History
Formation and It's Our Time (2001–2006)
Rise or Die Trying, Explains It All (2006–2009)
The band's 2007 release Rise or Die Trying with I Surrender Records peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in its debut week. On the back of their increasing popularity, the band was signed to Decaydance Records in February 2008.
On July 21, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 1990s, titled Explains It All. The album features guest appearances from Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and JR and Buddy of Less Than Jake. The band explained their reasoning behind the album in a MySpace blog, saying "It’s what we grew up listening to. Everyone has those songs that instantly transport you back to when you were younger. Whether we were in our bedrooms playing air guitar, or riding in the car to little league practice, or it was just that song that was all over the radio during that awesome summer at the Cape. These songs have impacted us in some way and we want to share that feeling with you."
Enemy of the World (2010)
The band's 3rd full-length album, Enemy of the World, was released on March 9, 2010 on Universal Motown Records. The band released the album's first single, "It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now", on December 21, 2009. The name of the song is a reference to the final sentence of a review in Alternative Press in which the magazine praised Set Your Goals' new album while remarking on the future of Four Year Strong and how their record would compare. The vinyl record was made available to pre-order on March 2, 2010. The album sold 12,400 copies in its first week, debuting at number 40 on the Billboard 200.
On April 3, 2011, it was announced that Josh Lyford would be leaving the band. Initially, it was implied that Lyford had chosen to leave in order to focus on his side project, Foxfires. However, it was later confirmed by both Lyford and Alan Day, that the band had elected to remove synthesizers from their sound leaving no room for Lyford to continue. The band has said they will continue as a four piece.
In Some Way, Shape or Form (2011–present)
On April 13, 2011, in an interview with Alternative Press, the band revealed that they had been in the middle of recording their fourth studio album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey's House of Loud. The band is set to return to the studio, without Josh Lyford, to finish the album in June, after they finish touring with Rise Against. Vocalist Alan Day has also revealed that the new songs the band had written were very diverse, and that the new material is different than anything the band has ever written. While touring with Rise Against, they have been playing a newly recorded, yet unreleased song called "Falling on You".
On August 18, 2011, the band released "Stuck in the Middle", a new song from the upcoming album. The band announced that the new album will be titled In Some Way, Shape, or Form, and will be released on November 8, 2011. On September 8, 2011, the band released another song from the album, entitled "Falling on You." The first official single from the album, "Just Drive", is set for release on September 27, 2011
During the Fall 2011 AP Tour, the band played another new unreleased song which will be released on the upcoming album. The band dedicates it to fans who have been there "from the very beginning, and will be there till the very end." a video of the song has been leaked on YouTube. It is called "Fairweather Fan."
Touring
The band has done multiple national tours, sharing the stage with such bands as The Starting Line, Slip On It, Hellogoodbye, From First to Last, Every Time I Die, Meg & Dia, Hidden in Plain View, Alexisonfire, All Time Low, Mayday Parade, New Found Glory, Bayside and Steel Train. The band toured in February–April 2009 as part of the Taste of Chaos tour, alongside Thursday, Bring Me the Horizon, Pierce the Veil, and Cancer Bats. They undertook the Summer co-headline tour with Set Your Goals, and also Fireworks, The Swellers, Polar Bear Club, A Loss For Words, Drive A and Grave Maker from July to August 2009. Four Year Strong also performed on the Australian Soundwave festival in February and March 2010, alongside headliners Faith No More, Janes Addiction, Placebo; also playing alongside Alexisonfire, Set Your Goals, A Day To Remember, Paramore, It Dies Today, Gallows, Emarosa, A Wilhelm Scream, Anthrax, All Time Low, Escape The Fate, This Is Hell, Enter Shikari, Anti-Flag, Baroness, Comeback Kid, The Almost, Dance Gavin Dance, Architects, You Me At Six, Rolo Tomassi, Dichi Michi, Sunny Day Real Estate and many more. The band was in the lineup for Vans Warped Tour 2010 and played on the Altec Lansing stage along side Breathe Carolina, Hey Monday, and Set Your Goals.[7] They also played the first day on the Bamboozle festival. Late 2010, Four Year Strong headlined a tour with Comeback Kid, The Wonder Years, American Fangs, and Mountain Man. The tour was entitled "Tonight We Feel Alive!", and spanned the entire United States. In February 2011, Four Year Strong co-headlined the Kerrang! Relentless Tour 2011 with Good Charlotte with support from Framing Hanley and The Wonder Years, The tour began February 3rd in Dublin, Ireland. On the 15th February 2011 it was announced that they had been added to support Blink 182 on their UK tour alongside You Me At Six They will be joining Rise Against and Bad Religion on a US summer tour in 2011. They have also announced that they will come back to Australia later in the year to play Soundwave Revolution along with already announced bands The Damned Things, Story of The Year, Every Time I Die, Hellogoodbye, We Are The In Crowd and many others. They still have yet to announce an upcoming Detroit show. It is long overdue.
Musical style
The band's sound can be described as popcore a blend of pop punk, hardcore punk, and power pop. This genre is popularly referred to as "easycore" or "happycore". The band simply developed their sound off the idea of playing 'exactly what they want to hear' or music that they would listen to, but no one else was playing at the time.[8] The band has cited their influences as being Lifetime, Saves the Day, Gorilla Biscuits, Blink-182, and New Found Glory, to name a few. Though the band would primarily start out as a post-hardcore , the release of their demo in 2004 would mark a shift from post-hardcore to more synthesizer-heavy tracks, where the band would begin to embrace the styles of power pop and general hardcore punk. Prior to the release of and at times within Rise or Die Trying, the band also incorporates more facets of modern hardcore, such as double bass drums, breakdowns and screaming vocals. For their 3rd studio album, Enemy of the World, the band decided to expand upon their hardcore influences.
