Rant (Essay) About Emo Music (1 Viewer)

[killyridols]

The problem is that emo kids - and their music - always assume that they've got a monopoly on misery. To hear them tell it, they're most hard done-by people who ever walked the face of the earth. They're incredibly self-absorbed and fail to realise that they're not the only ones who have problems, and in comparison to others, theirs are relatively minor. Yet they wear it as if it's a badge of honour. Everyone else who has their own problems - which is pretty much everyone - just goes about their daily lives dealing with it. We don't make a big deal out of it.

I noticed the thread-starter made some comparisons between the likes of Nirvana and emo bands. Personally, I favour Soundgarden over Nirvana, but take a look at Lithium and compare it with almost any emo song. Lithium is widely considered to be about bi-polar disorder because Kurt Cobain was bi-polar himself (lithium is treatment for the disorder). Soundgarden's lyrics - especially on Superunknown - deal with depression because frontman Chris Cornell lived with it for years. Pearl Jam's Jeremey was writen after a kid named Jeremey shot himself in front of classmates. The difference between grunge and emo is that grunge songs actually mean something to those who perform them. Emo bands are usually just cashing in on what's popular because it's popular. There's no soul to their music.

what the fuck do you know?
sick of people trying to intellectual-ise this thread.
there were just as many 'soulless' grunge bands who cashed in on it because it was popular
it was just another fad like emo
you are probably comparing relatively acclaimed soundgarden to something like my chemical romance.
and BTW sick of people talking about grunge being depressed and emotional. a lot of grunge wasn't about that. i mean, melvins, flipper? the bulk of nirvana wasn't 'emotional' music! a lot of grunge songs had this slacker, fun humour going on eg. 'big dumb sex' by soundgarden, 'touch me i'm sick' by mudhoney, shitloads of nirvana like 'floyd the barber'. grunge was massively influenced by the butthole surfers as well.

 

[ObjectsInSpace]

You think I don't know about Big Dumb Sex? What about 665 by Soundgarden? Play it backwards and you'll get a mesasge about Santa.

I'm not saying grunge was 'emotional'. I'm saying grunge actually dealt with the issue at hand rather than simply bitch and moan about it like emo bands do. If anything, I was playing the 'emotional' card when it came to grunge music to stop some emo kid from coming along and saying that grunge is just that and therefore we can't criticise emo music.

Take this, the chorus of Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan:

No you dont know what its like when nothing feels alright;
You dont know what its like to be like me:
To be hurt, to feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
You feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down and no-ones there to save you
No, you dont know what its like ...
Welcome to my life.

Obviously it's what's-his-face bitching about how he's got it tough. I'm guessing it's about depression given the whole woe-is-me attitude.

Now, take this, Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun:

Stuttering, cold and damp; steal the warm wind, tired friend
Times are gone for honest men
And sometimes far too long for snakes
In my shoes, a walking sleep
And my youth I pray to keep
Heaven send Hell away;
No-one sings like you anymore.

No-one's really sure what it means; but the unusually cryptic lyrics are reminiscent of Kurt Cobain's and it was written just after his death, so a lot of people think the song is about Cobain.

Take my word for it: emo kids pounce on this stuff and I've had more than my share of heated debates over it. Sure, Soundgarden had the likes of Big Dumb Sex, but said emo kids wouldn't know that. Superunknown was their major success, so most people only really know that album (largely because they were probably only learning t walk when it was released).

Now here's my point: yes, there were soulless grunge bands. But take the big ones - Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, etc. - and you'll see they've got soul. But look at most mainsteam emo bands, and you'll find almost none of them do.

 

[ellen.louise]

I guess the main difference is that grunge is not whingeing about how no one understands. This is such a typically teen thing to do (assuming no one understands you and forcing the point in a vain attempt to gain sympathy or brush off criticism).

 

[ellen.louise]

You're quoting one of the worst bands ever to support your arguement?

Simple plan is to emo, what good charlotte is to punk. Not the real deal.

quoted for truth




this thread is kinda crap because it started with a post that I didn't even read

eh...

 

[xXeMoxXxCoRexX]

I hate grunge and alternative for ruining metal. And emo is just a derivative of the former anyway

 

[ellen.louise]

I hate grunge and alternative for ruining metal. And emo is just a derivative of the former anyway

QFI: quoted for irony

 

[xXeMoxXxCoRexX]

More like quoted for posting out-of-character

 

[ellen.louise]

More like quoted for posting out-of-character

ahaha you miss your real e-self, don't you!

 

[xXeMoxXxCoRexX]

i miss my heart
she took it away
from me
and sold it at the pawn shop
to relieve her many debts
i hope they don't repossess her house

 

[ellen.louise]

i miss my heart
she took it away
from me
and sold it at the pawn shop
to relieve her many debts
i hope they don't repossess her house

<3 classy

 

[Thom Norro]

I think "normal" kids hate emo music because they fear it. It's a fear of showing emotion because showing emotions weakens you in the face of others.

i hate it because it sounds like shite from a purely musical perspective...

 

[Thom Norro]

but maybe im not 'normal'

 

[Omie Jay]

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band with some emotional music. Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives says that their lyrical themes include Darkness, Mourning, Loss, Pain (emo enough?).

They dont use the 'omg i hate my life and i wanna cut myself' kinda lyrics, or the stupid non-sensical lyrics like what was mentioned before (about selling his heart and using it to pay off debts and repossessing house etc, wtf?), but the lyrics are really deep and meaningful, quite beautiful poetry which goes amazingly with their music.

Not an emo band, but emoTIONAL lyrics.

There are even some Amon Amarth (also a melodic death metal band) songs that are kinda sad/emotional.

 

[lolokay]

I don't listen to it as much any more, but I like emo (note: not scene/"emo"-pop music)

some emo and screamo I used to listen to:
Noisy Sins of the Insect
Indian Summer
Cap'n Jazz
Native Nod
Moss Icon

pretty cool music imho

 

[Crestwood's_G]

the emos with the black hair would be called goths during the 80's...real emo is just indie rock such as sunny day, get up kids, mineral, promise ring etc.

 

[Absolutezero]

And finally we're back to original emo.

Most modrn 'emo' shouldn't even be labelled with the tag. They are nothing like the originals who set in motion from its Hardcore roots. Hell, even the original offshoots like Envy, City of Caterpillar, and pg.99 are more 'emo' than the bands nowadays.

 

[sibby]

I don't mind it. All music is comercialised.

 

[Arctopus]

Who the fuck dug up this piece of shit thread.

 

[occer]

sibby.

Most emo music is awful, awful stuff.