Fall Out Boy, Flu Game | FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘

In the 20^th edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘, we highlight “Flu Game” performed by Fall Out Boy.

Bring on the bold, FIERCE tracks! FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 provides background information and insight into pop, rock, and metal songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.  Featured records can be classic or brand new. In the 20^th edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 (2023), we explore 🎵 “Flu Game” performed by 🎙 Fall Out Boy.

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“I’ve got all this love I’ve got keep to myself / All this effort to make it look effortless.” Ah, 🎙 Pete Wentz, the bassist and songwriter for 🎙 Fall Out Boy, always has a way with words! Likewise, 🎙 Patrick Stump has always had the voice, with the right tone, nuance, and expression to bring those potent lyrics to life.  🎵 “Flu Game”, the ninth track from the longtime, Chicago, Illinois alternative collective’s 2023 LP, 💿 So Much (For) Stardust, is an odd title.  They are renowned for odd titles, of course. But, there is a legendary NBA moment that inspires/fuels the fire here: The iconic, Michael Jordan “flu game” in the 1997 NBA Finals.  Essentially, a sick Jordan, with food poisoning/flu-like symptoms pushed through his illness and won a tight game for the Chicago Bulls.  Did I mention FOB was born in Chicago?

In the context of “Flu Game,” no, Patrick Stump isn’t singing about the 90-88 hard fought victory the Bulls pulled out over the Utah Jazz.  What he does convey, however, is perseverance.  There is clearly adversity, but Stump and company are working hard, nonetheless.  “Confront all the pain like a gift under the tree,” he asserts in the second verse, adding, “I grind in the sunshine, grind in the rain / So real that I feel fake.” WOO! The bridge is a pivotal moment of this “Flu Game” Fall Out Boy touts:

“One day, every candle’s gotta run out of wax

One day, no one will remember me when they look back

I can’t stop, can’t stop ‘til we catch all your ears though

Somewhere between Mike Tyson and Van Gogh.”

Driving bass, roaring guitars, pummeling drums, and powerful, cutting vocals make 🎵 “Flu Game” a fierce rock cut. A tuneful melody, “la-la-la” background vocals, and the loud, in your face performance doesn’t hurt the cause either 🤘!

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🎙 Fall Out Boy • 💿 So Much (For) Stardust • 🏷 Fueled By Ramen • 📅 2023

Fall Out Boy, “Flu Game”: FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 No. 20 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Fueled By Ramen; Conna Lee, Madelin Berry, anna-m. w., Johan Duran, RODNAE Productions via Pexels; Pete Linforth via Pixabay]