Fall Out Boy’s next single is inspired by The NeverEnding Story
'This one is for the kid warriors out there', says Pete Wentz
Fall Out Boy will be releasing the next single from ‘M A N I A’ later this month.
In a post on Instagram, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz said the track has thematic echoes of the cult 1984 fantasy film ‘The NeverEnding Story’.
Based on the 1979 book of the same name, the film tells a tale of a young warrior called Atreyu (a moniker borrowed by a certain metalcore band 14 years later) whose task is to stop an enigmatic enemy called the Nothing from taking over the fantasy world.
Explaining how it inspired the as-yet-untitled song, Wentz told his 1.5million Instagram followers: “Our next song will be out towards the end of the month. but i really started to think that this one really reminds me of this moment in "the never-ending story".
“It always stuck out to me as a kid- first they're like "wait you're just a kid lol we need a warrior" then they're like "ok you'll do i guess you'll do" and then "no one can help you and if you don't do this our entire world dies, so no pressure". (Shout out to the face Atreyu makes after the guy is like "our whole world will be destroyed").
“No one believes but at the same time we all need to believe in you. end of the month can't come soon enough. this one is for the kid warriors out there hunting the purple buffalo...”
Fall Out Boy debuted the first single from ‘M A N I A’, called ‘Young and Menace’, at the end of April.
A bold statement of intent for the quartet, the song is a hyper-eclectic beast with elements of dubstep and crunching EDM beats all glued together with Fall Out Boy’s trademark guitars and vocals.
Reflecting upon the song’s title, Pete Wentz said: “There’s a lyric in the song, ‘trying to send the world a message, I was young and a menace,’ that reminded me of growing up in the suburbs of Chicago.
“I didn't look like anyone there or feel like anyone – I felt like an outsider in my own town. It wasn't until I discovered punk rock and that community that I realized I did fit in somewhere in this word – with the other people who didn't fit in.
“It’s hard to rationalize rage – it’s hard to quantify anxiety... this song does neither. It embraces the wave of those emotions.”
‘M A N I A’ lands via Virgin EMI on Friday 15th September 2017.