Emo Music for Scene Kids - Bands and Songs

Since music is what originally started the whole emo music scene kid movement and continues to fuel the culture every day, it’s only appropriate to spend some time giving props to the bands that help keep the music and emo genre alive and kicking.

When emo first started on the scene in the 1980’s, it was more hardcore and emo punk than anything, music that got people’s emotions going and helped them identify with themselves and others of the same genre. Hardcore 80’s music eventually devolved into a genre known as emocore, with emo bands such as Beefeater, Moss Icon, Rites of Spring and One Last Wish dominating the scene with their emotional sets and lyrics. Some music enthusiasts claim that The Cure were one of the first emo bands, way back in 1976, and that they really helped set the tone for the emo bands that were to later start emerging. Depeche Mode was also instrumental in helping break the emo culture onto the scene, with lyrics that are moody and a sound that’s electronic yet dark at the same time.

Later on, in the 1900’s after some of the more emocore emo music bands had left the scene kids scene, the meaning of the word emo changed again to refer to the indie rock scene that was starting to emerge. Bands like Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate were some of the more prominent bands that started the wave of 90’s emo music. Texas is the Reason was also a popular band that followed the more indie lines of emo rock songs, while Fugazi paved the way for 90’s emo songs with a more straight-up punk sound.

Emo music defines itself with lyrics that are emotionally straightforward, instead of dealing with emotions through metaphors. Some emo bands that sound like they might be emo, with their indie rock sound, typically can’t be classified as emo because the lyrics just aren’t as straightforward and emotional as true indie emo bands. Being as how it’s such a hard musical genre to define, some bands fall into an either-or category, with people just not agreeing on what to label them, whether they be emo, indie, or punk. Modest Mouse is a good example, because even though they have a soft, melodic and mellow sound than other bands might, they’re still not considered emo because of their lyrics, which aren’t straightforward in dealing with emotion.

But just because a band might sound mellow doesn’t automatically qualify them for the emo label. Emotional music can also come in the form or raw, abrasive lyrics and power, like emo punk bands such as Sex Pistols or Suicidal Tendencies. Emotion doesn’t have to be sung to be understood, it can also come from screaming or yelling while singing. This is what makes different types of emo music, like screamo and the aforementioned emocore.

In recent years, emo culture has really exploded through emo music, and bands like My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, AFI, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, New Found Glory, Death Cab For Cutie and The Used have really helped spread the emo epidemic, making emo mainstream for consumers. There is also a small subgenre of emo msuic called Christian Emo, which is music that deals with emotion on a religious level, or from bands that openly practice the Christian faith. Hawthorne Heights, Chiodos and Hearts Consumed cna possibly be categorized into that small section of Christian music, although it’s still open to subjectiveness, like every other emo band that is trying to be labeled.

Emo lyrics, while straightforward on the emtional plane, also deal with a plethora of subjects, some of which are taboo but are brought forth in such a manner as to evoke emotion and sympathy. Consider the lyrics of the Hawthorne Heights song, “Ohio is for Lovers”: And I can’t make it on my own/Because my heart is in Ohio/So cut my wrists and black my eyes/So I can fall asleep tonight or die/Because you killed me/…Spare me just three last words/I love you is all she heard/I’ll wait for you, but I can’t wait forever. These lyrics embody some of the very definitions of emo music - straightforward lyrics that show a lot of heartfelt emotion in a situation that feels like unrequited love. People that hear these lyrics can often relate them to some part of their life or a past experience, therefore becoming emotional themselves upon hearing them.

Or lyrics from “I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance: “What will it take to show you/That it’s not the life it seems/I’ve told you time and time again/You sing the words/But don’t know what it means …” There’s no metaphor camouflaging these feelings when Gerard Way sings to someone that they really don’t know what it’s like to lead his life or know who he is on the inside, his thought and feelings and emotions, and that it’s hard to forget about someone once they’re in your heart and mind.

Let’s look at one more song, “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie: ” Love of mine/Someday you will die/But I’ll be close behind/I’ll follow you into the dark … If Heaven and Hell decide/That they are both satisfied/Illuminate the ‘no’s’ on their vacancy signs/If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks/Then I’ll follow you into the dark.” There’s no way to consistently misconstrue these lyrics. The emotion is plain as the author talks about death and the soul leaving this world for the hereafter, and the loneliness that might be felt as the soul departs one plane to the next. The author is stating that there is no need to feel alone, for he will follow his love into the depths of the beyond as long as he can be with them. I suppose metaphorically speaking the dark can be the emptiness someone feels when they feel alone and sad, but not only does the author clearly mention death at the beginning of the lyrics, the music of Death Cab for Cutie is categorized as emo for scene kids for it’s strength of emotion, which is evident.