posters hanging in my dorm room, that I would convince my family to take a trip to Chicago solely because that’s where Fall Out Boy was born, that I would, 6 years later, have a bartskull necklace hanging from the rearview mirror in the car I drive because of them. Fall Out Boy is a band that has been, and will always be, important to me. They ruled some of the most important years of my life, and ones that I will never forget.
It’s awful for me to see now how all of this uncalled-for harassment has ultimately made Patrick feel about his credibility as an artist. I was upset when Fall Out Boy went on their hiatus, but I still enjoy everything he has created since then. I want him to know that even though the haters seem like they’re having the last word, there will always be those of us that have always believed in and respected his talent. He will always have fans, whether they are old FOB fans or new to his music. He has changed my life, and I will always be grateful to him for that.
This is a fantastic article, keep up the great work. :)
Haha Wow…This Article was Spot on. This was Exactly Me. I had no idea what the hell Rock was, I remember watching the Video for “Dance, Dance” for the first time on MTV (Back when they played Videos…) one October Morning Getting ready for Middle School, 6th Grade. I thought “Wow. Who are these Guys?” Yeah I had my Rap Phase too, Listening to whatever was on MTV and seemed popular among my Friends. Then Infinity on High Came out, I illegally downloaded that as well :p and was just…idk. It was amazing. Thnks Fr the Mmrs was by Far my Favorite, I wanted to Just Play Guitar so Bad just so I could play that. I didn’t know what the hell Screamo was so Carpal Tunnel of Love made me Piss myself a little when Pete’s Screams (Now nothing compared to Acts like Slipknot who I enjoy now) came on. But…Fall out Boy was my first favorite band, they made me love music and relate, Folie a Deux came out in December and it snowed like a mother here where I live. 10 Degrees out I walked from the Bus station home, dropped off my stuff and went to the nearest record store and back to my place, freezing I popped it in and Enjoyed it. If I had to define Middle School I’d say Fall out Boy, even into Freshman year when I had the privilege of seeing them Live. Now my Music Taste has Broadened and I can go from Fall out Boy to Slipknot to Motley Crue to Kid Cudi to Skrillex to AC/DC to Biggie Smalls to The Black Keys to My Chemical Romance to Cage the Elephant to Linkin Park and on and on. But…I’m really happy to say Fall out Boy was my first Rock Band, the first music I could relate to, Rap was fine and Dandy. But I knew absolutely nothing “Bout dem Hoes” and About Nice Cars. To This Day I still don’t fully Understand why MIMS was “Hot”… But anyway all in all, I Loved Fall out Boy. Still Listen to their music from Time to time, and they defined my Middle School Experience. It’s a Shame they stopped for who knows how long, their music had a lot more meaning and soul than most things on popular radio. I haven’t liked a Song about Colors since Kindergarten…Yeah that’s a Black and Yellow Reference.
That is my Rant. (:
Although I haven’t listened to them in a while, Cork Tree is still on my list of one of my favorite albums. Everything about it, I remember perfectly, and I think it’s very clever lyric-wise. My first concert was Fall Out Boy and I was so relieved 80% of the songs they played were Cork Tree ones, haha! I can relate to some of your experience in this editorial and thank you for writing it, because it brings back some good memories :)
From Under the Cork Tree changed my life.. It makes me sad that Fall out Boy is so horribly and widely unappreciated…
I have listened to that album more times than I can count. I hang on to my burned copy because I have a strange emotional attachment to it thinking about how many times I have turned to that album when I needed it. I have never gotten sick of it. As I listened to it over the years, songs and lyrics have meant different things to me at different points in my life. It has formed a bond in some of my friendships–we will still blast it in the car and sing every lyric together and it brings me back. I don’t think I would be the same without it. XO