I stepped out of the critic's office with a crumpled up piece of paper from my journal. If I was a cartoon character, there would be steam coming from my ears and my entire face would be brick red.
"You don't sound like the rest of the emo genre, you need to find and stick to one," he said and turned my lyrics down.
You know what? Fuck him. I don't need any opinion but my own. Stupid comments like those only make us rock harder. We only grow stronger. We'll let our guitars and voices scream louder.
We are Fall Out Boy. We are the genre. Isn't it a good thing to be different? Growing up, I was taught that difference and change was good. Why was it flipped when I grew up?
People need to get used to the fact that we aren't always going to be here making good music. Maybe not for much longer.
A group of people with cameras followed me down the street, noticing my anger. It only caused my mood and confidence to plummet down.
Times like these made me want to quit. The media is so negative these days. I wish I could just run away with Patrick, Andy, and Joe and start over to people and press that will actually appreciate our music.
I slammed my bathroom door shut and looked at myself in the mirror. My black hair fell in my face and I flicked my head to push it back.
Something clicked in my head then. People don't care about anything but what's on the outside. It's all about being pretty and getting noticed as fast as possible.
Girls these days will do anything to be in the spotlight. They sleep with strangers on the streets. They don't care or realize that those people don't actually love them, they love sex.
I'm not that stupid. I won't fall for a girl's beg for free love on the streets. I'd rather be loved by a girl and never put her to bed than be a girl's one night stand.
I gripped the edges of the sink and looked back up to the mirror. Breathing heavily into it, I scream, "I don't care!" into it. Funny, you can say that and still feel good about yourself.
So, I repeat it, "I don't care!"
And again...
And again...until I felt good about myself, because there's nothing anyone would want to scream other than 'I Don't Care'.
YOU ARE READING
Our Shared Madness
Fanfic• folie à duex (fôlē ä dœ) = delusion or mental illness shared by two people in close association. This book goes through the mind of lyricist Pete Wentz as he writes his fifth album for his band, Fall Out Boy. The four boys showcase their madness...
