What is "Emo"?

The term "emo" is out there in the music world, the news, and comes up every now and then in conversations and in the school environment.  I was wondering what it really meant and someone had the great idea to Google it. So I did. Amazing what comes up!

According to Emo Corner, when you are referring to someone as "emo", you are stating that they are sensitive, or that they have an emotional personality. Attached to the personality trait is the music, and in some cases, hair and fashion. Emo music is tied very closely back to the punk music of the 1980's where lyrics are direct descriptions of feelings, without metaphors, and the melodies are hard, but simple. Popular emo bands today were influenced by such 80's bands like The Cure (one of my old favorites) and include Suicidal Tendencies and Evanescence. (I've heard from and liked some songs by these bands :-))

Wikipedia writes, "In recent years the popular media has associated emo with a stereotype that includes being emotional, sensitive, shy, or angsty. It is also associated with depression, self-injury, and suicide." That is the scary part of emo.

Hair is dyed black and is spiky and cut chunkily. Makeup is heavy for both boys and girls. Clothes are dark and tight. 

Besides emo fashion and hair, there is also emo poetry. Emo poetry is very harsh, direct, and full of stress and emotion. The main goal of emo poetry is to give the writer an outlet for these tormenting feelings. The poetry is often about suicidal thoughts, painful topics, and anger, and is considered art. Some poetry is not about suicide. Here is one from the Emo Corner website:

Autumn Times
Autumn breeze frigidly touches ailing dreadful lives
Harshly darkness quietly surrounds the broken souls
Mellow serenades that once played between hearts
Pathetically have transformed into bitter sad songs

Somewhere beyond the flossy clouds
Cupid has lost his romancing arrows
Plays sad sonorous tunes on his bow
Dedicated to all weepy lonely hearts

Howling chilly wind blows through the mist
Sounds of sorrow spread allover the place
Fuzzy humid air submerges the inner lust
Lives decay slowly as the autumn leaves fall...

So now I think I understand the emo movement better after spending some time exploring the Google hits that came up. It isn't as scary as some people say it is. I can definitely think of some teens that are very emo-ish, even if they don't dress or style themselves that way (yet).

The decade and the name may have changed, but teen angst and pain is universal.

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Neat