where are all the emo kids???

[Ov3rmind]

The only emo band I'm really into is Thursday, and even at that they aren't a real emo band (and they are also not a screamo band). Nothing wrong with the genre, but in the last few years it seems to have taken a gigantic downturn.

PS, stop listing pop punk and indie as emo. Yes, there is a difference between them all.

[ramennoodles]

directed at bokraham...


<rant>maybe we are listening to the music that sounds good to us, and maybe we can state our own message but these people (that are stating there message) happen to have a message and sound that we agree with. i don't really enjoy listening to "a ton of music" or "all kinds of music" to me it just shows that you are too weak minded to decide what you like, now don't get me wrong, if there is a song i like that happens to be country(god forbid) i'll listen to it (and be ashamed of myself)but constantly listening to every genre of music is weak minded and indecisive. Just because you listen to emo music and like it doesn't mean you claim to be emo, or for that matter are emo. (obviously some people are) but it takes a truly unique person to come up with something no one has done before and pull it off, and even if you do, it won't be too long before some one copies your "statement" or "message" it is just human nature for some people to follow something that they believe in(not necessarily one sole thing, maybe many things), some to mindlessly follow whatever is 'in' that week, so i don't believe in, "If you can't say your own message then you deserve to feel bad for not being yourself, and stuff" that is a load of crap. meh just one mans opinion.</rant>

and does anyone else find it funny that squid quoted something about coming up with your own message? kinda ironic...

[bokraham]

^
hmmmmmmmmm now that you mention it it does sound ironic.

First off I would like to say that I don't listen to all genres of music, I just listen to whatever sounds good to me. and I'm not saying that it is "bad" to listen to only emo. What i am saying is that it is bad to listen to emo and have such a closed mind that you are not willing to listen to other kinds of music, like so many people do. I am talking about kids who just hate any music that they don't have a cd of. And you must admit that most of these "people" are emo. SOooooo many people at my school write the bands that they like on their arms and stuff. That really is defining yourself by your music, both literally, and figurativly.

and please squid stop quoting me, i'm trying to make a point here. jk

[i like tictacs]

Originally posted by ramennoodles


The Juliana Theory

good stuff

[ramennoodles]

ok, yeah, i see what your saying there, but maybe they are not defining themselves as that rather they are saying to the world hey i love this band you should check em out. etc. just what i do, but i see what you are saying

by george i think we've hijacked ourselves a thread....

[i like tictacs]

a question for anyone in this thread:

is death cab for cutie similar to the postal service? i love the postal service but have not been able to listen to any of death cab for cutie...i know it is the same singer i believe. or electro-musica-guy.

[tony3]

I loooove emo. I have yet to see any emo bands in concert though.

I like:
TBS
Brand New
Dash
Straylight Run
Starting Line
Get Up Kids
and alittle Ataris

I like emo because most emo bands have pretty good dual vocals and the music actually has meaning. Most bands today think of some catchy lyrics, mix up some "music" and call it a day. Emo sometimes doesn't sound cool, but it has meaning. I usually look past the whole "I got dumped by my girlfriend" thing and look at what emo is really saying. It is talking about life in general and how we are really nothing. How we don't really matter that much. I think emo lyrics and songs really inspire me and help me vent some anger. Emo is all about how you interpret it, it all depends on your frame of mind.

[angelbeast24]

props to tony at least one person here knows somethign about emo music. if u were to look at the lyrics of an emo song most ppl can relate to them its telling how were not perfect and sh*t happens to us all. now try relating to a rap song and how there sittin on there 22's chrome dubs.

[FooTemps]

Originally posted by ramennoodles
directed at bokraham...


<rant>maybe we are listening to the music that sounds good to us, and maybe we can state our own message but these people (that are stating there message) happen to have a message and sound that we agree with. i don't really enjoy listening to "a ton of music" or "all kinds of music" to me it just shows that you are too weak minded to decide what you like, now don't get me wrong, if there is a song i like that happens to be country(god forbid) i'll listen to it (and be ashamed of myself)but constantly listening to every genre of music is weak minded and indecisive. Just because you listen to emo music and like it doesn't mean you claim to be emo, or for that matter are emo. (obviously some people are) but it takes a truly unique person to come up with something no one has done before and pull it off, and even if you do, it won't be too long before some one copies your "statement" or "message" it is just human nature for some people to follow something that they believe in(not necessarily one sole thing, maybe many things), some to mindlessly follow whatever is 'in' that week, so i don't believe in, "If you can't say your own message then you deserve to feel bad for not being yourself, and stuff" that is a load of crap. meh just one mans opinion.</rant>

and does anyone else find it funny that squid quoted something about coming up with your own message? kinda ironic...

