“The Pink Seashell” by Fall Out Boy (ft. Ethan Hawke)
“The Pink Seashell” is one of the more notable tracks from Fall Out Boy’s “So Much (for) Stardust”, in that it features Ethan Hawke, whom many readers would recognize as being a prominent Hollywood actor.
Up until the release of this track on 24 March 2023, via the efforts of Fall Out Boy supporters DCD2 and Fueled by Ramen, Hawke doesn’t have a discography to speak out besides for his musical contributions to the soundtrack of Juliet, Naked, a 2018 film that he co-starred in.
And as for “The Pink Seashell”, he not only contributed vocals but is also credited as a co-writer of the song. But to further note, the lyrics contained herein were derived from a scene from another film he co-starred in, which is 1994’s Reality Bites.
The Vocalist’s Newfound Appreciation of Life
More specifically, as explained by Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, said scene revolves around a pink seashell being symbolic of valuing “the little things in life, like eating a burger or smoking a cigarette”.
Wentz apparently conceptualized this track circa mid-2020, right around the time the COVID-19 lockdowns really began to become serious. So it was likely that world-shattering reality which also made him recognize that “it’s important to not forget those little granular moments of life”. Or interpreted otherwise, we should make an effort to appreciate every second we have been granted here on Earth.
So the vocals of the song basically feature Hawke taking on the role of Troy Dyer, the character he portrayed in Reality Bites. As the story goes, Troy’s father is diagnosed with cancer and upon this revelation decides to give his son “this big pink seashell”.
As presented, said item is meant to represent the dad’s philosophy on life. And the seashell itself is empty, not containing any content.
“Parents got divorced when I was, uh, five years old
And I saw my father about three times a year after that
And when he found out that he had cancer, he decided to
To bring me here and he gives me this big pink seashell
And he says to me, ‘Son, the answers are all inside of this’
And I’m all like, ‘What?’
Now then I realize, I realize that
The shell’s empty, there’s no point to any of this, it’s all just a
A random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes”
The conclusion Troy comes to via this symbolism in connection to his dad’s diagnosis, as expressed in the lyrics, is that life doesn’t have any type of definitive “point”, rather being “a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes”. Or another way of taking that statement is that none of us can avoid hardship, even that which is sometimes unwarranted.
So Ethan’s response is to “take pleasure in the detail”, such as “a Quarter Pounder with cheese” (i.e. a delicious sandwich sold at McDonald’s), how the sky looks right before it’s about to rain and enjoying a hearty laughter.
There really isn’t anything uncommon about any of those instances. But to reiterate that is the point, that upon recognizing the fragility of life and the randomness of misfortune, the vocalist has also come to a higher appreciation of the everyday experiences which rather make him happy.
The Composers of “The Pink Seashell”
Besides Hawke and Wentz, the other writers of this song are the latter’s bandmates, Andy Hurley, Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump. And the track was produced by Neal Avron, who served that role throughout the entirety of the band’s album “So Much (for) Stardust”.
NOTE:
To note, it appears that Fall Out By first began teasing this song by sending some of their fans a postcard from a fictitious location called “Pink Seashell Beach” in December of 2022, and the following month they actually sent a few lucky souls, including Oli Sykes of Bring Me the Horizon fame, actual seashells.
