“Sugar We’re Going Down,” an emo classic that took the world by storm when it was released by Fall Out Boy in 2005, turned 16 years old on April 12. Yes, you read that right—if “Sugar We’re Going Down” was a person, it could drive by now.  The lyrics are notoriously misunderstood due to the poorly enunciated yet stunning vocals by lead singer Patrick Stump. In an interview with Louder, bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz explains how this came to be: 

“All he [Stump] cared about was the way the melody sounded and all I cared about was the words, so we really fought over cramming these words in.” 

Stump’s dedication to sound and Wentz’s dedication to lyricism led to this stream of clever and beautiful, yet misunderstood hit. 

Honestly, I think the lyrics are hard-hitting from beginning to end. It opens with:

“Am I more than you bargained for yet?/

I’ve been dying to tell you/

Anything you want to hear/

‘Cause that’s just who I am this week/

Lie in the grass next to the mausoleum/

I’m just a notch in your bedpost, but you’re just a line in a song”

Wentz writes about his love for another—about wanting to be whoever his love interest wants, saying “anything they want to hear” in the beginning of verse one. However, by the end, he copes with the idea that he does not mean much to the love interest by brushing them off as “just a line” in one of his songs.

The pre-chorus and verse two contain some important lyrics that I think are often overlooked—especially upon its release in 2005: 

[Pre-chorus]

We’re always sleeping in and sleeping/

For the wrong team/

[Verse 2]

Oh, don’t mind me, I’m watching/

You two from the closet/

Wishing to be the friction in your jeans/

Isn’t it messed up how I’m just dying to be him?/

These lyrics imply that Wentz’s love interest is a male, and the “watching you two from the closet” hints that Wentz may not be prepared to admit this just yet.

The chorus contains most of the lyrics that feel mashed together, which are often misheard:

“We’re going down, down in an earlier round/

And sugar, we’re going down swinging/

I’ll be your number one with a bullet/

A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it”

The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but the “down down in an earlier round” line took awhile for many to figure out the words. My favorite line in the whole song—“A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it”—is often interpreted as “a loaded gun complex,” which is rather unfortunate, because I think it is a pretty clever lyric. 

Overall, the lyrics to this song hold up after 16 years, despite the common misinterpretations. “Sugar We’re Going Down” features some of Wentz’s most clever wordplay and is a testament to Stump’s vocal talent. The song wouldn’t be complete without  Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley’s instrumental abilities that complement the vocals and lyrics perfectly and create a great song that I think will continue to stay relevant for decades.