Influences
The band has many references to 1990's pop culture. They have been known to quote lines from '90s films in lyrics/song titles/ and in conversation. They were influenced by all the bands on their cover album Explains It All.
This Body Pays The Bill$
Four Year Strong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A walking mess, a master of misery
She's everything that possibly could go wrong
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
And now I know that she's the one for me
I'm finding that I can no longer deny it
The risk of perjury
I can find my way back without being a casualty
With every blink of an eye she will constantly try
To destroy everything with a will to survive
But it's alright if you ask me
I'll go all night cause in this case anything goes
They want, you need to see
It's because I know she's a disaster
A walking mess, a master of misery
She's everything that possibly could go wrong
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she will always be
My third degree for alarm, emergency
The bane of our society
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she's the one for me
So take your best shot
I hope your hand is steady
Because we all know that your aim's not
Too dead on or accurate
You couldn't hit a fly
If you were standing in a pile of shit
Shake yourself off
Let me give you a word of advice
And just save yourself while you still can
Shake yourself off
And don't even think twice about it
Save yourself while you still can
I don't think that you understand
It's because I know she's a disaster
A walking mess, a master of misery
She's everything that possibly could go wrong
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she will always be
My third degree for alarm, emergency
The bane of our society
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she's the one for me
Shake yourself off
And don't even think twice about it
Save yourself while you still can
I'm finding that I can no longer deny it
The risk of perjury
But my only hope
I can find my way back without being a casualty
It's because I know she's a disaster
A walking mess, a master of misery
She's everything that possibly could go wrong
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she will always be
My third degree for alarm, emergency
The bane of our society
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
That's how I know that she's the one for me
Four Year Strong's "This Body Pays The Bill$" is a song about being deeply attracted to someone who is a complete disaster. The lyrics describe the subject of the song as a "walking mess, a master of misery," and acknowledges that this person is likely to bring nothing but trouble into the singer's life. Despite this, the singer doesn't seem to care and is willing to go all in, even if it means putting himself at risk of getting hurt.
The lyrics "She'll always be a lifelong tragedy" suggest that the subject of the song is someone who is unable to escape her own destructive tendencies. The singer seems to have made peace with this and has accepted that the woman he is attracted to is likely to cause pain and suffering. Despite this, the singer is willing to risk everything to be with her.
The chorus of the song repeats the refrain "That's how I know that she's the one for me," emphasizing the singer's belief that his attraction to this woman is something he cannot resist. He acknowledges that he may get hurt in the process, but he is willing to take that risk.
Overall, "This Body Pays The Bill$" is a song about the power of attraction and how it can override common sense and self-preservation in some people.
Line by Line Meaning
It's because I know she's a disaster
The reason I am aware of her destructive nature is because I have witnessed it firsthand.
A walking mess, a master of misery
She is constantly causing chaos and pain wherever she goes, and she is an expert at it.
She's everything that possibly could go wrong
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong when she's involved. She attracts bad luck like a magnet.
She'll always be a lifelong tragedy
Her existence is a never-ending series of unfortunate events, and it's a pattern that will never change for her.
And now I know that she's the one for me
Despite her destructive nature, I am drawn to her and cannot resist her allure.
I'm finding that I can no longer deny it
I'm coming to terms with my attraction to her and cannot pretend it doesn't exist.
The risk of perjury
There is a chance that my feelings for her could lead me to lie under oath and risk punishment.
But my only hope
Nevertheless, I still hold out hope that I can navigate this situation without causing harm.
I can find my way back without being a casualty
I am confident that I can extricate myself from her influence without being too badly hurt in the process.
With every blink of an eye she will constantly try
She is a relentless force that is always seeking to cause destruction, even in the smallest moments.
To destroy everything with a will to survive
She seeks to undermine anything that has potential for success or growth, out of a deep-seated need to bring others down to her level of misery.
But it's alright if you ask me
Despite all of this, I am still willing to go along with her schemes and take risks on her behalf.
I'll go all night cause in this case anything goes
I am willing to engage in whatever behavior is necessary to be with her, even if it means breaking rules or acting immorally.
They want, you need to see
There are outside forces that oppose our union, but I choose to ignore them because I am obsessed with her.
The bane of our society
Her destructive tendencies are not just limited to her personal life, but extend to the wider community as well.
My third degree for alarm, emergency
My attraction to her is like a danger signal, indicating that I am on the verge of making a terrible mistake.
So take your best shot
To those who would try to dissuade me from pursuing her, I challenge you to do your worst.
I hope your hand is steady
I have faith in my ability to withstand the opposition, no matter how strong it may be.
Because we all know that your aim's not
I believe that those who oppose me are weak and ineffectual, and that their attempts to sway me will ultimately fail.
Too dead on or accurate
Even if they were to strike a blow against me, it would not be a fatal one, as I am resilient and can bounce back from setbacks.
You couldn't hit a fly
I am so confident in my ability to withstand the opposition that I am taunting them, suggesting that they are not even capable of causing me harm.
If you were standing in a pile of shit
Even if those who oppose me were in the most advantageous position possible, they still would not be able to hurt me in any meaningful way.
Shake yourself off
I am urging those who oppose me to give up their efforts and move on to something else.
Let me give you a word of advice
I believe that I know better than those who oppose me and am willing to offer them advice on how to better live their lives.
And just save yourself while you still can
I am warning others to cut their losses and move on before it's too late and they become entangled in a situation that they cannot extricate themselves from.
I don't think that you understand
Those who oppose me do not truly comprehend the depth of my commitment to the one I love.
Contributed by Maria S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.