quote:

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Likewise, their songs are emotional and their lyrics can be poignant, but they’re certainly not emo.

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Then again, I don't pay too much attention to musical sub-genres, so I'm not sure what the exact definition of emo is. I've heard of it, but that's about it.
 

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Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
 
Emo...is that short for emoting, as in over-emoting to the point of whining?

Are these the goth kids who look like they're going to cry any minute?
 

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Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
 
Im not an authority on the topic. Im actually fairly new to it all myself. Its just that everyone I talk to arround here (McHenry, a suburb of Chicago) is constantly talking about it. So I was just curious.
 

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Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
 
Emo isn't necessarily goth kids (although it could include them). I'm told I'm emo at times. Emo just seems to be over-emotional about some point or thing. My friends Ethan and Brandon are both very emo (and self proclaimed at that), and it's just seen in how they act, what they say, and the music they listen to (or how they interpret the music they listen to).
 

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Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
 
I think where I've heard the term the most is those tshirts at Hot Topic that say "I like emo boys" or some such...I sort of interpreted it as overly-dramatic goth kids too.

Wikipedia has a surprisingly lengthy article on emo.
 

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Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
 
I feel the need to sing an emo song Ben made up.

"Waaaah, I'm Connor Oberst, waaaaah."

He calls it "Noboday Got Me What I Wanted For Christmas, Which Was To Be Connor Oberst."

But to stop filling the thread with things that probably only I find funny and answer your question, yes, emo is pretty much everywhere, and it has been for years.
 

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Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
 
Last I heard, Fall Out Boy was not considered, at least not by anyone I know, emo. Emo in this area means Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, Bright Eyes, Dashboard Confessional, etc.

And when the term "emo" first appeared it was placed on music like At The Drive-In and the Descendents and stuff like that, which most people now consider "scream-o" or punk rock. I typically put my emo music under "indie rock" in iTunes.

Scene (emo) kids are everywhere in Baton Rouge.
 

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Posted by Peek (Member # 7688) on :
 
ugh. emo.

"like oh my god im so emo and i shop at hot topic becuase you like know thats the hot place to be now and like uh i am so depressed because i listened to this really sad song so i have to go cut my wrists now and then show everyone what i did! oh man!"

Ugh :uncool: peekaboo

No.
 

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Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
 
Okay - I'm in Chicago. Never heard of it. I am so old!
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
Yeah, and Lafayette too. May I be the first to say, "I don't get it."

Why is whiny alt-rock suddenly its own really popular genre?

And it's not just a genre, it's a lifestyle. I've played gigs with some emo guys who were pretty decent musicians. It's confusing to me.

GET OFF MY LAWN!
 

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 
I think the definition of emo is a very personal thing. A particular song may have a great deal of meaning to me emotionally and not to others, but to me it is emo. Likewise, a songwriter can pour his heart into a song, and to him it may be emo even though it has very little meaning to anyone else.

And Peek, a song does not have to give the listener a suicidal feeling in order to be consdiered emo. Love and happiness are also feelings that you can be very expressive and emotional over.
 

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Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
 
I agree with camus about it being a personal thing. It's sort of individualized in that.
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Muse isn't emo in the least.

I am incapable of discerning between xhardcorex, emo, and scene, style-wise. And now that I'm older, I'm getting indie hipsters mixed up in there, too. Even though I've been told that I'm indie. Whatever.

I just call them all "scene kids" and leave it at that.

Damn kids and their white studded vegan belts and their sXe and their xveganx...

-pH
 

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Posted by Peek (Member # 7688) on :
 
have you seen emo people camus? have you talked to them? they are little valley girls on the inside trying to be "hardcore".
 

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
 
Muse = not emo (though I thought it at first, but after I listened to it, the more I thought it wasn't. I also took a poll and I was wrong)
Fall Out Boy = not emo. I'd put them more in the pop punk category.

Emo is everywhere and it makes me twinge. Indie is awesome though.
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
Emo always seemed like a pointless musical distinction to me, as far as genre categorization goes anyway. What, no other music has ever been emotional before?

Of course, many genres and subgenres seem like pointless distinctions to me. My classification of music tends to run more along the lines of "Do I like it or not?"

--Enigmatic
 

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
 
Emo, to me, is whiny. Yea music has been emotional, but instead of actually writing decent lyrics about it, you get stuff that's like my girlfriend hates me I'm going to cry about it in a corner with my guitar type of stuff.
 

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Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :
 
I defy your labels!

This is in part because I don't think I understand them...but nonetheless...

Defy!
 

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
 
Whose labels are you defying?
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
Kojabu: So it's Country except they have a corner instead of a meadow?

--Enigmatic
 

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
 
Yup!

Can't stand country either.
 

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 
Peak,
People that you consider emo, or people that call themselves emo?

Like Enimgatic said, emo seems like a pointless musical distinction.

Sure, there are many people that are so caught up in trying to fit into a specific "scene" that they will look and act a specific way with the hopes of belonging to something. I've seen those people, and I agree that some types of people act exactly as you described, but I usually try not to let those people define a genre that has a very personal meaning to me.

