Fall Out Boy’s “20 Dollar Nose Bleed”

Hi readers! In this post, I’m covering Fall Out Boy’s song, “20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” which features Brendon Urie, a member of Panic! At The Disco. Though the melody and the song is stylistically very upbeat, its dark implications are apparent through the messages and at the song’s closing.

For readers that are unfamiliar, Fall Out Boy is a pop-punk band, which means they’ve combined the elements of a pop song, such as the repetition and structure (refrains and lyrics) and a catchy melody and beat. These elements make the song memorable and a vernacular song (a common type of music that most people will listen to); however, it can’t be solely classified as pop, as dark/emotional lyrics that deal with social issues are present throughout the piece, as well as instrumentation that is commonly seen in punk, rock, or heavier music styles (loud drums, electric guitars, and a “rough” composition). Fall Out Boy has survived as a popular band for so long by adapting in this way and combining elements of different genres, which allows their songs to be so well-known. 

“20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” musically, sounds very similar to most pop songs. The song begins with an upbeat piano feature of “peppy” sounding notes, and transitions to the much darker lyrics. The song has a rock backbone and instrumentation in some ways as the drums and guitar parts are orchestrated similar to that genre. The song as a whole maintains many consonant sounds (pleasing to the ears), with some “rough” and unpolished parts that give it a recognizable punk feel. Brass sounds are also incorporated throughout the song, making it a perky, catchy tune. The melody is repetitive, similar to the pop style, and carries throughout the song. As the song progresses though, there is a brief gap of space, and an outro with a much different feel that captures the darker meanings of the song. The outro is rough and heavy, and has syncopated percussive rhythms, and gruff lyrics that are harsh (I’ll examine what they mean in a bit). The outro is enough to easily classify this as a rock or punk song, so the combination of the beginning and the incorporations of pop qualities throughout it make it a part of the pop-punk genre.

As the pop genre is lyric-heavy, this song follows the pattern as well. The song begins in a depressing manner, as the first line states “Have you ever wanted to disappear?” This sets up the song, which focuses on the outcasts of the society and the problems within it. In the second verse, the song states that  “The man who would be king goes to the Desert to sing war his dad rehearsed,” which references the wars that afflict our society; the song then follows up stating that though they “Came back with flags on coffins” they “won;” this mocks the view of wars and leaders that promote them and the “victory,” pointing out that people have died in them and that no side truly wins a war, which gives the song the quality of a piece of satire or criticism. The song also deals with the meaning of drugs. The song’s title, “20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” references the drug also mentioned in the song, benzedrine, which was about twenty dollars in value when the song was written, and, since it is inhaled through the nose, has a side effect of causing nosebleeds. This also points out the problems of drugs within society, since they’ve increased as other problems have, and by implying the only way to deal with the problems is through them. The social context and criticism in the song also aligns with the punk genre, since those references and action to change is a recurring topic represented in songs in the punk-pop genre.

The closing of the song is very disturbing, and melodically seems to belong to a different song. Additionally, it’s hard to make sense of its meaning, since the lyrics jump all over the place. Overall, it references that America is in a poor state, since “the eagle’s in a sling;” eagles are a popular symbol of America and the values of American society, so one being in a sling illustrates that American society is injured or broken. Also, it references the demise of the singer, since they compare themselves to a racehorse going to the glue factory (where horses face death, and their remains used), which relate to the singer feeling that they are being taken advantage of. Also, the singer references being out of reality with society since they’re being choked by their perceptions of reality, and ask the listener to “unite the ballots from around my neck and ground me,” or bring them back to reality from their euphoric “high” or dream (represented by the balloons) that’s strangling them.

Even though the song is really dark in message, it’s got a great groove and melody in composition that has the feel of a pop song, but also has depth through the meaning of the lyrics that people look for in an emo genre- combined together, it makes a great song musically that brings to light the problems of society.

Enjoy listening, and keep feeling those good vibes!

SBR