Rural Dictionary

Emo

Emo may refer to:

A genre of rock music
A slang term used to describe a wide range of fashion styles and attitudes somewhat affiliated with emo music

The music:
Emo is a genre of rock music. Since its inception, emo has come to describe several independent variations of music, linked loosely but with common ancestry. As such, use of the term has been the subject of much debate. At first, the term 'emo' was used to describe a subgenre of hardcore punk which originated in the Washington, DC music scene of the mid-1980s. In later years, the term 'emocore', short for 'emotional hardcore', was also used to describe the DC scene and some of the regional scenes that spawned from it. The term emo was derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and strongly emotional during perormances. The most recognizable names of the period included Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater,Gray Matter, Fire Party, and, slightly later, Moss Icon. The first wave of emo began to fade after the breakups of most of the involved bands in the early 1990s. Starting in the mid-1990s, the term 'emo' began to reflect the indie scene that followed the influenes of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Teas Is The Reason put forth a more indie rock style of emo, more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called 'indie emo' scene survived until the late 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted to mainstream styles. As th remaining indie emo bands entered the maintream, newer bands began to emulate the more mainstream style, creating a style of music that has now earned the name 'emo' within popular culture. Whereas, even in the past, th term 'emo' was used to identify a wide variety of bands, the breadth of bands listed under today's emo is even more vast, leaving the term 'emo' as more of a loose identifier than as a specific genre of music. There were three main waves of emo music, the first involving bands like: Embrace, Rites Of Spring, Moss Icon, Nation Of Ulysses, Dag Nasty, Soulside, Shudder To Think, Fire Party, Marginal Man and Gray Matter. The second wave involved bands like: Sunny Day Real Estate, Boy's Life, Cap'n Jazz, The Promise Ring, Braid, Elliott, Bright Eyes, Cursive and The Get-Up Kids. The third wave of emo (current) involves bands like: Dashboard Confessional, AFI, Alexisonfire, Brand New, Bright Eyes, Coheed And Cambria, Death Cab For Cutie, Fall Out Boy, From First To Last, Funeral For A Friend, Hawthorne Heights, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco, Senses Fail, Something Corporate, The Starting Line, Story Of The Year, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, The Used and Underoath.

My opinion is that the majority of these third-wave bands are influenced by emo, but they are not completely emo in themselves. I refuse to get into arguments with anyone over this, so don't even think about it.

The slang term:

Emo is a somewhat ambiguous, controversial slang term most frequently used to describe a fashion or subculture which is usually defined to have its roots in punk fashion and subculture, as well as some attributes of gothic fashion and subculture. By almost all current definitions, emo clothing is characterized by tight jeans on males and females alike, long fringe often brushed to one side of the face, dyed black, straightened hair, tight t-shirts which often bear the names of rockbands, studded belts, belt buckles, Converse All-Stars, skate shoes, or other black shoes - often old and beaten up - and thick, black rimmed glasses.

This is NOT my opinion of what emo is, but this is the 'stereotypical emo kid', so to speak. I believe very firmly that you don't need to look exactly the same as the person mentioned above to be considered 'emo'.

When referring to a person's personality and attitude, many people think that emo people are honest about their emotions, sensitive, shy, introverted, broken-hearted, glum, and often quiet.

Some definitions of emo hold that typical emo people are likely to inflict self-injury, most often by means of cutting, burning, or otherwise mutilating themselves (well that just has BULLSHIT written all over it, doesn't it?). Emos are also stereotyped (so, therefore, not my opinion again) to use depressing Internet screen names that sometimes contain straight-edge X's, often using ironic sloganry, a poetic sense or cliché. In the years since emo music's rise in popularity, both emo music and emo subculture have attracted sometimes severe criticism. The term 'emo' itself is sometimes used pejoratively, to suggest that the target is "overly emotional." Emo in general has been characterised as a fad which will be discarded and forgotten in the near future (OK, maybe it's a fad, but it's a frickin' AWESOME one while it lasts...I <3 it).

Don't come whining to me if you disagree, 'cause I couldn't care less. I am sick and tired of hearing people say things like "Oh that's so emo" or "She's such a poser". I've had it. People can dress and act however they want, and they can listen to whatever music they want. If you still refuse to see the truth and carry on with your incredibly ignorant point of view, fine, think what you want, but you can't change us. Thank you for your patience.

We are who we are. If you have a problem with emo people, but don't have the guts to say it to our faces, I suggest you shut your mouths right now. Just remember that every time you criticise us, it won't make any difference. We're too far gone, and we never gave a damn about what you thought anyway.

by xX_nameless_seductress_Xx May 4, 2007

70👍 63👎

emo

a HORRIBLE label for a group of people with a sense of style that is obviously too much for society to take without saying mean things, are generally sad and may or may not cut themselves.

Some things to know about emo kids:

-they typically do not go about declaring themselves as "emo," people who do that are what you would consider "posers." (posers suck.)
-they DO NOT ALWAYS CUT THEMSELVES!!!!! plenty of people of all ages cut themselves, emos are just most stereotyped for it.
-they are usually very nice people, and good friends to have because they do care about what you have to say. they're awesome listeners.
-they are very open and accepting of people outside their own "social cliques" exempting preps/ghetto-ass wannabe gangster trash kids. they are also some of the least homophobic heterosexual people i have ever met.
-they can be drama queens sometimes, but unfortunately, they usually do have some major life issues that go on at home that the rest of the world doesn't see, making them seem more whiny and pointlessly depressed than they actually are.

-they are more often than not very intelligent and intellectual, and are more concerned about deep matters than other people.
-they typically have darkly colored, straight hair that covers one side of the face, sometimes wear eyeliner, skinny jeans, tight novelty or emo/indie band tees, scarves, wristbands and vividly colored bracelets, and usually just wear as much black, grey and other dark neutral colors as possible.
-many emo kids have the tendency to obsess over gir from invader zim. i don't know why or how it started, but it did. i think it's kind of like an emo fad or something. (i don't blame them however, gir is pretty damn rad.)

(p.s. sorry i would have done links here but the damn linkblocker wouldnt let me do them so just search cute emo boys/girls in google and voila your cute emo kids m'kay?)

(P.S.S. i am not emo, but i have emo friends and i luv them to death. there cute. especially the boys. ^^, teehee. they dont make me sweat like hugh jackman though. lol. yeah, dont like to date the girly boys, reminds me too much of me, i need a MAN! ......yeah....sorry for ranting.)

by Fiercetherainbowrazor June 5, 2009

9👍 4👎