Young Volcanoes

when Rome's in ruins we are the lions free of the coliseums in poison places, we are *antivenom we are the beginning of the end

we can be freed from whatever is holding us back or hurting us, but most of the time something will have to be destroyed first. the next line would be saying that in a world where people are rude, self-centered, and generally horrible (our prison) we are trying to be nice, respectful people. we are the catalyst to end this society where people only care for themselves.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds It's all over now Before it has begun We've already won

we can change things. we can make everything backwards, inside out, and upside down. it's all over now, standards of society are over. the foxes are hunting the hounds, everything is changing and flipping itself. if our battle is even close to beginning, we've already won it, because that means that people know and we are spreading the word.

We are wild We are like young volcanoes We are wild Americana, exotica Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

what exactly is a 'young' volcano? if a volcano had just been formed, obviously we wouldn't know anything about it. how likely it was to explode, how dangerous its eruptions could be, anything about it. if we are like young volcanoes, people don't know very much about us. they don't know when we could 'explode' or how much damage we could do, with words or actions, when we reach our breaking point. americana, exotica, both are referencing things that are new or different to us, or something special that we don't usually get to experience. and do you wanna feel a little beautiful, we can make each other feel beautiful with simply a few words if we could take time out of our day to do that for someone else.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered Run it up the flag pole, We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

go ahead and tell me, because I know you don't care. everybody knows you don't care about me or anyone besides yourself, so just say it. make it easier for me to let go. make me sure that you never cared. we can help change people, make the world a better and nicer place. 'boys next door' is a metaphor for the ideal guy, or in this case just an ideal human being. assholes is pretty obvious, there's no metaphor they're just talking about assholes.

and that, dear friends, is what I understood these lyrics to mean, inspired by my dad asking me what exactly a young volcano was in the car (because my dad is cool and listens to Fall Out Boy with me)

I think this song is talking about a new beginning for them, being free of all the negativity that surrounded them before the break. They want their fans to feel the same way when they listen to their new music. They want to be your "anti-venom" on a toxic day.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds, It's all over now, Before it has begun,
We've already won.

I think they are saying they are finally in charge of their careers. They are making the rules this time, they aren't going to battle with the media or the music industry. They already won the "battle" because they are happy with the music they are making now.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered Run it up the flag pole, We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

This sounds like they are talking to a manager or someone in charge of the record label. "Run it up the flagpole" is a catchphrase used in business basically saying we'll run it by the bosses and see if anyone likes the idea. So it sounds like they are telling a manager, "just tell us to our face that what we wanted never really mattered to you". The manager probably lied to them and said they would run their ideas up the flagpole, just to shut them up and their ideas were ignored. I think they blame the music industry for changing their image and turning them (referring to themselves as assholes) into "boys next door" in order to gain a younger, larger fan base (i.e.: sell more records).

Also, did anyone notice that they lyrics "Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?" is very similar to the line" "Do you wanna feel beautiful, do you wanna, yeah" in the song "Alone Together? I think in this song its a big FU to the "boys next door" image that was created for them. They are saying, being ourselves is beautiful too!

Americana exotica reminds me of the butterfly species in the movie The Fall.

“This song is for the dudes out there, age 17-23, who encompass a male body but have a boy brain ” This is what Pete said word for word about this song when I went to the concert on May 17, 2013 in Columbus, OH at the LC Pavillion.

Pete also got his grey "Americana Exotica" shirt ripped almost along with his arm by some crazy Columbus fangirls at that concert. Oh, how I wish I was one of them xD

Just last night at the Melbourne concert, Pete Wentz started the song by saying "This song is not not about sex." So, sex.