What's in a name?

On my way into work this morning I was listening to one of my favorite CDs, as I do most mornings.  The CD is the latest release by Fall Out Boy called Folie a Deux.  Now, I do not claim to be a musician, a great music critic, nor a guy who is greatly influenced or inspired by music.  However, I love this band for some reason.  There music is really good, despite their celebrity.  Which, if you ask me, doesn't hurt them.  Just because a lot of people like them doesn't mean they suck - it actually means they're probably doing something right.  And this band didn't have to sell out to make money, they're doing the same stuff they've always been doing that made them famous, just like all the others before them.  Conversely, just because there are bands that no one has ever heard of, that doesn't make them good.  If people wanted to listen to them, they'd be marketable and thus, on the radio and accessible.  So as you read this, spare me your crap about my taste in music... I don't care (no pun intended... you'll see below).  I like this group and their pseudo-punk/emo style or whatever you want to call it - it is unique and it sounds good.  Plus, I can sing to it.

Having said all that - I really do get into this music.  I like music a lot because of the way it makes me want to move, scream, or break shit.  Invoking those emotions, for better or worse, is the greatest thing about music in general.  When I flip on this CD, I can't help but really get into it.  I am in a zone and don't want to listen to anything else.  My body quakes violently, emulating some distant resemblance to a dance.  My head nods to the beat - whether it be the drumline, the guitar riff, or the bass line.  My ears pick something out each time, and tell my brain to move my muscles in time with the music (which is a feat in and of itself, considering I don't keep very good time).  I should note that this isn't the only band that does it for me, just the one that invoked today's blog as I experienced it this morning.

The point of the article isn't for me to salivate over this band's music and lyrics.  It is actually to criticize their song and album titles.  There is a fine line between being artistic and being pretentious and trying too hard to be artistic.  Their first major-label album was called "From Under the Cork Tree", which such debut hit singles as "Dance Dance" and "Sugar We're Goin' Down".  Let's first examine the album title:  my only thought is that the first letters of each word are to supposed to form the acronym FUCT.  Hmmm, wow...  that can't be right.  Other than that, what kind of title is that?  Now, the two aforementioned songs are the ones that made the airwaves the fastest and most popularly.  Notice that those words in the titles are actual lyrics from the songs' choruses.  Aside from maybe one more, these are the only two songs sharing this attribute - the rest are very odd and quite long, having nothing really to do with the lyrics whatsoever.... just an "artsy" statement from the songwriter and title-maker, Pete Wentz.  I don't like it, mostly because I have to refer to these others as, "that one song that goes..." or, "number xx on the CD".  I pride myself on knowing song lyrics, names and artists, so having to describe songs in this matter annoys me greatly.

Second album:  Infinity on High.  This one doesn't bother me as much.  It's just a fun thing to say, I suppose.  Let me pick out a few songs for you: "This Ain't a Scene" and "Thnks fr th mmrs".  Again, these two are the most popular and the most played on the radio... see a pattern here?  You do if you know the song... Those words, too, appear in the lyrics to the choruses of the respective song.  There are plenty more great songs on the album that you may have heard, but you don't know what they're called... I don't count "Me & You" because that is a subtitle (and an awesome song).

Third album: Folie a Deux which is French for: 'a madness shared by two'.  I'll give them this one also... besides, album titles are supposed to be ambiguous, encompassing the nature and flavor (or theme?) of the album, right?  This disc is a coming-of-age for the group, capped off by Pete's high-profile knocking-up of and subsequent marriage to Ashlee Simpson.  The writing and musical style are really "grown up" in this one.  But don't let me get off task here, let's criticize some song titles.  Of course, in following with what can now be construed as thematic, "I Don't Care" and "America's Suitehearts" are the big singles and as you may know or could have guessed, contain the songs' lyrics in the choruses.... which makes me wonder if the label doesn't make them change the names of what they consider the most marketable songs (???).  Whatevs, the songs kick ass.  The rest of the song titles are again ambiguous, with the exception of one, that is so close, yet still mysterious.  

This is arguably the best song on the album (it IS IMO) and is called, "What a Catch, Donnie".  Now, they sing 'what a catch' throughout the song, but never mention who is Donnie...  I personally love this song so much, that I will let it go.  This one is also like a balled, which I will take this time to compare to the likes of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "Sister Christian", or "Home Sweet Home" - a great band's sentimental surprise.  This particular ballad features cameos from Elvis Costello; the lead singers of Cobra Starship, Panic at the Disco, and Gym Class Heroes; and a couple other dudes no one knows.   It's a great mash-up of its own song and some old Fall Out Boy songs as sung by these other guys (catch it on youtube).  

I'm not gonna dig on this song, but it'd be nice if I at least knew which Donnie...