I was only seven. Seven, when my parents divorced. I was walking home from the bus stop, when I saw something glisten in the green grass. I had found an iPod. Perfect condition.
I got home, saw that my mom and dad were yet again screaming at each other, threw my bag on the floor, and got a snack. I then went back to my bedroom to look at my new treasure in secrecy.
I was hoping for some Britney Spears, maybe Hilary Duff, perhaps some Jesse McCartney. Hey, I was seven.
'Fall Out Boy', I read. And, I can still remember the first song I chose, because of the word 'pretty' sticking out at me, 'Pretty In Punk'.
Of course, being so young, although more mature than most my age, I didn't understand the lyrics, and I couldn't interpret them. But, I liked the progressive beat, the catchy tune, the fact that I didn't know what the words meant.
The screaming in 'Calm Before The Storm'. I remember hearing it, and my first thought being 'I wonder if I could do that?' And of course, had to try. I took the iPod to school the next day, and showed Sarah, my best friend at the time. It scared her. She disliked it and told me I shouldn't be listening to grown up music, and continued to tell me about the stickers her parents bought her yesterday.
Upon getting the same reaction from multiple kids, I struggled with the idea of diversity. We all liked the same things. Boys like blue and girls liked pink, but that was all that was different. Why was I the only one that liked this, 'Fall Out Boy?'
Two month later, I dropped that iPod in a local lake, and forgot about it, along with Fall Out Boy.

Two years later, I'm sitting with my friend and his older brother at the fair, inside a cheese - on - a - stick shack. His brother, Noah, is listening to his MP3 player on a speaker. I got butterflies in my stomach upon hearing 'Don't say it's over', and that sudden flicker of remembrance tingled in my brain.
"Noah?"
"What?"
"What is that?"
"The music. It's by a band called "Fall Out Boy."
The memories came rushing back. My mom and dad screaming, not knowing what was going to happen, my dad telling me it wasn't my fault; me knowing better. But more importantly, the music that helped me through it. When there was screaming, I'd go to my room and let Fall Out Boy flood my head. Melancholy memories, but the feeling of having a solid rock.
It's been eight years since that fateful day of finding that iPod. Now I know that the 'Calm Before The Storm', the first version I heard was from 'Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girlfriend', and hearing it on Noah's iPod, I was hearing the 'Take This To Your Grave' version.
Fall Out Boy has been my favorite band for the past six years. I love the original, inspirational lyrics that make you think about life, who you are, and what you're living for. How everybody in the band has the ability to produce the music they did four or five years ago, on album's like "From Under The Cork Tree', and to do the type of music on Folie à Deux'. Pete Wentz's lyrics have inspired me to become a writer/poet myself, and Patrick Stump's incredible vocal range (achieved with no lessons, might I add) have inspired me to sing.
Many say they have changed, I say they've revolutionized. Change is inevitable. It's not as much 'change' as it is growing up.
However, I think in many ways they have stayed the same. The lyrics have always been meaningful, from the heart. It reaches the deepest corners of my very unimpressionable soul. Also, if you listen the the intro of 'I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers', it is very similar to the intro for "20 Dollar Nose Bleed'. (Just the titles alone are enough to get anyone interested.)
I have never gotten the pleasure of seeing Fall Out Boy live. However, Sunday's tend to get devoted to Fall Out Boy, whether I mean them to or not. I must have seen other a thousand live performances. The shows they put on are incredible, as if the audio wasn't enough already. Pete is definitely a man of the visual aspect. Besides the fact that he has a gorgeous face, amazing hair, and an impeccable wardrobe, the man can dance. He can also jump. If there's a twenty foot amplifier, expect him to jump from it. When he falls and breaks his foot, does he stop playing? No! He grabs a chair and finishes the set.

I could go on forever about how amazing Patrick, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley are, but if you're reading this, you probably already know. Or, you're reading this to see whether Fall Out Boy is worth a listen or not. I won't continue, in the hopes that you'll want to see for yourself.
I could go on forever about the composition of the music, the lyrics, and multiple other things, but I won't.
Everybody grows up though, and though all the members at Fall Out Boy have admitted to being 'kids at heart', hearts age with time.
The band split in early February of this year. (2010.) No reason is set in stone. Like a teenage breakup, Pete has uttered those bone - chilling words, "we just need a break." Bronx Mowgli, Pete Wentz's son, had been born two years earlier. I've babysat two year olds before, and they can be handfuls!
But it's been eight months since the split, and Pete Wentz has a new band. The 'Black Card's'. Are they good? In my most unbiased opinion? Yes, very. Do they even come close to touching Fall Out Boy? They don't even see Fall Out Boy within a thousand mile radius. You can pick up Pete Wentz's lyrics in the songs, but when you think hard enough about them, you can hear them in a Fall Out Boy song. And for all of us Fall Out Boy veterans, this tends to put us in a dark mood.
Patrick Stump has gone on to do a solo project. In my opinion, he kills Bebe Rexha, singer for the 'Black Cards'.
Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman have melded into a new band, along with former 'Anthrax's Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, and 'Everytime I Die's singer Keith Buckley.
If indeed Fall Out Boy is dead, the music industry has suffered a great loss. If all of us fans are dramatizing things, we'll smile in X number of years, and laugh at ourselves when they get back together.
I have second favorite bands, third favorite, and so on and so forth, but Fall Out Boy will always hold number one place in my heart.