Fall Out Boy: Maturing in the Midst of Insanity

Jumping back on the road and fully equipped with a new album, Chicago rockers Fall Out Boy headlined the 2009 Believers Never Die, Part Deux tour alongside Hey Monday, Cobra Starship, All Time Low and Metro Station. What sets this specific tour apart from past tours is the band’s desire to make a statement, also a major motivation for its fifth studio album, Folie à Deux.

Originally scheduled to be released on November 4th, the same day as the US election, Fall Out Boy decided to push the release date of their album when the significance of the election became more apparent: “The record was done and [election day] was one of the days that popped up and we were like, ‘Sure, let’s do it on election day,’ so we can talk about the election and convince people to go out and vote,” explains singer-songwriter Patrick Stump. But, when election day came closer, the band reconsidered: “[It was] belittling something really important so we decided to move the date.”

Intriguingly enough, the album’s original release date was not the band’s only attempt at making a political statement. In fact, the subject matter of the entire album is also heavily political, reflected in the album title itself, Folie à Deux. With the album title coming from an article which lyricist/bassist Pete Wentz had read, the title translates as, “a madness shared by two.” Metaphorically, the band provides a political commentary on the current economic struggle in which the US is engulfed: “Ultimately it pertains greatly to the American economy right now and how it has negatively affected the world,” explains Patrick. “I think we got to be so distracted by consumerism that we were making massive mistakes in every way, just under-valuing anything of importance. We’re all just killing ourselves over land and consumerism. I’m not trying to get into a massive political discussion about capitalism as a whole, but I do think that we’ve gotten a little bit closer to what we could say is unhealthy capitalism,” he adds.

Ironically, as heavy as the subject matter is, the tracks don’t sound depressing musically. Instead, the album is filled with upbeat and fast-paced songs such as, West Coast Smoker, with guest vocals from Debbie Harry of Blondie: “[In the song], she’s talking about realizing the consequences of that gluttony of just enjoying whatever we spent the past 10 years, like totally swimming in insane house loans and, you know, jeeps, you know, just ridiculous, totally ridiculous actions, and so that’s why it’s upbeat, because it kind of represents how ignorance is bliss,” Patrick notes. With the band’s use of numerous metaphors, such as writing upbeat music to create a satirical political statement, the album’s message is made more clear and the band’s intentions more apparent.

Even with Folie à Deux listed for 72 weeks on 12 different charts worldwide, the band still feels they’re just starting to speak out and come into their own as artists. “I’m so stoked on the things that we’ve incorporated – a lot of what we’re talking about onto the stage setup – and it’s not just a show now, and we’re kind of using our voice to say things now,” says Patrick.

With such irrefutable insight and maturity, it doesn’t seem Fall Out Boy will be running out of anything to say anytime soon.