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My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)

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"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)", also known as simply "Light Em Up", is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released as the lead single for the band's fifth studio album, Save Rock and Roll.[1] It serves as the band's first single following the group's three-year hiatus and regrouping in early 2013.[2] The track and its music video were released on February 4, 2013, worldwide and February 5, 2013, in North America,[3] to coincide with the official news of the band's reformation. The song impacted radio on February 19, 2013.[4] The band members felt that the song best represented their album at its core.

"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"
An pile of vinyl records burning in the middle of an alleyway.
Single by Fall Out Boy
from the album Save Rock and Roll
ReleasedFebruary 4, 2013 (2013-02-04)
Genre
Pop metal
Length3:06
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Butch Walker
Fall Out Boy singles chronology
"Alpha Dog"
(2009) 		"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"
(2013) 		"The Phoenix"
(2013)
Audio sample
Music video
"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" on YouTube

The song's title and principal lyric originate from an unrelated 2004 demo by the band.[5][6] Fall Out Boy performed "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the group's first post-hiatus TV performance on February 13 as well as on various TV shows throughout the entire year, and have extensively played it in acoustic version at radio interviews. Lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump performed the song as a guest on singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's Red Tour on July 13, 2013, and Swift guested in turn with Fall Out Boy on Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2013 on November 13, 2013. The song became a staple at several sports-broadcasting soundtracks that year.[7][8]

The music video is part one of The Young Blood Chronicles, a series in which a video was eventually recorded for every song on Save Rock and Roll as part of a narrative. "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" was a comeback success, reaching the two million digital downloads mark in July 2013, being the fourth song by Fall Out Boy to do so, and was certified 3× Platinum by the end of the year. It was named by BBC Radio 1 as one of the "Top 100 Tracks of the Past 5 Years"[9] and No. 1 on Sirius XM Hits 1's best of 2013 countdown.[10] It reached the top 10 on both Pop Songs and Alternative Songs with heavy airplay, and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 with twelve consecutive weeks in the top 20.[11]

Composition

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Sheet music for the song "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" shows the key of D minor and tempo range of 76 to 80 beats per minute.[12]

Music video

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The music video for the song is the first of the Young Blood Chronicles, an ongoing series with the band filming a video for every song on Save Rock and Roll. It begins late at night, with a figure – later revealed to be rapper 2 Chainz – walking away from a black van parked in a forest clearing. He starts a bonfire by pouring gasoline over a wood pile and lighting it up with a match. Two women then exit the van, carrying various musical instruments belonging to Fall Out Boy, among them the band's guitars, a bass, drumsticks and various drums and cymbals, before tossing the items into the fire. The women also throw in amplifiers and Fall Out Boy records such as Take This To Your Grave, From Under the Cork Tree and Live in Phoenix, along with a Fall Out Boy wristband and Fall Out Toy Works comics. 2 Chainz then uses a flamethrower to hasten the incineration process, while the women return to the van and open its rear doors, revealing four hooded, bound men implied to be Fall Out Boy themselves. The camera then closes in on 2 Chainz's face as he holds up a match and stares at the band menacingly, ending the video.[13]

Fall Out Boy's capture is shown in the music video for the following single, "The Phoenix", released on March 25, 2013.

Critical reception

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Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone called the song "a big, goofy, stomp-along pop-metal anthem".[14] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard described the song as "a natural evolution of the Fall Out Boy sound," adding also that the song is "muscular in scope and jittery in practice, with rolling chants cresting above Stump's nervous energy."[15] Cassie Whitt of Loudwire called the song a "pop banger".[16] Collin Brennan of Consequence of Sound felt that the song's hip hop-esque beat set "Light Em Up" apart from the band's earlier material.[17]

Commercial performance

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Commercially, "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" debuted on charts worldwide with success, reaching in the top five in the United Kingdom, charts the band has previously received success from with singles like "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs".

On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at number twenty-six and number eight on the U.S. Billboard Rock Songs chart; it reached number two on iTunes upon its release with 162,000 first-week sales. In its nineteenth week on the chart, it reached a peak of number thirteen on the Hot 100 and number two on the Rock Songs chart (upon Save Rock And Roll's release). The song has sold over 5 million downloads in the United States as of August 2015, the first song by Fall Out Boy to reach this level.[18] "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" has sold over 600,000 copies in the UK earning a platinum certification by the BPI as of 2023.