Personally, I listen to many many types of music, including much of what the current generation might consider to be emo, but I would hardly describe myself as a valley girl trying to be hard core.


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I think the reason why the term "emo" has become so widespread and mainstream is because there is so much music out there that lacks a real definition. I don't think that's a bad thing, but it results in people trying to classify every type of music into a neat and orderly system. It's not that easy, so people just lump a bunch of stuff together.

The result is that the term "emo" could also mean, "we really don't know what to call this group." Fine, whatever. Like mentioned earlier, some definitions have become so pointless that the only thing that really matters is what it means to you individually.
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by camus:

Like Enimgatic, emo seems like a pointless musical distinction.

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Hey! I am not a pointless musical distinction!

--Enigmatic
(Edit: foo on you and your quick edits. I'm leaving my joke up.)
 

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 
ha ha, I thought that was funny when I was re-reading my post, but I knew I should change it. You caught it before I got it fixed
 

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Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
 
"Emo" is actually short for "emo-core", which started back in the post-punk 80's with post-Minor Threat/pre-Fugazi Ian McKaye bands and similar. It's gone through many variations through the years, however, and now refers to anything whiney and melodramatic.

The Wikipedia article linked above is a good, if slightly biased, explanation.

Ryuko, that was funny.
 

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Posted by Rudolph (Member # 3236) on :
 
The definition of emo is one of the most hotly debated topics of my generation.

The kids who claim to be emo are not. The kids who actually are close to the most general definition of emo deny that emo exists. Emo *was* a type of music. Nowadays, calling music emo is meaningless. There is no real definition, and if there was there would be no band or artist that was emo. It just shows that you don't really know what you're talking about if you call a song or band "emo."

Also, don't call a person emo. Everyone is emo. Everyone has emotions. You might call someone "indie," "hardcore," or maybe "scene" if you dislike them...but not emo.

The music that you all call "whiny" is not and was never emo. I'm so tired of hearing people say "emo music is whiny." If you had ever listened to real emo music you wouldn't call it whiny at all.

Sorry if I sound bitter...I've been fighting an uphill battle against this for years.
 

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Rudolph:
Nowadays, calling music emo is meaningless. There is no real definition, and if there was there would be no band or artist that was emo.

...

If you had ever listened to real emo music you wouldn't call it whiny at all.

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Am I the only one who's confused by this? If there's no definition of emo, and there's no band or artist that is emo, then how can you listen to emo to find out that it's not whiny?
 

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Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
 

quote:

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Sorry if I sound bitter...I've been fighting an uphill battle against this for years.

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Maybe you are taking this issue overly seriously?
 

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Posted by Rudolph (Member # 3236) on :
 
sorry Speed...I was unclear. When I refer to listening to real emo music I'm talking about the original emo music that was made 15+ years ago.

Icarus- I was trying to be funny My sense of humor is a little dry I guess...often understood...just like emo music. (haha...another lame attempt at humor)
 

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Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Rudolph:
The definition of emo is one of the most hotly debated topics of my generation.

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 
I don't think people should be classified by music genres. That just seems kind of wrong to me. That's like being in high school and trying to classify everyone into a specific clique. It just doesn't work like that.

quote:

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The kids who claim to be emo are not. The kids who actually are close to the most general definition of emo deny that emo exists.

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That seems to be the way it is with all music genres. Each generation has their own definitions. The old school punk rockers think the new guys are mainstream sellouts and old school rockers don't like how their music is now called classic rock.


I think it's getting increasingly hard to even classify a band into a specific genre. I think of how The Cure is considered by many to be goth rock even though they have happy pop songs like Friday I'm in Love and Just Like Heaven while also playing amazingly instrumental songs like Fascination Street.

I think people get too caught up in trying to label everything.
 

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Posted by Dude Love (Member # 2437) on :
 
If you like Emo, you should check out the deleted scenes for UHF. There's even one outtake where he takes the severed thumb and . . .

Wait a sec . . .

:: Goes back, re-reads thread ::

Sorry. I think I'm confused.
 

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Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
 
Emo kids would be those who think it's trendy to be dark and obsessive. They're this generation's "OMG! Like, I'm totally a cheerleader!" people. Like they say: black is the new pink.

"Life sucks. Nobody understands me."
*thwack*
"Somebody call the waaaa-mbulance! It's an emo-gency!"
 

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Posted by Treason (Member # 7587) on :
 
Wahhhhh!
 

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 
when I think of Simple Plan, I don't exactly think of emo, but...



 

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Posted by akhockey (Member # 8394) on :
 
Is it wrong of me to find this hilarious? I'm warning you, it has some vulgar language and inappropriate comments, as I recall...
 

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Posted by Treason (Member # 7587) on :
 
Mine was from ytmnd too. They have great, silly stuff but reaaaalllyy offensive, if you get offended by things. (I normally don't)

Here are the only non-offensive things I found about emo, besides the oranges.

Emo Pumpkins
 

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