Emo, what the heck is it?

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Nov 2005 1:52 pm

In another thread David Mason posted this link to a site describing emo: http://www.fourfa.com/styles/index.htm

My junior high girls know about emo. Apparently it is a style of dress as well as a style of music. I don't have clue.
The above site has a verbal description with a bunch of band names; but there are no samples. Does anybody have a link to some samples? I assume by the time us parents figure out what it is, it'll be passe. On the other hand, punk music and dress is still around after 30 years - so you never know.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 27 Nov 2005 2:10 pm

Probably that devilish "thing" that made them like Hank Williams.

EJL

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 27 Nov 2005 2:16 pm

emo: What is it?

After reading the description, I don't think I want to know.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 27 Nov 2005 3:01 pm

You probably really woudn't want to know about the style of music known as "SHOEGAZING", then...*

*(I really didn't either; dag-nabbed internet....) http://www.answers.com/topic/shoegazing [This message was edited by David Mason on 27 November 2005 at 03:05 PM.]

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 27 Nov 2005 3:45 pm

Emo music is a lifestyle as well for a lot of the fans. Most emo listeners and musicians wear nerdy clothes, ironic t-shirts, vintage glasses... lots of work type clothing too. The music is punk rock in origin but is much more melodic, occasionally veering into arena-rock turf. It encompasses a few different styles within the genre, sometimes "geekrock" is emo, sometimes it is indistinguishable from some of the classic rock stuff. Real hard to pin down unless you are into it. As a former hard punk rock guitarist from way before this stuff came out, I still follow some of what is out there but most of the old punk rock guys have gone hard country- check out BR-549, for example. Or Jason Ringenberg...

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 27 Nov 2005 4:03 pm

Derived from the word EMOtional.

Dashboard Confessional is the best example.

Terry

Webb Kline · Post by **Webb Kline** » 27 Nov 2005 4:27 pm

It's what one of the kids down the road from me used to call his brother Elmer when we were kids. Had a pretty bad speech impediment.

Dave White · Post by **Dave White** » 29 Nov 2005 2:17 pm

Anybody remember a nerdy commedian named Emo Phillips? He was popular in the '80s. Fitting name for nerdy music.

Kenny Forbess · Post by **Kenny Forbess** » 29 Nov 2005 7:33 pm

I remember a 75 p/p Emmons that was owned by
formite Skip Cole,,,,,,,,,,,he named it "EMO"

Kenny
edited to point out, Skip is a Formite.[This message was edited by KENNY FORBESS on 29 November 2005 at 07:35 PM.]

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 30 Nov 2005 5:58 am

I was just reading reviews on the band "Bright Eyes" that a friend likes. Someone said they were a true real emo band. A kid responded with the following description of an Emo kid although he didn't like "Bright Eyes."

A Kid's Review
Here's what Conor Oberst is....I wear emo clothes and I'm a homosexual, I look gay in all of my photos, I'm soooo skinny and I'm a little weakling, and I'm one of those emo fags who like to make out with other guys. I'm so weak both mentally and physically. I am the only person that's alive, and no one else matters. My feelings are the only one's that matter. I have a bad drinking problem so people will think I'm cool. I watch MTV and I am extremely rebellious. I think my life sucks despite the fact that I'm some random white dude living in the suburbs who probably has got everything handed to him, and despite the fact that everyone around me who has my albums kiss my a**. Look out world, one of these days you're going to notice me and pay me some attention! When I'm not hanging out at hot topic, going to girls clothing stores looking for girl jeans for myself to wear (despite the fact I'm a guy) or hating my family, or sitting in my room up all night crying because my girlfriend hates me and I have no life, I occasionally whip out my acoustical guitar, practice the 3 same damn chords, and write lyrics about how much of a depressed whiny emo looser I really am. My life sucks and I like to use music as a way of letting my emotions out so that people would feel sorry for me and notice me for once in my sad, sad, life. My parents never hugged me or showed me any love because of what a burden I really was to them. I'm so pathetic. I have a childish way of thinking. I like to use music to show people how sad I am on the inside and I think it's a good idea because I could really get rich off of selling albums at the same time. One of these days I wish I could be Bob Dylan because he's such a genius and writes songs that are whiny and emo. And he gets all the attention too. It makes me mad that I can't be him. Boo Hoo, life sucks. GOSH, I JUST WANT TO CUT MYSELF!

