Falling for Fall Out Boy

I tried not to like them, believe me I did. It’s ridiculous how far I went to ignore their music. For at least two years I’ve been changing the station on the radio and ignoring Fall Out Boy, the band many music connoisseurs love to hate. I could lie to my readers and tell them I find Fall Out Boy’s music trite, their emotion false, and their love of incredibly long song titles lame, but alas I’m an honest person. I enjoy listening to Fall Out Boy. Finally it’s out, and the real question isn’t why do I like them, the real question is why do I feel so guilty about liking them? Peer pressure is many times more of a problem around indie music lovers than around their pop music counterparts. I know I’m personally guilty of laughing at other’s music choices, but I usually try to give everything a fair shot.


To elaborate on my point here’s a little personal anecdote: One day I was talking with a close friend about music. As we were discussing our feelings about Fall Out Boy another friend (an annoying one:) made the comment that “Fall Out Boy is the worst band ever!” Unfortunately, this friend will not listen to reason (it has been proven that the title of worst band ever goes to The Locust not Fall Out Boy, but I digress.) At a later date I had the pleasure of a good laugh when this same friend who claimed that “Fall Out Boy is the worst band ever!” revealed that he knows all the words to Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” which happens to be one of his favorite songs.


I guess the real point of this story is that music is what you make of it. Your musical tastes are built upon your personal interests, expectations, knowledge, and experience and in the end, it all comes down to what your ears like. There’s no point in trying to change your feelings about music because you believe others will perceive you in a certain way. Screw what others think! Put on your headphones and turn up your Fall Out Boy (or Warrant for that matter.) Keep your ears and mind open to different sounds and different opinions, but make up your own mind about the music you love.