In pop culture

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  • The song was used in the series Criminal Minds Season 8 Episode 23 „Zugzwang“

Remix

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A remix, produced by Wonder Arillo, featuring rapper 2 Chainz with hip-hop sound was released on April 3. It was performed live the month before by Fall Out Boy and 2 Chainz at the beginning of the 2013 NBA slam dunk contest.

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[58] Platinum 70,000^
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[59] Platinum 60,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[60] 3× Platinum 240,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[61] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[62] Gold 150,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] Gold 7,500*
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[65] 8× Platinum 8,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format Label
Worldwide February 4, 2013 Digital download Island
North America[3][66][67] February 5, 2013

References

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  1. ^ Hogan, Mark. "Fall Out Boy Return to 'Save Rock and Roll' With New Single, Album, and Tour". Spin. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Fall Out Boy to 'Save Rock and Roll' in May". Billboard. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) - Single". iTunes US. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  4. ^ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. February 12, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  5. ^ Patrick Stump tweet on 2004 demo Twitter.com. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  6. ^ Patrick Stump tweet on demo. Twitter.com. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  7. ^ The Top 50 Songs From the First Half of 2013 popdust.com. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  8. ^ How Fall Out Boy Became Jock Jam All-Stars. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  9. ^ Radio 1's A List BBC. Retrieved September 15, 2013
  10. ^ The Hits 1 Best of 2013 Countdown. SiriusXM Hits 1. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  11. ^ Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (light Em Up). acharts.us. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  12. ^ My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
  13. ^ Fall Out Boy - "My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up)" Archived 2013-11-15 at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  14. ^ Dolan, Jon (February 12, 2013). "Fall Out Boy: "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  15. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (April 16, 2013). "Fall Out Boy, 'Save Rock and Roll': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  16. ^ Whitt, Cassie; Richardson, Jake (August 19, 2022). "Every Emo Holy Trinity Album Ranked From Worst to Best (My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco)". Loudwire. Retrieved January 26, 2023. 'Twas a dark and stormy morning when Fall Out Boy decided to return from their four-year hiatus with the release of Save Rock And Roll's debut single, a pop banger called "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark."
  17. ^ Brennan, Collin (January 15, 2015). "Album Review: Fall Out Boy – American Beauty/American Psycho". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 3, 2023. The video for that album's lead single, "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)", featured rapper 2 Chainz, and the song's pummeling hip-hop beat threw an odd bone to the jocks who might have relished kicking Fall Out Boy's asses in high school.
  18. ^ Cantor, Brian (August 10, 2015). "Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" and "Uma Thurman" earn new RIAA certifications". Headline Planet.
  19. ^ clutchfansDOTnet (27 April 2013). "Houston Rockets 2013 Playoff Introduction" – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Gluck, Jeff (August 24, 2013). "Drivers choose intro songs for Bristol night race". USA Today. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  21. ^ Long, Dustin (August 23, 2014). "Bristol Driver Song List". Motor Racing Network. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  22. ^ Ask Billboard: Baseball Hits, Gwen Stefani's Delay & Demi Lovato's Best-Selling Songs Billboard. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  23. ^ "MLB preps for Postseason with "We Play for October" ad campaign". 6 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Project Spark coming to Xbox One". IGN. 10 June 2013.
  25. ^ 'The Originals' Pilot: Klaus Is Hungry For Power In 'Vampire Diaries' Spinoff Promo (VIDEO) huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  26. ^ 'America's Got Talent' Results: A Favorite Younger Act Gets The Boot Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine hollywoodlife.com. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  27. ^ Hear 'Immortals,' Fall Out Boy's song from the 'Big Hero 6' soundtrack Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  28. ^ Watch Gerard Way, Pete Wentz test out newly revealed "Guitar Hero Live". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
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  43. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
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  53. ^ "End of Year 2013" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
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  55. ^ "Pop Songs – Year-End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  56. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  57. ^ "Rock Airplay Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  58. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  59. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
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  61. ^ "Danish single certifications – Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  62. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Fall Out Boy; 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
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  67. ^ "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) - Single". iTunes MX. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
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