Emo Songs, Music and News

Archive for June, 2010

With every generation of young people, the number of subcultures the media and, by extension, the public fixates its attention upon. There were the hippies who had risen during the 60s with their “love and peace” ethos. There were the kids who got on to rock music through groups like KISS or Black Sabbath. Our generation has the emo kids.

What do they all have in common? Bad press from the media or every other subculture.

Like some fads, the emo or “emotional” subculture was born from the musical style known as emotional hardcore. It can be seen in the lyrics of certain songs as the major theme is melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional, lyrics. As the style evolved, as music does, it began taking cues from indie rock and pop punk until it broke into the mainstream around the 2000s.

So with the breaking out of mascara among guys, so came the stereotypes of the whole fashion. Both genders wear skinny jeans in bright colors and tight t-shirts, either black or bearing the logos of emo bands like Dashboard Confessional or My Chemical Romance. Popular hairstyles, there’s long side-swept bangs, sometimes covering either both eyes or one eye. Accessories they favor are black horn-rimmed glasses, studded belts and black wristbands, while they prefer the Converse or Vans brand of shoes.

As the style spread to younger teenagers, the style has become darker, with long bangs and emphasis on the color black replacing the other colors. The stereotype included being sensitive, shy and angst-ridden. Not bad things usually, but the emo stereotype had also grown to include depression, self-injury and suicide.

Also criticized was the androcentrism, the practice of putting men and the masculine point of view as the center of the world. Many of the songs are about a guy’s frustration and anger at the women who dumped them as well as portraying women as helpless flighty beings. Emotional devastation is the lynchpin to the style.

Then there’s how emo kids or groups are received by their peers. One look at the hair, the clothes or even the music they listen to automatically brands them an androgynous loner bent on self-harm. There are the “juvenial” reactions, a word used by Kevin Lynman, founder of the Warped Tour about how emo bands were received by the other artists. Then, there are the violent reactions. In Mexico, Time Magazine had reported certain groups attacking a trio of emo kids in 2008, leaving the victims bloody and sobbing while the assailants laughed and cheered as they ran away. Then there was the Russian government in Duma vowing to regulate emo websites and emo fashions in schools and government buildings, for fears that the trend promotes anti-social behaviour, depression, social withdrawal and even suicide. Even bands try to distance themselves from the label. Who else can forget about the 10 girls in Dammamn who were arrested for alleged un-Islamic behavior and dress this 2010?

For most people, the humane thing would be to leave them alone in their little worlds. But remember the movies or TV shows where the jocks beat up the geeks (Glee fans, stand up)? Same thing, but on an international scale.

“Emo” emerged as a movement in Washington DC in the early 80’s, breaking free from the place’s hardcore punk scenario. This was started out by Guy Picciotto and his band the Rites of Spring in 1984, which created a genre that was more melodic and less aggressive. Unlike punk music, has more varied rhythms, melodic guitars, and a more personal and passionate lyrics. They’d further insert other emotions in the songs, such as romance, desperation and nostalgia. Their performances would greatly reveal their viewers’ emotions, sometimes making them weep.

A lot of other bands inspired by the Rites of Spring also emerged, namely Embrace, Beefeater, Fire Party, Dagmaster, Kingface and Lunch meat. They all joined in Washington DC’s movement, the “Revolution Summer” back in 1985 to uplift the spirit of creativity in the place.

There were no definite names on who first coined the term emo, but the emo music we know today is called emo-core, with its core all about being emotional. Despite the bands disliking this new label, it stuck, nonetheless.

With the success of  ”Revolution Summer” in 1985, other bands around the country adapted this new music trend, incorporating different emotions as the music begins to evolve. In the early 90’s, bands like Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate redefined emo and turned it mainstream.

At the same time that emo went mainstream, other underground indie and punk bands also emerged. A lot of recording companies focused on alternative rock bands and other underground music, spending a lot of cash for their promotion.

Over the following years, emo has retreated, morphed, returned and grew to become something even more than a music genre. The new brand of emo music is a mixture of indie rock’s brilliance and hardcore punk’s fervor and aggression, albeit a little milder and smoother melodies, even the more ‘yearning’ vocals.

The 90’s was also the year when their fashion statements begin to take shape: a lot of people are now into jet black hair and tight wear, add the black makeup they wear all over their faces.

As the millennium was fast approaching, emo’s fame skyrocketed even more: a lot of recording companies are now looking into the genre’s marketability. It is at this era that emo music really flourished, and has shown a lot of changes.  Bands like Story of the Year, Simple plan, Fallout boy, My Chemical Romance and many others had their shares of chart-topping songs.

With emo music being redefined by the artists, the emo culture is being redefined as well. Instead of being just plain emotional, now emo is associated by self-mutilation, angst and suicide, which is the tendency of the people within that culture.

From a movement to oust violent punk music back in the 80’s, to people who cut themselves with a razorblade, the definition of emo has gone a long way. Which kind of emo do you wish to have?