If you aren’t familiar with the term “emo”, simply put it is a shortening of the word “emotional” and it has evolved into a word to describe a certain appearance of someone, but in this case I will be discussing how it describes music. The stereotype surrounding “emo music” is that the songs are always about emotional dilemmas such as love, heartbreak, and sometimes deal with death; basically, it is a way to vent strong emotions. Part of the stereotype is that artists or members in an “emo” band dress in black clothes, wear facial piercings, and often have fringed dyed hair. I will admit that I do listen to a lot of bands that are rock, punk, and hardcore oriented and many of the members have dressed or currently do dress similar to this description. However, it can be highly disputed whether these bands can rightly be labeled as “emo”.
The issue with calling anything emo these days is that it has become a bit of a taboo word. Some people don’t seem to have a problem with it, and even describe themselves and the music they listen to as emo. But artists don’t seem to like the word. One of my favorite bands called My Chemical Romance was mistakenly labeled as emo. Though it is true that the band was known for wearing black, having their lyrics orientate around death and emotional issues, they often incorporated positive messages as well into their music and the lead singer even went on to openly deny that the band was not and should not be called emo. “I think there’s bands that unfortunately we get lumped in with that are considered emo and by default that starts to make us emo” (Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance).
Other bands that I love and that have become rather popular recently are bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco, who were labeled as emo in their earlier years of making music. Fall Out Boy bassist and main lyricist, Pete Wentz, has discussed the band’s affiliation with hardcore and how their music stems from that. He, himself, labeled the band as “softcore”. But Patrick Stump, the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, disapproved of the band being known as “emo”. Despite their hardcore and punk roots, the band was most often associated with terms similar to “emo pop” or “emo punk”.
Other well known artists and bands like Paramore, Weezer, Pierce The Veil, and Jimmy Eat World have also been typecast as emo, despite the fact that some of their music doesn’t fit into the stereotype. Personally, if I were to describe (let’s use Paramore as an example) I would probably call them punk-rock. Of course there is a little leeway and others might feel that it more closely resembles pop-punk or alternative rock. If someone tries hard enough they could probably come up with 20 names for what they consider the genre to be based on the sound of it. Of course it doesn’t make sense for someone to call Paramore a folk band when their songs don’t resemble that particular genre at all, but their is some creative liberty that can be taken when it comes to the way an individual views bands and their sound.
All these labels and subgenres get rather confusing, which begs the questions, ‘Does it matter what my music is called?’ Does it matter if something is emo? If someone listens to music that is considered emo does that make them emo? The way I see it, a person should be able to listen to what they want without having to group themselves into a category. Furthermore, if a person considers themselves to be part of the emo subculture, or any other culture that relates to music, what right does anyone have to judge them? Everyone expresses themselves differently and music has always been a great way for people to vent their feelings out into the world. I love to listen to alternative rock and every other kind of subgenre that is incorporated into that category-that includes “emo music”. But I also like to tune into Q97.9 every now and then and listen to some Katy Perry. My music taste varies and I don’t feel the need to put what I listen to into a tight little corner, and I certainly don’t feel the need to do the same with myself because of what I listen to. I am who I am and I listen to what I like because it makes me feel alive and it inspires me, which I think is the important thing.
My advice: People should just enjoy the music that they like without feeling pressured into categorizing it or themselves. If you like it then by all means listen to it because it makes you happy. Just ignore the labels. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here, silently headbanging to the heart-wrenching vocals of Gerard Way….and then maybe jam out to some Katy Perry later.