::sigh::... Why do I bother...

With so many choices of music and so many genres of expression, many artists can exress the same ideas in completely different ways. Someone could listen to some rap song and then turn around and listen to some 50's rock and there will always be the chance that similar ideas can be expressed. You cannot call one weak minded just because he or she enjoys many genres of music.

Personally, I listen to many genres of music. I enjoy music in general, not just because of the message, but because of the actual music. I could listen to a motown song, then switch to some grunge, and end up listening to some filipino rap by the end of the day. (note: I'm not even flip, I'm chinese.) Music can embody the artist's spirit, and in the end, bring it to listener. Music isn't a world of black and white. It's a world covered in grey. It's an uncertain area. Yes, that means it's easy for one to bandwagon here and there, but it also means that someone can say something many ways. There is no definition of "you have to say it this way to be correct".

Many people could say something in different ways and still mean the same thing. That's why some people enjoy more than one genre of music. For comparison... I could say something along the lines of "I like seafood". Does that mean I only eat fish and chips, or calamari, or shrimp dumplings? No, it means that I like seafood in general and will eat most seafood. That would be just like saying "I like acoustic music" and that would mean that you could listen to emo, folk, or rap (with acoustic background). Three extremes of music fitting into the same category. Wow, ain't that amazing?

"If you can't say your own message then you deserve to feel bad for not being yourself, and stuff" that is a load of crap.

You are a load of crap for saying that. That's because that means you don't agree with a fundamental truth. You don't believe that having your own voice is important? Then be part of the mob I'd like to call popular culture. Popular culture is something that takes people with no voice and turns them into puppets. If you get taken over by it, you're weak and you don't have individual identity. TECHNICALLY you are individual, but most of the time, you are not individual mentally. Ever read the short story "The Lottery"? That is an example of BAD popular culture. Ever look around at a school to see some kid being picked on and ridiculed for not being cool? That's an example of popular culture. It isn't bulldookie that one wants to have his or her own voice. It's important in defining WHO YOU ARE. Art, music, and literature usually tend to deal with this type of thing. The novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is about an individual's path to self discovery. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel of a woman finding her voice and becoming an individual. Seems like art deems individuality is important, why don't you?

[countchocula54]

i concure with tony...if you take emo lyrics and just read them normally its kinda like a poem...or a story...if you listen to the format, one of their songs is actually about his life...and his father passing away...emos not being depressed all the time and committing suicide...who ever says that is close minded....

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

Originally posted by countchocula54
i concure with tony...if you take emo lyrics and just read them normally its kinda like a poem...or a story...if you listen to the format, one of their songs is actually about his life...and his father passing away...emos not being depressed all the time and committing suicide...who ever says that is close minded....

Alot of emo is about suicide and self loathing though.

Conor Oberst is a prize example of self loathing.

But you are right, most emo is not that way.

And Footemps, that is definitly one of the best posts I have ever read on AO, or any forum for that matter.

[angelbeast24]

nicely said dan...now for my 2 cents(again)how count said how emo songs are like poems and most ppl take them as being susicadal or what not..if u were to look at a thursday song (yes we kno thursday is scream-o but its a good example) you see how its like a poem..heres a lil excerpt from understand in a car crash....

Staring at the setting sun
No reason to come back again
The twlight world in blue and white
The needle and the damage done

I dont want to feel this way forever
A dead letter marked return to sender

The broken watch you gave me turns into a compass
It's hands still point to the same time 12:03, our last goodbye


...you can see how it is very much soo like a poem but before some1 comes on this thread and says how its about suicide
think again b/c thursday wrote this song for one of there close friends that was killed in a car crash and it refers to how life can just be taken away without u knowing, heres another great example standing on the edge of summer.....

In this room I'm sitting by your side.
It rains for hours and the phone is off its hook.
Standing on the edge, casting lots to set me up before you knock me down,
off the summer's edge and drown me.
We're betting on our own lives, making up for all the time we lost.


...this song was written for his grandmother in columbus that when he went to vist her he found out she was dying and that would be the last time he ever saw her again.

[FooTemps]

MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata: Thanks for the compliment. I'm usually a retarded postwhore according to all AO.

angelbeast: It is true that emo lyrics can be poetic, but this is true of most kinds of music. Good music tends to have lyrics that have meaning, coherency, and style. The rhetoric of the lyrics though aren't as complex as a real poem but it still has the similarities.

[countchocula54]

your 2 cents are worth more than that...lol...emo's awsome...some songs are about love, life, and hanging out with friends...the format has songs about all of those...dashboard has tons of songs about love and how they worked through it...emo is far from suicidal and other stuff like that

[angelbeast24]

damn what a good thread i have started haha