Ten Underrated Fall Out Boy Songs

DISCLAIMER: this is just my interpretation/opinions so you don't have to agree, but if you wanna get mad about it please for the love of god go find someone who actually cares and waste their time instead.

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full playlist

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1. Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year (futct)

i don't understand why nobody talks about this song because it has been one of my very favorites since i was a lil baby emo listening to futct in 8th grade Spanish class. Apparently every time i play this for my friend i tell her how underrated it is and now i don't have to say it anymore she just knows lmao.

the ‘burn the city down’ lyric is one of my favorites and i love how it develops in just how it is sung and how it differs from one iteration to another. this song is so pointed if you really read the lyrics but despite knowing them well enough to sing along, i didn't notice until i actually read read them and ofc that only makes the song better. especially going into the last verse, the transition and continuation (i guess???) of these long winded lyrics is just. so good.

also i talked about this in my ramble about smfs but the chemistry lyrics and how they line up with similar lyrics in kintsugi kid its one of my favorite things.

anyway, seeing this live is all i've ever wanted plz

2. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes (folie)

I might be a lil biased because this is like my favorite song of all time, but??? its my favorite song of all time??? i like to think that means it must be good. i love everything about this song. literally everything. it was my most listened to song in 2020 (probably would’ve been before if wrapped existed in 2015 lol) and its been my number one listened to song every month this year. Even now the lyrics always hit me really hard and the evolution of the sound especially in the beginning combined with how the lyrics are sung at different iterations is one of my favorite things in the world.

3. Don't You Know Who I Think I Am? (infinity)

this song has so many great lyrics, the opening, among others ‘penny for your thoughts bout a dollar for your insides’ and the chorus, ‘they say quitters never win but we walked the plank on a sinking ship’ (i vividly remember quoting this to someone in middle school and them very clearly not understanding the reference lmao) it gives you this very vivid picture of a sinking ship but also within the metaphor it portrays the futility of walking the plank on said sinking ship. it has such a distinct beginning that is so easy to recognize but also one that carries throughout the song and then closes it out in the same way.

4. Super Fade (lake effect kid EP)

this ep is basically just a tribute to their home city of Chicago but it also came out around the same time I visited Chicago for the first time, so obviously i listened to it the entire trip.

anyway this is the last of three songs on the ep and this one is my personal favorite because it has this sharp edge that you can kind of hear in both the music and the lyrics. reminiscent of Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea (MANIA)(also super underrated) it has a very distinct beginning and goes in with this angry energy thats so well conveyed despite not being directly ‘stated’ in any obvious way combined with how they capture this universal melancholy feeling toward the place you grew up. i also love how they use this echo effect and the sort of combination of more electronic vibes mixed with the classic emo edge and then ending it with the same sort of riff as the opening

5. Favorite Record (abap)

Okay, I get it, this is one of the most pop-y songs in their whole discography but genres are a construct and this song is amazing so get over it. There's something about the opening that is sort of like when the sun comes out from behind a cloud if that makes sense lol

part of my love for this song is nostalgia (it was on my sister’s ‘happy’ playlist freshman year of highschool which I very distinctly remember for some reason?)

there's a sentence that i thought up ages ago and i think i used it somewhere but its something along the lines of ‘when a song feels like taking the last turn before home’ and this is the song that its based off of. especially the beginning is so distinct that whenever it comes on you realize that this song is exactly what you needed.

i would quite literally sell my soul to see this live

6. West Coast Smoker (folie)

I've never seen anyone talking about this song and I DON'T UNDERSTAND BECAUSE IT IS SO GOOD. CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED.

Going into this from 20 Dollar Nose Bleed is a religious experience okay, God has nothing on this transition. The chorus is hype as fuck especially going into it, there's something about the rise that makes you want to sing along every time. This is also one of my favorites in terms of album closers because it feels like a very clean ending and the energy is sort of opposing the first song (disloyal order), which is cool if you listen to albums over and over again which i do lmao

7. Its Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I'm Thinking It Must Be Love (My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue EP)

Super obscure song, super obscure ep so its not so much that this song is underrated more that it's just not widely known enough—even by more invested fans—to get as much praise/attention as it deserves.

this song is distinct in its own right, its a much more acoustic vibe than most of their other stuff but the energy and its very unique sound gives it this sort of ‘if fob wrote an ed sheeran song’ kinda vibe in the best way. i really like how the lyrics approach this relationship and how the distinction in patrick’s voice changes to meet the mood

8. Bishop’s Knife Tricks (MANIA)

Diss mania all you want (plz don't) but this song is such a incredible closer for it and on its own its just as good. ‘the last blues were ever gonna have’ is obviously a good lyric for a last song. its something of a slow burn if that makes sense—its been in my daily playlist rotation for like 4 months now—but its not that it takes a while to hit, its more like the more you get to know it, the more you love it. (ignore me talking about songs as if they're people smh)

it has this lowkey vibe that is just really smooth??(for lack of a better word) and calm but in an emo kinda way lol

9. Fame < Infamy (infinity)

I feel like this song and all of infinity (also folie) is pete going through his antihero arc (and not in a taylor swift way, i'm talking the literary definition) which ofc isn't a bad thing i love an antihero. Its so cool to see the development of, not character exactly, more like a facade or mask and how he portrays this image of villainy while also taking a step back from it if that makes sense. I especially love the lyric ‘the kid was alright, but it went to his head’ because it feels like a show of awareness and understanding and rather than trying to be “better”, they're embracing it in a very antihero way.

10. Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (folie)

This has to be on the list. Of course it does. Everyone who knows their discography will tell you that this song is underrated, but among fans, its one of the most popular of their more underrated songs. If you were to ask someone for an underrated fob song there is like a solid 30% chance that they'll say Headfirst Slide and obviously they're completely right

from the very beginning, this song really feels like it drags you in but in a way that can only be encompassed by this lyric from the first verse ‘when he walks into the room the walls lean in to listen’ again this song is a very antihero song, but in a way that is sort of ironic when you hear the lyric ‘i will never end up like him, behind my back I already am’ because it gives you this sense of sympathy for the ‘bad guy’ and sort of blurs into this kind of gray area, which makes it an even better portrayal of an antihero