Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy

It’s been 16 years since Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree was released and emo music was shot to the forefront of the music scene. It existed prior, but this album brought along a new wave of emo music: one that would make an impact that is still seen today.

From Under the Cork Tree was released on Fueled by Ramen in 2005. Recorded whilst the bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz went through a severe depression, the lyrics illustrate a dark, yet witty story that caught many by surprise. The record released to slow fame, but within the first two years of its release, the album had 4 million sales. The album also received mixed reviews from both average listeners and music critics.

photo by eliot schlaack

The lyrical style that Fall Out Boy brought to the table with this album were new, as their precursors’ lyrics were dark and melodramatic. But they brought this sort of self-deprecation mixed with self-aware-narcissism that appealed to a range of audiences, including LGBT people and POC (Pete Wentz is biracial). In “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down” the bridge sings, “We’re always sleeping in and sleeping for the wrong team”, as “sleeping for the wrong team” is an allusion to not being honest about your sexuality. This wouldn’t be the last time that Fall Out Boy would make a subtle (or not subtle) nod to their LGBT fans.

They also incorporated the use of rap on the album, such as in the song “Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying”, where Wentz delivered a melodramatic verse similar in vein to the rest of his lyrics, but this time in rap form. This combination of music sparked the interest of a rising Kanye West and Jay-Z to hop on a track on their next album, Infinity on High. 

Fall Out Boy eventually moved on from their Hot Topic, guyliner moment, but their impact did not move on. Artists and bands such as Juice WRLD, Waterparks, Kanye West, and Taylor Swift have all expressed their admiration for From Under The Cork Tree. In an interview with MTV, the late rapper Juice WRLD acknowledged the album saying, “[referring to a specific song on the album] is really, really, really hard to me, and the rest had the same kinda vibe to it.” 

Though panned in its time, the 2000s emo scene was an iconic time that ended up inspiring some of the biggest artists of our time. It changed the way we looked at emotions in music—it didn’t have to be sad all the time. Society might be long gone from our phase of wearing skinny jeans and wanting to look like Pete Wentz, but emo music will always have a place in our hearts.