P Gleespen · Post by **P Gleespen** » 30 Nov 2005 6:21 am

The always handy allmusic.com website has this to say:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally an arty outgrowth of hardcore punk, emo became an important force in underground rock by the late '90s, appealing to modern-day punks and indie-rockers alike. Some emo leans toward the progressive side, full of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, arty noise, and extreme dynamic shifts; some emo is much closer to punk-pop, though it's a bit more intricate. Emo lyrics are deeply personal, usually either free-associative poetry or intimate confessionals. Though it's far less macho, emo is a direct descendant of hardcore's preoccupations with authenticity and anti-commercialism; it grew out of the conviction that commercially oriented music was too artificial and calculated to express any genuine emotion. Because the emo ideal is authentic, deeply felt emotion that defies rational analysis, the style can be prone to excess in its quest for ever-bigger peaks and releases. But at its best, emo has a sweeping power that manages to be visceral, challenging, and intimate all at once. The groundwork for emo was laid by Hüsker Dü's 1984 landmark Zen Arcade, which made it possible for hardcore bands to tackle more personal subject matter and write more tuneful and technically demanding songs. Emo emerged in Washington, D.C. not long after, amidst the remnants of the hardcore scene that had produced Minor Threat and Bad Brains. The term "emo" (sometimes lengthened to "emocore") was initially used to describe hardcore bands who favored expressive vocals over the typical barking rants; the first true emo band was Rites of Spring, followed by ex-Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye's short-lived Embrace. MacKaye's Dischord label became the center for D.C.'s growing emo scene, releasing work by Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty, Nation of Ulysses, and MacKaye's collaboration with members of Rites of Spring, Fugazi. Fugazi became the definitive early emo band, crossing over to alternative rock listeners and getting press for their uncompromisingly anti-commercial attitudes. Aside from the Dischord stable, most early emo was deeply underground, recorded by extremely short-lived bands and released on vinyl in small quantities by small labels; some vocalists literally wept onstage during song climaxes, earning derision from hardcore purists. Fugazi notwithstanding, emo didn't really break out of obscurity until the mid-'90s emergence of Sunny Day Real Estate, whose early work defined the style in the minds of many. Tempering Fugazi's gnarled guitar webs with Seattle grunge, straight-up prog-rock, and crooned vocals, SDRE launched a thousand imitators who connected with their dramatic melodies and introspective mysticism. Some of this new generation connected equally with the wry, geeky introspection and catchy punk-pop of Weezer's Pinkerton album. While several artists continued to build on Fugazi's innovations (including Quicksand and Drive Like Jehu), most '90s emo bands borrowed from some combination of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Weezer. Groups like the Promise Ring, the Get Up Kids, Braid, Texas Is the Reason, Jimmy Eat World, Joan of Arc, and Jets to Brazil earned substantial followings in the indie-rock world, making emo one of the more popular underground rock styles at the turn of the millennium.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think Bright Eyes is quite "rock" enough to be considered emo, they're a lot closer to alt-country than emo (but they're not really alt country either...)

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 30 Nov 2005 8:22 am

Okay, well that clears it all up. Next time one of my daughters asks what they're supposed to do while they're grounded, I'll drop a few of these emo band names and tell them to go in their room and listen to them...um, with the volume low.

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 30 Nov 2005 8:52 am

If you analyse the lyrics and they add up to, "I hate everybody" it's Punk
if it's "I hate God and I want to KILL everybody", its Black Metal
If its "Everybody hates me and it's not fair" , its Emo.
OK? Easy, hey?

------------------
Cheers!
Dave

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 30 Nov 2005 9:06 am

Dave B., I think you got it in the minimum number of words.

Mat Rhodes · Post by **Mat Rhodes** » 30 Nov 2005 10:42 am

Maybe I'm just getting older, but when a subgenre of music needs a longer explanation about what it is rather than speaking for itself on its own terms, then that tells me that the "parent genre" might be having an identity crisis. Or is this a marketing device?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but country currently has 3 subgenres: Old, New, and Alt. Rock's current buzzwords seem to be Metal, Uber (with the umlaut) Metal, Nu (again with an umlaut) Metal, Hardcore, Emocore, Punk, Punk Pop, Screamo, etc. ad nauseum. I guess Jazz and Hip Hop/R&B have their own divisions as well.

Sorry for the topic drift, but it sounds to me like Rock suffers the most from this categorization. What little I've heard from bands like Dashboard on the MTV 2 and Fuse channels sounds pretty derivative. I guess the Emocore label gives it more "product ID" and thus makes it more sellable.

Matt

Garth Highsmith · Post by **Garth Highsmith** » 30 Nov 2005 10:03 pm

.[This message was edited by Garth Highsmith on 09 January 2006 at 08:47 PM.]

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 30 Nov 2005 10:10 pm

I did some touring with Emo bands a few years back. I still have no idea what it is and to be honest the guys playing it don't know either. Its a pretty big scene though. I think it is more about social groupings and sub groupings people like to identify with than any sort of musical content. I ran into some very talented guys out there.

Bob

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 1 Dec 2005 11:46 am

Incidentally, "emo" means "potato" or "yam" in Japanese.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 1 Dec 2005 12:13 pm

You won't need ear plugs at an emo show, and that's a good thing.

Mat Rhodes · Post by **Mat Rhodes** » 1 Dec 2005 2:51 pm

That's interesting, Charles. Did you also know that " 'emo " means "delay" or "waiting" in Hawaiian?

*** Honey, I'm 'emo for my emos!***

Matt