Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)

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"Fooling Yourself" is the second single released from Styx's The Grand Illusion album.

The song was written by guitarist Tommy Shaw. Shaw has said many time in interviews that "Fooling Yourself" was originally based on Shaw's initial perception of Styx keyboardist Dennis DeYoung — an "angry young man" who viewed the group's successes with a wary eye and grew angry or depressed with every setback. It was only in later years, Shaw noted, that he began to see himself in the lyrics, and the song took on a more personal meaning to him.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to Shaw's driving guitar tracks during the verse and chorus, DeYoung performs two intricate synthesizer solos, the first, in the middle of the song, is performed in 7/8 time, an unusual and somewhat difficult rhythm for a pop song. The second solo, as the song fades out, is performed in 6/8 time.

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